Intel Z68 Chipset & Smart Response Technology (SSD Caching) Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi on May 11, 2011 2:34 AM EST
Intel's SSD 311 20GB: Designed to Cache
Although SRT supports any SSD, Intel created a brand new drive specifically for use as a cache with Z68 platforms. This is the Intel SSD 311, codenamed Larson Creek:
The SSD 311 uses the same controller as Intel's X25-M G2, SSD 310 and SSD 320 drives:
The big difference here is the SSD 311 comes with 20GB of 34nm SLC NAND. If you remember back to the SSD Anthology, SLC NAND is architecturally identical to MLC NAND. With half the number of data stored per NAND cell SLC NAND not only lasts longer than MLC NAND but it also is much faster, particularly for writes.
As a cache that'll be constantly written to, SLC NAND isn't a bad decision on Intel's part. Intel insists that the move wasn't motivated by reliability but rather write performance.
A quick look at the performance of the SSD 311 shows that it packs a lot of punch for being a small 20GB drive with only 5 of 10 NAND channels populated:
The SSD 311 basically offers the performance of a 160GB X25-M G2 but with fewer NAND channels and a much lower capacity.
Remember this is SLC NAND so despite only being a 20GB drive, it's priced more like a 40GB MLC drive: Intel expects the SSD 311 to retail for $110. Thankfully you aren't locked in to only using Intel drives as Smart Response Technology will work with any SSD.
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KayDat - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
I know this bears zero relevance to Z68...but that CGI girl that Lucid used in their software is downright creepy.SquattingDog - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
I tend to agree - maybe if she had some hair it would help...lolRamarC - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
Seems that it would be better to designate a partition to be cached and other partitions uncached. With only a 20GB cache SSD, ripping from BD to .MP4 could easily cause cache evictions.And, will this work with a mixed Rapid Storage array? I typically run hard drives in pairs, and mirror (raid 1) the first 120GB and stripe the remaining so I've got a fault-protected 120GB boot device and a 1700GB speedster. In this case, I'd only want the boot device cached.
ganeshts - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
This looks like a valid concern. For HTPCs, there is usually a data partition separate from the boot / program files partition. Usage of the SSD cache for the data partition makes no sense at all.velis - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
I agree with validity of this proposal, but must also comment on (non)sensicality of caching the data partition:I for one was disappointed when I read that multi-MB writes are not (write) cached. This is the only thing that keeps my RAID-5 storage slow. And a nice 32GB cache would be just the perfect thing for me. That's the largest I ever write to it in a single chunk.
So instead of 100MB/s speeds I'm still stuck with 40 down to 20MB/s - as my raid provides.
Still - this is not the issue at all. I have no idea why manufacturers always think they know it all. Instead of just providing a nice settings screen where one could set preferences they just hard-code them...
fb - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
SRT is going to be brilliant for Steam installs, as you're restricted to keeping all your Steam apps on one drive. Wish I had a Z68. =)LittleMic - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
Actually, you can use a unix trick known as symbolic link to move the installed game elsewhere.On WindowsXP, you can use Junction,
On Windows Vista and 7, the tool mklink is provided with the OS.
jonup - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
Can you elaborate on this or provide some links?Thanks in advance!
LittleMic - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
Consider c:\program files\steam\...\mygame that is taking a lot of place.You can move the directory to d:\mygame for instance then you can use the command
vista/7 (you need to be administrator to be able to do so)
mklink /d c:\program files\steam\...\mygame d:\mygame
xp (administrator rights required too)
junction c:\program files\steam\...\mygame d:\mygame
to create the link.
The trick is that steam will still find its data in c:\program files\steam\...\mygame but they will be physically located on d:\mygame.
Junction can be found here :
http://technet.microsoft.com/fr-fr/sysinternals/bb...
LittleMic - Wednesday, May 11, 2011 - link
Update : see arthur449 suggestion.Steam mover is doing this exact operation with a nice GUI.