Intel Core i7-920

Intel Core i7-920

On November 3, Benchmark Reviews had the pleasure of publishing our first in a series of articles and reviews covering Intel's newest processor series, the Core i7. As we alluded to in that article the time frame from receiving our review kit to publishing the finished product was only a matter of days, so something had to give. We opted to stick with the basics and present a general overview of the entire product. As a result we had to omit many of the extras we would have normally included in a feature article of this type. Since the release of that article we have had a number of our readers request future articles in our series that deal more with with the specifics of each processor. The same group was somewhat adamant that we showcase both performance tuning and the overclocking capabilities of each product.

Today we are releasing the third review in our Core i7 series which focuses on the features and performance of the Intel Core i7-920. The Core i7-920 is considered to be the processor for the mainstream consumer primarily because of its price to performance ratio. The i7-920 doesn't have the unlocked multipliers that its more mature sibling does, but it is still a quite capable chip with its 2.66 GHz factory clock. We intend to share all of our findings and hope after reading this review you will have a much better understanding of the Core i7 family in general and the i7-920 in specific. We also plan to go into as complete of a discussion as possible on everything you can do to enhance capabilities this processor brings to the table. Unfortunately we don't have a QX9770, Intel's previous "King of the Hill", to compare the i7-920 to; but we should note that in all the test results we've seen the i7-920 outperforms the QX9770 in all processor dependant tasks. So the only true competition for the i7-920 are the other members of the Core i7 family which we will be testing for comparison purposes.

In our first article, Intel Core i7 CPU & DX58SO X58 Platform we covered most of the available information regarding both the Nehalem Technology and the architecture used with the Intel Core i7 Processor family. We will therefore not repeat that discussion, instead; our goal today is to spend most of our energy concentrating on those features and performance aspects of the Intel Core i7-920 (model BX80601920) that have led it and its other i7 kin to be dubbed "The Fastest Processor on the Planet" by Intel.

About the Company: Intel

Intel Corporation is the world's largest semiconductor company founded by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, and widely associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove, Intel combines advanced chip design capability with a leading-edge manufacturing capability. Originally known primarily to engineers and technologists, Intel's successful "Intel Inside" advertising campaign of the 1990s made it and its Pentium processor household names.

Intel pushes the boundaries of innovation so our work can make people's lives more exciting, fulfilling, and manageable. And our work never stops. We never stop looking for the next leap ahead-in technology, education, culture, manufacturing, and social responsibility. And we never stop striving to deliver solutions with greater benefits for everyone. Intel is making PCs more accessible and affordable through innovative PC purchase programs. Through public and private collaboration, Intel has worked closely with government and industry leaders to develop more than 200 programs in 60 countries. With the onslaught of wireless broadband communication technologies like WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and 3G and wireline ADSL and cable, Intel in collaboration with local governments is connecting more people in more places than ever before-no matter how remote.

Intel is committed to improving education on a global scale. With an ongoing focus on students and teachers, we're making an impact with technology solutions that support the development of 21st Century skills, including digital literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking. As citizens use the Internet, the need to create localized content is the key. Intel-sponsored programs provide localized content and services to connect technologies to villages, suburbs, and cities around the world to deliver access to community information, education, and healthcare.

Intel Core i7-965

Intel Core i7-965XE CPU

On November 3, Benchmark Reviews had the pleasure of publishing our first in a series of articles and reviews covering Intel's newest processor series, the Core i7. As we alluded to in that article the time frame from receiving our review kit to publishing the finished product was only a matter of days, so something had to give. We opted to stick with the basics and present a general overview of the entire product. As a result we had to omit many of the extras we would have normally included in a feature article of this type. Since the release of that article we have had a number of our readers request future articles in our series that deal more with with the specifics of each processor. The same group was somewhat adamant that we showcase both performance tuning and the overclocking capabilities of each product.

