Just a few short days later than rumors suggested, Intel has officially released the new SSD 330 Series for those who seek a good mix of performance and value. Based on the SandForce SF-2281 controller and bringing the the SATA III 6Gbps interface to Intel's budget line for the first time, the new drives can hit maximum sequential performance of 500MB/s read and 450MB/s writes. Input-output operations per second (IOPS) are rated at up to 22,500 for random 4K reads and 33,000 4K random writes.
That's a significant bump from the 320 Series' claimed sequential read and write speeds of up to 270MB/s and 220MB/s, respectively. On paper, it almost matches even the higher end 520 Series, though in both cases random read and write performance is slower on the new SSD 330 Series.
| Intel SSD 320 Series | Intel SSD 330 Series | Intel SSD 520 Series | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s | SATA 6Gb/s |
| Sequential Performance (R/W) | 270 / 220 MB/s | 500 / 450 MB/s | 550 / 520 MB/s |
| Random Performance (R/W) | 39.5k / 23k IOPS | 22.5k / 33k IOPS | 50k / 80k IOPS |
| Capacities (GB) | 40/80/120/160/300/600 | 60/120/180 | 60/120/180/240/480 |
| Warranty | 5-year limited | 3-year limited | 5-year limited |
The drives are built using Intel's 25nm NAND flash memory and are available in 60GB, 120GB, and 180GB capacities. With prices set at $89, $149, and $243 for each of those sizes, that works out to around $1.25 - $1.40 per gigabyte, which is not bad compared to other SSDs. Unfortunately, whereas the previous 320 came with a five year warranty, the new 330 offers only three to compensate for the lower prices.
For reference, Intel's SSD 520 Series drives are available in 60GB ($110), 120GB ($180), 180GB ($290), 240GB ($345), and 480GB ($800) sizes, with a limited warranty good for five years.