Intel 3D XPoint Optane SSD DC P4800X Performance Preview

[Guest]

Intel offered us the opportunity to remotely test the DC P4800X in its top-secret lab buried in its expansive Folsom campus. Of course, we couldn’t pass up a crack at testing the hottest new storage device in, well, forever, so we have some results.

Intel 3D XPoint Optane SSD DC P4800X Performance Preview : Read more

 

[Aspiring techie]

My PATA hard drive is weeping right now.

 

[Geekwad]

A true signal that raw processing power is played out.

Storage of all kinds and an increased focus on parallelism in software implementations is more exciting.

 

[Brian_R170]

Now where's that rumored consumer-focused Intel 900p Optane SSD?

 

[ssdpro]

375GB for $1500? That is really hard on business. We need more business tax breaks!

 

[dstarr3]

No doubt about it, that is some seriously impressive technology.

 

[anbello262]

I can't wait to have the consumer version. I can cleary see in a few years ssd replacing hdd for storage, and xpoint replacing ssd for OS/boot/programs.

 

[Jan_26]

Oh dear, I want that on our database and build servers!

 

[falcompsx]

can't wait for this tech to come to mainstream and replace traditional NAND SSDs.

 

[shrapnel_indie]

Call me when the testing is completed with real hardware on hand. Its too easy to simulate in a virtual environment. (Not saying they did, but the potential exists.) The numbers are nice though.

 

[RNOblivion]

Stop over-smoothing your plots.

 

[caustin582]

375GB for $1500? That is really hard on business. We need more business tax breaks!

This is new technology that, performance-wise, lies almost entirely within a class of its own. I'd say the price is surprisingly low, especially for an enterprise product. Heck, at $1500 it's within reach for dedicated enthusiasts. I'm already wondering what it would be like to use one of these as my main boot drive...

 

[grozzie]

Whats the point of Optane anyway? It doesn't add anything that's not already available. I use a X4 Gen3 M.2 SSD for primary boot and programs, and a SATA SSD (Samsung 950 evo) for data. I still use HDD's for backup and as far as I can see, only HDD's benefit from Optane. Optain is very expensive for a very limited, not really usable capacity. The only benefit, as mentioned by others, is a cache for HDD's but even that doesn't justify the cost against performance. If you use RAID 10 with HDD's Optain might even slow data transfer rates down!

 

[michaelzehr]

I think I shall remove "database optimizer" from my resume.

Maybe I'll change to database optimization consultant... go in, suggest this product, but bill the company as if I spent two months analyzing their data architecture.

 

[Guest]

They will sell a ton of these. Especially if you can simulate RAM?!?

 

[Petaflox]

Also an normal HD can simulate ram, is called "virtual memory", of course a ssd is much faster, Intel 3D XPoint Optane SSD can actually extend your memory, jet is much slower than REAL ram.
Seriously, that is "enterprise hardware", normal consumer don't need to spend that kind of money for RAM nor to cache a already fast ssd.

 

[Uniblab]

Own a spinning hd? Get a ssd to increase performance to never b4 seen levels. Own a ssd system? Add a optane drive and increase performance to never b4 seen levels and possibly melt your cpu!

 

[Victor_L]

@Grozzie,

Optane (AKA 3D XPoint) is not your typical NAND flash technology -- most certainly not stacked planar NAND (e.g. like Samsung's 3D V-NAND).
It is non-volatile RESISTIVE RAM (ReRAM). This is only the first ever generation of ReRAM technology that has been made available commercially. THIS IS A HUGE BREAK-THROUGH.

ReRAM, Phase-Change RAM (PRAM), Memristors, and CNT RAM has been worked on, at least in high gear, for well over ~5 years now. If you look into this, Micron, Intel, HP Enterprise, WD, SanDisk, Toshiba, Samsung, and Seagate have been contributing....but none of them really gone past lab testing stage, except for ReRAM in the form of 3D XPoint.