Fear not my enthusiast brethren, in our second publication we will be covering all that you asked for and more as we review the Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition (XE). We have now had sufficient time to spend with Core i7 series and our knowledge base on these processors and their supporting components has grown exponentially. This review is pretty much strictly Intel, meaning the motherboard, and the vast majority of the rest of the components we used in our testing are Intel's own. The BIOS on the motherboard is still considered a pre-release version. What I'm getting at here is don't hold the results we present today as being the "Holy Grail" of this processor's capability. It usually holds true with any new product release of this magnitude that it will take two to three months of BIOS and driver maturity after the release to get a complete picture of product's complete performance profile.

In our first article, Intel Core i7 CPU & DX58SO X58 Platform we covered most of the available information regarding both the Nehalem Technology and the architecture used with the Intel Core i7 Processor family. We will therefore not repeat that discussion, instead; our goal today is to spend most of our energy concentrating on those features and performance aspects of the Intel Core i7-965XE model BX80601965 that have led it and its other i7 kin to be dubbed "The Fastest Processor on the Planet" by Intel.

About the Company: Intel

Intel Corporation is the world's largest semiconductor company founded by semiconductor pioneers Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore, and widely associated with the executive leadership and vision of Andrew Grove, Intel combines advanced chip design capability with a leading-edge manufacturing capability. Originally known primarily to engineers and technologists, Intel's successful "Intel Inside" advertising campaign of the 1990s made it and its Pentium processor household names.

Intel pushes the boundaries of innovation so our work can make people's lives more exciting, fulfilling, and manageable. And our work never stops. We never stop looking for the next leap ahead-in technology, education, culture, manufacturing, and social responsibility. And we never stop striving to deliver solutions with greater benefits for everyone. Intel is making PCs more accessible and affordable through innovative PC purchase programs. Through public and private collaboration, Intel has worked closely with government and industry leaders to develop more than 200 programs in 60 countries. With the onslaught of wireless broadband communication technologies like WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and 3G and wireline ADSL and cable, Intel in collaboration with local governments is connecting more people in more places than ever before-no matter how remote.

Intel is committed to improving education on a global scale. With an ongoing focus on students and teachers, we're making an impact with technology solutions that support the development of 21st Century skills, including digital literacy, problem solving, and critical thinking. As citizens use the Internet, the need to create localized content is the key. Intel-sponsored programs provide localized content and services to connect technologies to villages, suburbs, and cities around the world to deliver access to community information, education, and healthcare.

OCZ Apex 120GB SSD OCZSSD2-1APX120G

OCZ Apex 120GB SSD

OCZ may not have created the Solid State Drive, but they've done more to bring SSD technology mainstream than any other company in the industry. Once SSDs could outperform their HDD counterpart, it was all about price and capacity. The OCZ Core Series helped to offer affordable Solid State Drive technology to the masses, but capacity and stuttering became new issues. Using a pair of JMicron JMF602B SSD controllers to organize two banks of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules into a JMB390 controller, the new OCZ Apex Series SSD offers an impressive capacity with internal RAID-0 performance to subdue stuttering. Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of the OCZSSD2-1APX120G against over two dozen other products in this article.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About the company: OCZ Technology

Entering the memory market in August 2000, OCZ Technology was built around the determination to manufacture the best high speed DDR and RDRAM. OCZ was founded by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and their commitment to the end-user has not digressed. OCZ Technology has been an innovator in many areas.

We were the first manufacturer to make Dual Channel optimized memory available to the public, which originally took advantage of nVidia's Twinbank or Dual DDR architecture, found in their nForce chipset. We have now taken that technology and tailored it for the Canterwood, and Granite Bay chipset's. OCZ developed and was the first to implement ULN technology, which has been a critical element in the manufacturing process for some time.

We at OCZ diligently work to improve communication with CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturers prior to the release of their products. Only in this manner can we fine-tune the memory's SPD settings, ensuring a synergistic relationship between the memory module, memory controller, and microprocessor. In today's rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, such communication is not simply research, but a necessary component of the manufacturing process.

