Intel has launched a new ultra-tiny solid-state drive series that practically matches the performance of its 2.5-inch drives in a fraction of the footprint. The company's new 310 SSD series measures only 51 x 30 x 5mm and weighs less than 10 grams. Despite their compact size, the new drives offers peak sustained reads and writes of 200MB/s and 70MB/s, which isn't far behind the 2.5-inch 80GB X25-M's read/write rates of 250MB/s and 70MB/s.
| 310 Series 40GB | 310 Series 80GB | X25-V 40GB | X25-M 80GB | |
| Sustained reads | 170MB/s | 200MB/s | 170MB/s | 250MB/s |
| Sustained writes | 35MB/s | 70MB/s | 35MB/s | 70MB/s |
| 4KB random reads | 25k IOPS | 35k IOPS | 25k IOPS | 35k IOPS |
| 4KB random writes | 2.5k IOPS | 6.6k IOPS | 2.5k IOPS | 6.6k IOPS |
The 310 SSD series comes in 40GB and 80GB capacities and utilizes the same 34nm MLC NAND flash memory found in Intel's 2.5-inch SSDs. Naturally, Intel is targeting manufacturers of mobile systems, so the new drives won't be available as a stand-alone retail product. DRS Technologies has announced plans to use the SSD 310 in its upcoming ARMOR communications tablet, while Lenovo will offer the mini-SATA drives in future ThinkPad notebooks.