Intel Optane Memory H10 Hybrid Storage Review

Pricing

At the time of this review, the Intel Optane Memory H10 doesn’t have a retail price yet. You’ll find the drive in notebooks from various vendors as part of the setup. That sadly means that we don’t have a price comparison yet.

Final Thoughts

Intel Optane is a difficult one to review, simply because it is so different from what we’re used to in the storage area. The very nature of the drives means that the focus is on other areas. Instead of offering the best peak performances, Intel designed the Optane drives to deliver performance where it matters: Application and game loading as well as general work with the two.

That is a fact easily recognisable in our comparison charts. In PCMark 8’s Storage Benchmark, for example, we get a bandwidth rating that’s 30% higher than that of a standard NVMe drive. That’s impressive! PCMark uses real-world scenarios for its tests instead of synthetic ones, making it a perfect benchmark application for these kind of drives.

In its essence, the new Optane Memory H10 is the module I wished for right from the beginning. It combines the best of two modern worlds into a single drive. The hybrid SSD is thus perfect for any space-constrained system, may it be a portable notebook or a NUC or SFF system. This kind of systems simply doesn’t have space for two drives, making a hybrid drive the obvious solution.

On top of a good performance, you also get enhanced power loss data protection and end-to-end data protection.

Pros

• Great for everything but high-end enthusiasts
• Improved loading times
• Intelligent caching mechanism (with the option of manual additions)
• Available with up to 1TB capacity
• Hybrid solution, allowing you to use just one M.2 slot
• 5-Year Warranty

Cons

• Limited to 8th Gen (or newer) Intel Q processors

“Intel’s Optane Memory H10 is the perfect solution for space-constrained systems that simply want that bit of extra joy where it matters.”

Thank You, Intel, for providing us with the drives needed for this review.