G.Skill Titan 128GB SATA SSD FM-25S2S-128GBT1

G.Skill Titan 128GB SSD

For the past several years, G.Skill has built a reputation for offering premium-grade products at economy-level pricing. Similar to their competition, G.Skill offers enthusiast products in several different markets. The brand name has been built on a solid history of quality system memory product lines, and not long ago they introduced the very impressive G.Skill FM-25S2S-64GB SATA-II MLC SSD.

Using a pair of JMicron JMF602B SSD controllers to organize two banks of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules into a JMB390 controller, the new G.Skill Titan SSD offers an impressive capacity with internal RAID-0 performance to subdue stuttering. Benchmark Reviews tests the performance of the G.Skill Titan 128GB SATA SSD FM-25S2S-128GBT1 against over two dozen other products in this article, including its twin brother, the OCZ Apex.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About G.Skill International Enterprise

Established in 1989 by enthusiasts, is a leading memory manufacturer based in Taipei, Taiwan. The company's top priority is Quality and all of our products go through a series of the most rigorous tests and strict quality control processes. In addition to a committed, qualified IC testing house to examine its products, all G.Skill products are 100% tested to ensure the highest yield, reliability and quality.

Mission Statement
We are here to provide superior memory products and satisfactory services in order to keep pace with our customers' growing needs, and help our customers in adding value to their products. And we pledge we will continue to do so and enable both sides to obtain significant competitive advantages in the market segments.

OCZ Vertex SSD RAID-0 Performance

This might sound like we're bragging, but Benchmark Reviews has been testing Solid State Drive products longer than most consumers have known them to exist. On the other hand, performance enthusiasts have been keeping notes on SSD technology for a while now. SSD products are not mainstream, not yet, but that day isn't very far off anymore. Lower power consumption and heat output are the least impressive benefits of Solid State Drives. The real payoff is in the practically instant response time and high-performance throughput.

OCZ may not have created the Solid State Drive, but they've done more to bring SSD technology mainstream than any other company in the industry. Once SSDs could outperform their HDD counterpart, it was all about price and capacity. Adding up to 64MB of Elpida DRAM to the buffer has permanently solved stuttering problems, making raw performance the last bottleneck. An Indilinx 'Barefoot' internal controller commands the bank of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules, allowing a single OCZ Vertex SSD to offer impressive capacity with unmatched performance. But what if we put two Vertex SSDs into a striped RAID-0 array? Benchmark Reviews tests the speed and bandwidth of two OCZSSD2-1VTX120G SSDs against the fastest storage products on the planet in this OCZ Vertex SSD RAID-0 performance article.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About the company: OCZ Technology

Entering the memory market in August 2000, OCZ Technology was built around the determination to manufacture the best high speed DDR and RDRAM. OCZ was founded by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and their commitment to the end-user has not digressed. OCZ Technology has been an innovator in many areas.

We were the first manufacturer to make Dual Channel optimized memory available to the public, which originally took advantage of nVidia's Twinbank or Dual DDR architecture, found in their nForce chipset. We have now taken that technology and tailored it for the Canterwood, and Granite Bay chipset's. OCZ developed and was the first to implement ULN technology, which has been a critical element in the manufacturing process for some time.

We at OCZ diligently work to improve communication with CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturers prior to the release of their products. Only in this manner can we fine-tune the memory's SPD settings, ensuring a synergistic relationship between the memory module, memory controller, and microprocessor. In today's rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, such communication is not simply research, but a necessary component of the manufacturing process.

OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G

OCZ Vertex EX SLC SSD

There are very few products that grab enthusiast attention like SSDs have. OCZ has created a well-deserved buzz around the industry since they launched their Core II, Apex, and Vertex multi-layer cell SSD products for retail consumers. Now they've gone one step further, and designed a SLC SSD for the demanding enterprise server segment. Benchmark Reviews welcomes the OCZ Vertex EX SSD OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G into the ranks, and our bandwidth performance tests compare the Vertex EX to several other SSDs occupying the high-end market.

Performance enthusiasts have been keeping notes on Solid State Drive technology for a while now. SSD products are not mainstream, not yet, but that day isn't very far off anymore. Lower power consumption and heat output are benefits of the technology, but they are also the least impressive benefits any Solid State Drive can provide. The real payoff is a nearly-instant response time and incredible high-performance throughput speeds.

OCZ may not have created the Solid State Drive, but they've done more to bring SSD technology mainstream than any other company in the entire industry. Once SSDs could finally outperform their HDD counterpart, the discussion became all about price and capacity. The OCZ Core Series helped to offer affordable Solid State Drive technology to the masses, but capacity and stuttering became new issues. Adding up to 64MB of Elpida DRAM to the buffer has permanently solved stuttering problems, making raw performance the last bottleneck. An Indilinx 'Barefoot' internal controller commands the bank of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules, allowing the OCZ Vertex Series SSD to offer an impressive capacity with unmatched performance. Benchmark Reviews tests the reaction time and bandwidth performance for the Vertex EX SLC SSD against over two dozen other products in this article.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About the company: OCZ Technology

Entering the memory market in August 2000, OCZ Technology was built around the determination to manufacture the best high speed DDR and RDRAM. OCZ was founded by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts, and their commitment to the end-user has not digressed. OCZ Technology has been an innovator in many areas.

We were the first manufacturer to make Dual Channel optimized memory available to the public, which originally took advantage of nVidia's Twinbank or Dual DDR architecture, found in their nForce chipset. We have now taken that technology and tailored it for the Canterwood, and Granite Bay chipset's. OCZ developed and was the first to implement ULN technology, which has been a critical element in the manufacturing process for some time.

We at OCZ diligently work to improve communication with CPU and motherboard chipset manufacturers prior to the release of their products. Only in this manner can we fine-tune the memory's SPD settings, ensuring a synergistic relationship between the memory module, memory controller, and microprocessor. In today's rapidly evolving semiconductor industry, such communication is not simply research, but a necessary component of the manufacturing process.

OCZ SSD

OCZ Summit MLC SSD

Anyone familiar with articles published at Benchmark Reviews is very well aware of our obsession with Solid State Drive technology. They're complex, and every SSD is different than the next. Nothing like Hard Disk Drive technology, which improves as spindle speed and cache buffer are increased, SSDs are the future and because of this their internal architecture is constantly evolving. This is why we offer so much coverage on the topic: it's interesting and exciting. Plus, they can turn the average computer system into a roaring beast.

The retail consumer market first received a myriad of introductory SSD controller technologies, which included a little something from everyone. Fusion-io, Mtron, MemoRight, and RunCore offered their proprietary chips beside a smattering of Samsung and JMicron combinations, and Indilinx came to the table a little later. SanDisk, Solidata, and pureSilicon have all made attempts and becoming the major name in the SSD industry, just like SandForce and Texas Memory Systems will also soon try. But at the end of the day, it's not the name that counts, it's the final product. In that regard, only Samsung and Indilinx have seized consumer attention with their products.

Samsung makes the DRAM modules found in nearly all popular SSD products today, with Elpida and Qimonda also adding their name to cache buffer parts. JMicron, Indilinx, and Samsung engineer many of the most well-known SSDs on the market, with OEM companies adding their own branding, custom-tuned firmware, and warranty. The OCZ Summit SATA-II MLC SSD is another such OEM product, built from the PB22-J model that Samsung decided not to ODM and sell themselves. Equipped with the Samsung S3C29RBB01 SSD controller and a 128MB cache buffer, OCZ intends to keep their crown as the King of SSD product offerings with the Summit OCZSSD2-1SUM120G.

Performance enthusiasts have been keeping notes on SSD technology for a while now, and until recently the price and performance of Solid State Drives were not within reach for casual consumers. SSD products are quickly moving mainstream, and former marketing points like power consumption is now the least impressive of all benefits a Solid State Drive delivers. The real payoff is in the practically instant response time and high-performance throughput. Capacity and stuttering were once the only problems keeping SSDs from replacing HDDs, but now it's just capacity.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About OCZ Technology Inc

OCZ Technology Group, a member of JEDEC, designs, develops and manufactures ground-breaking, high performance memory and computer components that set industry standards. OCZ products are the first choice for users needing high-reliability, ultra-high performance solutions. In 2007, PC Power & Cooling and Hypersonic PC were brought into the OCZ Technology Group, forming a well-rounded, highly innovative organization that places the company at the forefront of high-end computing. All of OCZ Technology Group's products are available through its worldwide network of distributors, online resellers and retail stores.

Torqx SSD

Patriot Torqx SSD

Behold the Patriot Torqx SSD. Originally launched under the Fusion name, this Solid State Drive shares the same impressive Indilinx 'Barefoot' architecture that has been used in other popular products for the notebook/desktop storage market. Licensing a product design out to several competing manufacturers has become common with SSDs.

Samsung makes the DRAM modules found in nearly all popular SSD products today, with Elpida and Qimonda also adding their name to cache buffer parts. JMicron, Indilinx, and Samsung engineer many of the most well-known SSDs on the market, with end-manufacturer companies adding their own branding, custom-tuned firmware, and warranty. The Patriot (Fusion) Torqx 128GB MLC SSD is one such product, built from a proven architecture that has done well for others of the same controller family.

Performance enthusiasts have been keeping notes on SSD technology for a while now, and until recently the price and performance of Solid State Drives were not within reach for casual consumers. SSD products are quickly moving mainstream, and former marketing points like power consumption is now the least impressive of all benefits a Solid State Drive delivers. The real payoff is in the practically instant response time and high-performance throughput. Capacity and stuttering were once the only problems keeping SSDs from replacing HDDs, but now it's just capacity.

The Patriot Torqx MLC Solid State Drive adds 64MB of Elpida DRAM to the buffer has permanently solved stuttering problems, making raw performance the last bottleneck. An Indilinx 'Barefoot' internal controller commands the bank of Samsung K9HCG08U1M DRAM modules, allowing the Torqx SSD to offer an impressive capacity with top-speed performance. Benchmark Reviews tests the reaction time and bandwidth performance for the PE000143-PFZ128GS25SSDR 128GB model against over two dozen other products in this article.

Since first making a commercial public debut at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, Solid State Drives (SSD's) have been a topic of hot discussion among performance enthusiasts. These nonvolatile flash memory-based drives feature virtually no access time delay and promise a more reliable storage medium with greater performance while operating at a fraction of the power level. Moving into 2008, SSDs became a consumer reality for many performance-minded power users. Now that 2009 has revealed promising industry support for Solid State Drive technology, we should hope that mainstream acceptance moves faster than DDR3 SDRAM has.

Back in November 2007, after experiencing the SuperComputing Conference SC07, finding Solid State Drives on sale anywhere was a real challenge. One year later, and online stores are offering dozens of SSD models at reasonable prices. Solid State Drives are rapidly changing the computing landscape, and many enthusiasts are using SSD technology in their primary systems to help boost performance. Benchmark Reviews has tested nearly all of the products available to the retail market in this sector, and several do well while others fall flat. It used to be that performance was the largest hurdle for mass storage NAND Solid State Drives, followed by stability, and later price.

Solid State Drive products are no longer restricted to bleeding edge hardware enthusiasts or wealthy elitists. Heading into 2009, SSD storage devices were available online for nearly $2 per gigabyte of storage capacity while the most popular performance desktop hard drive hovered just above $1/GB. While most consumers are waiting for that day when SSD costs the same as HDD, they seem to be forgetting how Solid State Drives have already surpassed Hard Disk performance in every other regard. Our collection of SSD reviews is a good starting point for comparing the competition.

