The SSD Review The Worlds Dedicated SSD Education and Review Resource | 
REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
The Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD enters the consumer market as the update to the original 330 Series with the change to their new 20nm NAND flash memory. The most important thing to address is why we continue to progress to more compact memory and, in many cases, lesser performing memory with a potentially shorter total lifespan. The sole reasoning behind such is to provide the consumer with a more value oriented SSD of high capacity and to maintain the best visible performance for their needs.
As it stands with the 335, only the 240GB is being marketed and we must rely on the fact that moving to a higher capacity is much easier when they choose to do so. It is entirely possible to create a 960GB version of the 335 and at a lower cost than we might imagine. Unfortunately, this still would not be financially viable as the demand isn’t there and Intel still needs to realize sales from their other SSD choices.
With respect to performance, each and every test we through at the Intel 335 proved it to be a top notch SSD which is typical of all we see that are ‘LSI SandForce Driven’ these days and we were impressed that Intel remained very conservative in their performance specifications which were significantly lower than our actual bench results. Transfer speeds of 552MB/s read and 527MB/s write with a low 4K random result of 99MB/s and 85,000 IOPS at 4K random aligned write disk access are the best you will see in SSDs these days and typical of all LSI SandForce Driven products.
Value is our next point where the Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD has an MSRP of only $184 which means this SSD is being introduced at only $0.76/GB and this is going to be key. Unlike yesterdays initial release norm, retailers today seem to be listing new SSDs below the MSRP which means the Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD may soon be available at prices equal to that of what we see in most 120GB SSDs today. Looking at the entire storage picture, Intel will be playing its part in pulling SSD prices just a bit lower once again.
In discussion, we agreed that the Intel 335 Series 240GB SSD is deserving of our Top Value Award as it’s initial release MSRP of $184 is that of what we are seeing in the discount price of many others today. Great work Intel!
Intel 335 Series 240 GB SATA 3 SSD at Amazon
From your comments, it seems like this is equivalent in performance to 330 SSD, but the price in not much lower than current prices… in fact, today the 335 is more expensive on newegg than 330! (how does that happen?)… I am sure it will change. Is there something else I am missing on this SSD that makes it better for consumer? Just asking….
Technology is what makes this SSD so interesting. I must admit that I never expected retailers to actually up the manufacturers suggested listed price. For the most part, 20 nm memory increases the potential value and potential size of solid-state drives. Thanks ahead.
agreed, using 20nm is great. IF the price goes down due to 20nm, then it is interesting. So Intel and Plextor are the only companies with 19nm/20nm SSDs now?
BAD DRIVES – Sorry for OT, but Anandtech tested Intel 335 240GB (IMFT 20nm sync):https://www.anandtech.com/show/6388/i…240gb-review/2
“In a few days, I managed to write a total of 37.8TB to the NAND and during that time, the MWI had dropped from 92 to 79. In other words, I used up 13% of the drive’s available P/E cycles. This is far from being good news. Based on the data I gathered, the MWI would hit 0 after around 250TB of NAND writes, which translates to less than 1,000 P/E cycles.”
Is there a reason for using very old Crystal Disk Info for test? Intels 330 shows the Host Write and NAND Write, I ask whether the 335 also can show that?
The latest version of Crystal Disk Info is only a recent release and we will update for future review. Thanks ahead!