According to the now recently disbanded ITRS 2.0 (International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors), we are nearing the physical limits for silicon-based memory technology. Most NAND / DRAM technology are on ~20 nm, and the projected limit is 15 nm ~16 nm with silicon. 3D XPoint (along with emerging Carbon nanotube (CNT) technology) is capable of scaling down below 1X nm. From speculations (since Intel is keeping specifications to themselves very tightly), first generation 3D XPoint is on 22 ~ 20 nm lithography.

I won't be surprised if second or third generation of 3D XPoint (or QuantX) can achieve, or surpass, DRAM performance while being non-volatile.

 

[caustin582]

Whats the point of Optane anyway? It doesn't add anything that's not already available. I use a X4 Gen3 M.2 SSD for primary boot and programs, and a SATA SSD (Samsung 950 evo) for data. I still use HDD's for backup and as far as I can see, only HDD's benefit from Optane. Optain is very expensive for a very limited, not really usable capacity. The only benefit, as mentioned by others, is a cache for HDD's but even that doesn't justify the cost against performance. If you use RAID 10 with HDD's Optain might even slow data transfer rates down!

Did you even look at the benchmark results?

 

[nitrium]

This technology is actually ideal for CONSUMER level workloads, where QDs >1 are relatively rare. Will be a game-changer in the SSD space once affordable drives are released (think game/Windows/app load times reduced by a factor of 8!).

 

[Jon_16]

Listen to all the Nerds on here brag it up how great paying $1,500 is... I can see this for high end servers running a business where productivity is needed, but for the mainstream masses the price will have to come down... in time I imagine.

 

[Guest]

Listen to all the Nerds on here brag it up how great paying $1,500 is... I can see this for high end servers running a business where productivity is needed, but for the mainstream masses the price will have to come down... in time I imagine.

Yes, won't really be for consumers, but so many corporate solutions require TB of ram, and, well, those cost a whole lot of money, even when performance isn't an issue (just to run). Those servers are like $6000/month. Now you can actually get the thing up and running for a fraction. Won't be as fast, but the software won't crash and will eventually spit out some result. Someone else mentioned swap or disk ram, but those solutions don't work with swap or "virtual memory". They don't even work slowly, they just crash or spit out errors.

I remember paying maybe $250 for a 60 GB ssd, a few years ago. When this trickles down, it will be cool.

I was really disappointed with the specs downgrade, but this is turning out into a tech that might have potential, consumer potential, even.

 

[exnemesis]

So apart from boot times, what advantages would a normal schmuck with one of today's better Sata or Msata/m.2 ssd's as their OS drive?

 

[anbello262]

So apart from boot times, what advantages would a normal schmuck with one of today's better Sata or Msata/m.2 ssd's as their OS drive?

Right now, almost no advantage. But take into consideration this:
Even if you have a fast current gen SSD, it is STILL the bottleneck for a lot of tasks. (Well, to be honest, nowadays the user is usually the bottleneck for most tasks, with SSDs being second).
So it all depends on how sensitive you are to apps loading time and file copying. If you have a fast enough cpu+gpu, you might get a bit faster loading times, more noticeable if you do some kind of storage intensive task (like video).

The real advantage will come when developers tap into this, and they stop limiting themselves because of slow storage, and work this a bit like a huge persistent RAM. Instant hibernation, no "loading to RAM" delays, and many other advantages (years from now).

 

[exnemesis]

So apart from boot times, what advantages would a normal schmuck with one of today's better Sata or Msata/m.2 ssd's as their OS drive?

Right now, almost no advantage. But take into consideration this:
Even if you have a fast current gen SSD, it is STILL the bottleneck for a lot of tasks. (Well, to be honest, nowadays the user is usually the bottleneck for most tasks, with SSDs being second).
So it all depends on how sensitive you are to apps loading time and file copying. If you have a fast enough cpu+gpu, you might get a bit faster loading times, more noticeable if you do some kind of storage intensive task (like video).

The real advantage will come when developers tap into this, and they stop limiting themselves because of slow storage, and work this a bit like a huge persistent RAM. Instant hibernation, no "loading to RAM" delays, and many other advantages (years from now).

Thanks for the detailed answer. And for interpreting my incomplete sentence : )