We reported on Intel's SSD 330 weeks ago, but today is the official announcement of the drive and its availability in the channel. Unlike previous 300 series drives, the 330 isn't based on Intel's own controller - it's the second SandForce SF-2281 drive in Intel's lineup.

Intel SSD Comparison Intel SSD 520 Intel SSD 510 Intel SSD 330 Intel SSD 320 Capacity 60 / 120 / 180 / 240 / 480GB 120 / 250GB 60 / 120 / 180GB 40 / 80 / 120 / 160 / 300 / 600GB Controller SandForce SF-2281 Marvell 9174 SandForce SF-2281 Intel X25-M G3 Interface 6Gbps SATA 6Gbps SATA 6Gbps SATA 3Gbps SATA Random Read Performance (Up to) 50K IOPS 20K IOPS 42K IOPS 39.5K IOPS Random Write Performance (Up to) 60K IOPS 8K IOPS 52K IOPS 23K IOPS Sequential Read Performance (Up to) 550 MB/s 500 MB/s 500 MB/s 270 MB/s Sequential Write Performance (Up to) 520 MB/s 315 MB/s 450 MB/s 220 MB/s Warranty 5 years 3 years 3 years 5 years

The 330 differs from the SandForce based Intel SSD 520 in a couple of key areas. The 330 uses lower p/e count NAND (still Intel 25nm MLC) compared to the 520, reducing Intel's rated lifespan from 5 years of 20GB of writes per day to 3 years under the same workload. Intel's ratings have historically been conservative, so I'd expect that the 330 would last much longer than 3 years for the vast majority of workloads - particularly based on previous calculations on the topic. With a 3 year usable lifespan rating however, Intel dropped the limited warranty on the 330 to 3 years as well.

All of this results in a significant reduction in price compared to the 520:

SSD Pricing Comparison 60/64GB 120GB/128GB 180GB Crucial m4 $79.99 $154.99 Intel SSD 520 $109.99 $184.99 $289.99 Intel SSD 330 $89 $149 $234 Kingston HyperX 3K $169.99 Samsung SSD 830 $94.99 $174.99 OCZ Vertex 3 $98.99 $159.99 OCZ Vertex 4 $179.99

In fact, the Intel SSD 330 appears to be the cheapest SF-2281 drive on the market today. Interestingly enough it's only available at three capacities (60, 120 & 180GB), while the Intel SSD 320 was available in far more models going all the way up to 600GB.

Performance ratings are down compared to the Intel SSD 520, although it's not clear whether these are artificial limits or not:

Intel SSD 520 vs. 330 Intel SSD 520 120GB Intel SSD 330 120GB Capacity 120GB 120GB Controller SF-2281 SF-2281 Random Read Performance (Up to) 25K IOPS 22.5K IOPS Random Write Performance (Up to) 40K IOPS 33K IOPS Sequential Read Performance (Up to) 550 MB/s 500 MB/s Sequential Write Performance (Up to) 500 MB/s 450 MB/s Warranty 5 years 3 years Price $184 $149

Presumably Intel's SSD 330 uses a similar custom firmware solution to the SSD 520, which should hopefully keep it safe from any SF-2281 related BSOD or other instability.