Intel Optane Memory Accelerator Now Available for Purchase

Intel announced the lower-cost variant of its fresh new Optane Memory technology last month, promising a significant performance boost that is a lot more affordable than the DC P4800X SSD (which costs $1520 USD for the 375GB model). The new Optane Memory accelerator is available in 16GB or 32GB single-sided M.2 2280 form factor drives. Although you can order it starting today, it does not actually ship out until April 29, but at least Intel kept the promise of a low price with the 16GB model MEMPEK1W016GAXT starting at only $45. Amazon.com does not list the price for the 32GB model but it is expected to fetch for $77 USD.

In terms of performance, the reviews came out today many are impressed with Intel actually disrupting the SSD market with their new Optane drives. Paired with a larger capacity mechanical drive, the Intel Optane accelerator works wonders, putting up 1.4GB/s data transfer, as well as at 204MB/s low 4K read performance. The biggest downside of course is that it is only compatible with a narrow set of systems, specifically only those on the latest generation Intel platform. This means any Intel user with a 100-series based chipset is out of luck, and even if a user is on a 200-series platform, if they have a Kaby Lake Pentium processor or lower, they will not be able to take advantage of this accelerator feature. Which is too bad because those on lower-end systems who can’t afford faster processors will benefit the most from this latest Intel SSD.

You can check Intel’s Optane Memory website for a list of compatible components: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/optane-memory.html