Intel Optane SSD 900P – 3D Xpoint Based Drive For Enthusiasts

By Nathan Kirsch

When the Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X was announced in March 2017 we were impressed with the crazy fast performance numbers Intel was able to get on their very first Intel 3D XPoint Optane SSD. The Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X 375GB drive boasts sequential transfer speeds of up to 2400MB/s Read and 2000MB/s Write. Impressive, but so is the Random 4K performance numbers of 550,000 IOPS Read IOPS and 500,000 IOPS Write! The raw speeds are impressive, but you have to keep in mind that this is a datacenter-oriented part that costs $1,520 or $4.05 per GB.

Intel Optane SSD 900P

The good news is the Intel Optane SSD 900P doesn’t appear to be too far away. Rumor has it that the Intel Optane SSD 900P will be the successor to the Intel SSD 750 series that came out in early 2015. The folks over at BenchLife are hosting a slide (shown above) on this consumer focused model that has the 900P looking really good. In fact, the Intel Optane SSD 900P is actually more impressive than the Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X from a raw performance perspective as it appears to be faster. We are looking at 2500MB/s Read and 2000MB/s Write sequential speeds and 550,000 IOPS Read and 500,000 IOPS Write, so the sequential read speed is 100 MB/s faster. It appears the Intel Optane SSD 900P will be available as an add-in card (AIC) or U.2 form factor, which is going to be a disappointment for those looking for an M.2 gum stick drive that would fit in a notebook. The Intel Optane SSD 900P uses up to 18 Watts of power in active power model and and 5 Watts at idle, so this is clearly not a mobile part and is clearly aimed at desktop users looking for ultimate storage performance.

We have no idea what pricing or when these drives will be hitting the streets, but we are fairly certain that they won’t be priced over $4 per GB. The leaked slide shows the Intel Optane SSD 900P will be available in 280GB, 480GB, 960GB and 1500GB capacities. Hopefully we’ll learn more about this drive this quarter as rumors have been floating around since March 2017!