Intel 510 SSD

Code-named Elmcrest, Intel’s 510 series drives use 34nm flash memory and come in 120GB and 250GB variants; we tested the latter.

Compared to existing Intel SSDs, Elmcrest hikes performance substantially. Intel rates the 250GB drive at 500MByte/sec sequential reads and 315MByte/sec writes. Those scorching hot figures are more than a 3Gbits/sec SATA interface allows for; in fact it gets close to the 600MByte/sec limit of SATA 3.0.

The 120GB drive is slower, at 450MByte/sec reads and 210MByte/sec writes.

Full marks to Intel for providing a complete SSD kit with the 250GB 510: inside the box you’ll find the 2.5-inch 510 drive, plus a 3.5-inch adapter, screws, power and SATA cables as well as a mini-CD with instructions.

Opening up the drive case reveals not-quite Intel Inside: the 510 SSD uses a Marvell 88SS9174 controller coupled with a Hynix 128MB DDR3-1333 RAM buffer to keep the sixteen 34nm Intel flash chips busy.

I plugged the drive into a 6Gbps port on a Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R motherboard and formatted it under Windows 7; this left 232GB usable space.

Performance is a mixed bag. In some tests like CrystalDiskMark, the drive went beyond the promised 500/315Mbyte read/write speeds. The drive excels in sequential reads and writes, but random transfers aren’t nearly as impressive.

For that reason, IOmeter’s Workstation load showed 16,500 IOPS, with 127MByte/sec total performance. Not bad, but drives using SandForce 2 controllers are quicker.

Unfortunately, the SSD 510 is expensive. Expect to pay well over $1,000 for the 250GB 510. Considering that you may need a new motherboard with SATA 3.0 to make the most of it, the drive is targeted at well-heeled enthusiasts who may prefer the slightly faster OCZ Vertex 3 instead.