Intel QLC NAND heading to consumer SSDs in 2H 2018

Posted on Thursday, May 31 2018 @ 10:28 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
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In the second half of this year, Intel will launch its first consumer-class solid state disks with QLC NAND flash memory. As the name suggests, this memory will pack four-bits-per-cell. It will enable higher storage and lower cost per gigabyte. The downside of QLC is lower speed and lower endurance, but this can be somewhat mitigated.

AnandTech speculates the first consumer SSD with QLC NAND wil be the Intel SSD 660p. Leaks point to low-end M.2 SSDs with PCI Express x2 interface and storage capacities of up to 2TB.

For the enterprise market Intel is working on 2.5" disks with up to 20TB of QLC NAND flash memory. The chip giant is currently sampling QLC disks to select cloud service firms and OEMs.
During today's discussions about Optane at Intel HQ, one of Intel's partners accidentally disclosed that they were working with 20 TB sized QLC drives in a 2.5-inch form factor - this is most likely a 15mm thick U.2 NVMe SSD. That would be positioned below the Intel SSD DC P4510 TLC-based SSD family that currently offers up to 8TB in a 2.5" 15mm U.2 form factor.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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