1 00:00:06,640 --> 00:00:12,559 The Cooler Master Glacer 240L CPU cooler delivers the convenience of an 2 00:00:10,639 --> 00:00:17,760 all-in-one and the performance of a custom water cooler. Click now to learn 3 00:00:14,839 --> 00:00:22,000 more. The last time Intel made their own consumer grade SSD top to bottom, 4 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:29,880 including the controller, firmware, and nan flash was back in 2008. 5 00:00:26,320 --> 00:00:32,320 Yes, the era of the X25M and its 6 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:36,960 descendants. That architecture was with us for almost 2 and a half years of 7 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:40,960 product refreshes, including a move to halogen free manufacturing, changes to 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:45,040 the accompanying RAM cache, and upgraded firmwares with encryption and trim 9 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:49,520 support. But Intel never dramatically updated the controller itself, leaving 10 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:56,320 it struggling along at the end of its life cycle as a SATA 2 product amidst a 11 00:00:52,559 --> 00:00:58,800 sea of SATA 3 competitors. 12 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:58,800 never to 13 00:00:59,879 --> 00:01:08,159 return. Okay, but why so emotional, Lionus? There are tons of good SSD 14 00:01:05,199 --> 00:01:11,840 options on the market. Well, Intel SSDs have always been, I'm holding this 15 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:17,759 backwards, on the expensive side for their performance, but their reliability 16 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:19,360 is legendary. Aside from being aware of 17 00:01:17,759 --> 00:01:23,360 the reputation they've built with their other products and their competitive 18 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:28,720 warranty periods, I've also had the pleasure of touring their Fulsome campus 19 00:01:25,759 --> 00:01:33,920 where much of the SSD work is done. And let me tell you, when Intel says 20 00:01:30,960 --> 00:01:38,320 validation, they mean it. They had SSDs that were many months from release being 21 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:43,040 torture tested using equipment that smaller SSD manufacturers at the time 22 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:48,960 that I talked to hadn't even seen before. So, while I don't actually use 23 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:52,079 an Intel SSD in my own desktop PC, I do 24 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:54,399 use one in my home server and I do use 25 00:01:52,079 --> 00:01:59,840 one in my wife's PC because let me tell you guys, and the married ones of you 26 00:01:56,960 --> 00:02:04,560 can uh probably relate to this. When it comes to your own, you know, boot drive 27 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:09,280 dying, it sucks, but you're probably prepared. When your wife's drive dies 28 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:13,360 and she loses all her junk because she wasn't using the bleeping NAS like you 29 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:19,200 told her to, she will find a way to make it your fault. And it really sucks. And 30 00:02:16,319 --> 00:02:24,000 that is what keeps me excited about this drive reliability. Because frankly, the 31 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:31,280 performance is not earthshattering. At PAX Prime 2013, Intel was hinting at a 32 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,640 user overclockable SSD with unheard of 33 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:37,360 performance. And at the time, I said, "That's insane. I hope they just tune 34 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:41,599 the hardware to bring a competitive performance-oriented drive to market, 35 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:46,800 but don't compromise data integrity. And Intel, predictable to a fault, did just 36 00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:49,599 that. An untext review, which I'll link in the video description for your 37 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:53,599 convenience, covers the bases pretty well as far as performance goes. The 38 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:59,040 quick summary, though, is this. The drive builds on the same DNA as the 39 00:02:56,160 --> 00:03:02,640 S3500 and S3700, which are both enterprise products. And while peak 40 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:07,760 performance isn't at the top of the charts, the 730's ability to 41 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:11,800 consistently perform its best even when it's full or being hit with a lot of 42 00:03:09,599 --> 00:03:16,239 data over an extended period of time is topnotch. The extended summary is a bit 43 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:21,680 more complicated and includes a longer series of consumer versus enterprise 44 00:03:18,319 --> 00:03:25,920 trade-offs. First up, Intel is using the 45 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:28,560 same controller and MLC HET for both 46 00:03:25,920 --> 00:03:33,040 uses and is using the same combination of die screening and an increase in the 47 00:03:30,879 --> 00:03:37,120 drives page programming cycle to achieve up to six times better endurance than 48 00:03:34,959 --> 00:03:41,040 regular MLC NAND. That's where the 5-year warranty comes from. But for the 49 00:03:39,599 --> 00:03:45,680 consumer version, they are also aggressively ramping up the clock speed 50 00:03:42,879 --> 00:03:51,200 of the controller by 50% and they increased the interface speed on the nan 51 00:03:47,599 --> 00:03:53,040 flash as well. Next up, we get robust 52 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:58,159 power loss protection with a pair of capacitors that will allow the 1 gig of 53 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:03,360 RAM cache to dump its data to the flash, but we are sacrificing full drive 54 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:08,319 encryption and the normally low power that SSDs consume to the PC hardware 55 00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:12,959 gods. So, the 730 will keep your data safe as long as no one physically steals 56 00:04:10,799 --> 00:04:17,040 it, which they probably won't since you won't be putting this drive in a laptop. 57 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:22,160 It actually consumes more power than a 1 TB 2 and 1/2 in notebook hard drive. And 58 00:04:19,919 --> 00:04:26,320 finally, the drive delivers excellent write performance, more important in an 59 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:30,720 enterprise or workstation environment, but lags behind in reads, which are 60 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:35,199 unfortunately more common in a consumer's daily life. So, I guess the 61 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:40,400 conclusion for this drive is this. All those trade-offs are either making you 62 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:43,040 groan and wonder why Intel even bothered 63 00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:47,520 putting a super duper skull graphic and speed demon sticker on this thing or 64 00:04:45,840 --> 00:04:54,000 those trade-offs are making you super excited because like me, you still have 65 00:04:50,639 --> 00:04:55,919 a handful of firstg X25M deployed out 66 00:04:54,000 --> 00:05:00,240 there that are all humming along and it's more about the long-term viability 67 00:04:57,919 --> 00:05:05,840 of a product to you than the day one performance. Anyway guys, like and share 68 00:05:03,919 --> 00:05:09,600 this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, and leave a comment 69 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:13,759 on the Linus Tech Tips forum linked in the video description if you want to 70 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:17,039 discuss this product or if you have any constructive criticism for me and my 71 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:21,600 team. Also linked in the video description is our support link with options to buy t-shirts, give us a 72 00:05:19,759 --> 00:05:26,240 monthly contribution, or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on 73 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:29,759 Amazon.com. Check it out if you enjoy our videos. It helps us out a whole 74 00:05:27,840 --> 00:05:43,699 bunch. And as always guys, thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe.