ASRock web pages point towards future Optane 905P M.2 NVMe SSDs
ASRock web pages point towards future Optane 905P M.2 NVMe SSD
So far, Intel’s high-end Optane 900P SSDs have never released in the M.2 form factor, with the company’s largest Optane-powered M.2 card being the 800P at the time of writing, offering users a maximum capacity of 118GB. The reasoning behind the 900P’s lack of an M.2 variant is simple; the SSD is too large to fit on an M.2 card, with Intel’s controller chip being too big to fit onto a standard 22mm wide M.2 card.
On some of ASRock’s latest motherboard webpages, the company has listed their M.2 slots as being “Intel Optane SSD 905P Ready”, with their promotional images showcasing a 22110 M.2 slot (110mm long 22mm wide). These images seem to indicate that Intel plans to release an M.2 Optane 905P series SSD in the near future, bringing high-end Optane performance to the form factor for the first time.
According to sources over at Tom’s Hardware, Intel’s new 905P SSD controller will support the same seven channels as its predecessor, allowing seven packages with four 3D XPoint/Optane dies to be attached to the controller. This configuration can create an M.2 card with 448GB of total storage space, though only 375GB will be available to the user after overprovisioning is taken into account.
At this time it is unknown what Intel’s new controller will offer aside from its decreased size, with power consumption reductions and moderate performance increases being likely. The highlight of Intel’s 905P series of Optane storage is its ability to utilise the compact M.2 form factor, which is becoming increasingly popular thanks to the range of M.2 NVMe (NAND-based) SSDs that are readily available for the form factor.
You can join the discussion on ASRock’s hints at an upcoming Intel Optane 905P M.2 NVMe SSD on the OC3D Forums.