According to a Q1 2008 report by the semiconductor market research firm iSuppli, the SSD market will grow at an annualized average of 124 percent during the four-year period from 2008 until 2012. iSuppli now projects SSD sales to increase by an additional 35 percent in 2009 over what it projected last year, 51 percent more in 2010, and 89 percent more in 2011, and continue to show dramatic increases in subsequent years.

Disclaimer: SSD Benchmarks

Benchmark Reviews recently published an article which details Solid State Drive (SSD) Benchmark Performance Testing. The research and discussion that went into producing that article changed the way we now test SSD products. Our previous perceptions of this technology were lost on one particular difference: the wear leveling algorithm that makes data a moving target. Without conclusive linear bandwidth testing or some other method of total-capacity testing, our previous performance results were rough estimates at best.

It's critically important to understand that no software for the Microsoft Windows platform can accurately measure SSD performance in a comparable fashion. Synthetic benchmark tools such as HD Tach and ATTO Disk Benchmark are helpful indicators, but should not be considered the ultimate determining factor. That factor should be measured in actual user experience of real-world applications. Benchmark Reviews includes both bandwidth benchmarks and application speed tests to present a conclusive measurement of product performance.

About Patriot Memory (PDP Systems, Inc.)

Established in 1985, Patriot Memory builds a full range of memory module and flash memory products, offering a perfect blend of quality and value. Patriot products include Extreme Performance (EP), Signature Lines (SL) and Flash Memory solutions (FM).

Patriot has sales offices located throughout the U.S. and Asia. Patriot sells through the distribution channels throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.

Patriot's development and manufacturing facility are located in Fremont, California USA. Our manufacturing segment is composed of a highly skilled production staff and multiple production lines optimized for modules, giving Patriot the ability and resources necessary to provide a full line of memory module solutions. Patriot Memory is a trademark of PDP Systems, Inc.

SSD Intel

Hard disk SSD Kencang Buatan Intel

Produsen chip terbesar di dunia Intel dikabarkan akan menjadi produsen hard disk berbasis pada Flash Memory. Kelebihannya, performa hard disk ini akan membuat SSD hard disk dari produsen lain terlihat usang. High Speed Hard disk dari Intel ini "lebih cepat empat kali lipat" daripada SSD konvensional dengan kapasitas data yang sangat kecil.

Apabila informasi ini benar, bisa dipastikan bahwa hard disk ini menjadi revolusioner dalam dunia storage media. Pada ajang developer Intel Developer Forum yang berlangsung di Shanghai, pre-benchmark dilakukan pada sebuah notebook dengan Intel-SSD. Hasilnya, Intel SSD tiga kali lebih cepat daripada perangkat sejenis dengan "SSD produk lain". Storage media baru ini bakal ditawarkan dalam format 1,8 dan 2,5 inci dengan kapasitas antara 32 dan 160 GB. Namun, Intel tidak akan memasarkannya sendiri, melainkan menyerahkannya pada OEM client mereka, seperti Dell atau Apple. Nantinya, hard disk ini akan dipasang pada notebook-notebook kelas atas mereka. Prototipe pertama bakal tersedia pada pertengahan Mei ini.

Biostar Board i7 Tpower X58A

• Design for Intel socket 1366 Nehalem Core i7 Extreme/ Core i7 45nm processors
• Intel X58 / ICH10R Chipset
• 12 Phases Power Design
• Support 6-DIMM DDR3-2000(OC)/1600(OC)/1333(OC) up to 24G maximum capacity
• Support ATI CrossfireX and nVidia SLI Technology
• 100% X.D.C Japanese solid capacitor
• BIOSTAR TPower Utility
• eSATA, S/PDIF Out (Optical/Coaxial)

Chipset:

Intel X58 / ICH10R

HIGHLIGHTS

MAIN

CPU SUPPORT

Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor

QPI

Support QPI 6.4GT/s

MEMORY

Support Triple Channel DDR3 800/1066/1333(OC)/1600(OC)/2000(OC) MHz

6 x DDR3 DIMM Memory Slot

Max. Supports up to 24GB Memory

EXPANSION SLOT

2 x PCI Slots

1 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot

3 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot (x16,x16,x4)

STORAGE

6 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector (Support RAID: 0,1,5,10)

2 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector (Support RAID: 0,1)

1 x IDE Connector

USB

8 x USB 2.0 Port

2 x USB 2.0 Header

GbE

Realtek RTL8111C - 10/100/1000 Controller

CODEC

Realtek ALC888S 8+2 Channel HD Audio

REAR I/O

1 x PS/2 Keyboard

2 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector

8 x USB 2.0 Port

1 x RJ-45 Port

6 x Audio Connector

1 x S/PDIF Out Port

INTERNAL I/O

2 x USB 2.0 Header

6 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector

1 x IDE Connector

1 x Floppy Connector

1 x Front Audio Header

1 x Front Panel Header

1 x CD-IN Header

1 x S/PDIF-OUT Header

1 x CPU FAN Header

2 x System FAN Header

DIMENSION

ATX Form Factor Dimension: 30.5 cm X 24.4 cm ( W x L )

Biostar Board i7 TPower X58

• Design for Intel socket 1366 Nehalem Core i7 Extreme/ Core i7 45nm processors
• Intel X58 / ICH10R Chipset
• 12 Phases Power Design
• Support 6-DIMM DDR3-1866(OC)/1600(OC)/1333(OC) up to 24G maximum capacity
• Support ATI CrossfireX and nVidia SLI Technology
• 100% X.D.C Japanese solid capacitor
• BIOSTAR Space-Pipe with high efficiency copper heat-pipe
• BIOSTAR G.P.U (Green Power Utility) Technology for Energy Saving
• BIOSTAR TPower Utility
• On board Dual GbE
• 1394a, eSATA, S/PDIF Out (Optical/Coaxial)

Chipset:

Intel X58 / ICH10R

HIGHLIGHTS

MAIN

CPU SUPPORT

Intel® Core™ i7 Extreme Processor

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor

QPI

Support QPI 6.4GT/s

MEMORY

Support Triple Channel DDR3 800/1066/1333(OC)/1600(OC)/1866(OC) MHz

6 x DDR3 DIMM Memory Slot

Max. Supports up to 24GB Memory

EXPANSION SLOT

2 x PCI Slots

1 x PCI-E x1 2.0 Slot

3 x PCI-E x16 2.0 Slot (x16,x16,x4)

STORAGE

6 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector (Support RAID: 0,1,5,10)

2 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector (Support RAID: 0,1)

1 x IDE Connector

USB

8 x USB 2.0 Port

2 x USB 2.0 Header

IEEE 1394

1 x IEEE 1394a Port

1 x IEEE 1394a Header

GbE

Realtek RTL8111C - 10/100/1000 Controller

※Dual GbE

CODEC

Realtek ALC888S 8+2 Channel HD Audio

REAR I/O

1 x PS/2 Keyboard

2 x eSATA2 3Gb/s Connector

1 x FireWire IEEE 1394a Port

8 x USB 2.0 Port

2 x RJ-45 Port

6 x Audio Connector

1 x S/PDIF Out Port

INTERNAL I/O

2 x USB 2.0 Header

6 x SATA2 3Gb/s Connector

1 x IDE Connector

1 x Floppy Connector

1 x Front Audio Header

1 x Front Panel Header

1 x CD-IN Header

1 x S/PDIF-OUT Header

1 x CPU FAN Header

2 x System FAN Header

1 x FireWire IEEE 1394 Header

DIMENSION

ATX Form Factor Dimension: 30.5 cm X 24.4 cm ( W x L )