WEBVTT 00:00:06.640 --> 00:00:12.559 The Cooler Master Glacer 240L CPU cooler delivers the convenience of an 00:00:10.639 --> 00:00:17.760 all-in-one and the performance of a custom water cooler. Click now to learn 00:00:14.839 --> 00:00:22.000 more. The last time Intel made their own consumer grade SSD top to bottom, 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:29.880 including the controller, firmware, and nan flash was back in 2008. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:32.320 Yes, the era of the X25M and its 00:00:29.880 --> 00:00:36.960 descendants. That architecture was with us for almost 2 and a half years of 00:00:35.040 --> 00:00:40.960 product refreshes, including a move to halogen free manufacturing, changes to 00:00:38.960 --> 00:00:45.040 the accompanying RAM cache, and upgraded firmwares with encryption and trim 00:00:42.960 --> 00:00:49.520 support. But Intel never dramatically updated the controller itself, leaving 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 00:00:52.559 --> 00:00:58.800 sea of SATA 3 competitors. 00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.800 never to 00:00:59.879 --> 00:01:08.159 return. Okay, but why so emotional, Lionus? There are tons of good SSD 00:01:05.199 --> 00:01:11.840 options on the market. Well, Intel SSDs have always been, I'm holding this 00:01:09.600 --> 00:01:17.759 backwards, on the expensive side for their performance, but their reliability 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:19.360 is legendary. Aside from being aware of 00:01:17.759 --> 00:01:23.360 the reputation they've built with their other products and their competitive 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:28.720 warranty periods, I've also had the pleasure of touring their Fulsome campus 00:01:25.759 --> 00:01:33.920 where much of the SSD work is done. And let me tell you, when Intel says 00:01:30.960 --> 00:01:38.320 validation, they mean it. They had SSDs that were many months from release being 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:43.040 torture tested using equipment that smaller SSD manufacturers at the time 00:01:41.040 --> 00:01:48.960 that I talked to hadn't even seen before. So, while I don't actually use 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:52.079 an Intel SSD in my own desktop PC, I do 00:01:48.960 --> 00:01:54.399 use one in my home server and I do use 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 00:01:56.960 --> 00:02:04.560 can uh probably relate to this. When it comes to your own, you know, boot drive 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:09.280 dying, it sucks, but you're probably prepared. When your wife's drive dies 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:13.360 and she loses all her junk because she wasn't using the bleeping NAS like you 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 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:24.000 that is what keeps me excited about this drive reliability. Because frankly, the 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:31.280 performance is not earthshattering. At PAX Prime 2013, Intel was hinting at a 00:02:27.760 --> 00:02:32.640 user overclockable SSD with unheard of 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:37.360 performance. And at the time, I said, "That's insane. I hope they just tune 00:02:35.200 --> 00:02:41.599 the hardware to bring a competitive performance-oriented drive to market, 00:02:39.200 --> 00:02:46.800 but don't compromise data integrity. And Intel, predictable to a fault, did just 00:02:44.640 --> 00:02:49.599 that. An untext review, which I'll link in the video description for your 00:02:48.000 --> 00:02:53.599 convenience, covers the bases pretty well as far as performance goes. The 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:59.040 quick summary, though, is this. The drive builds on the same DNA as the 00:02:56.160 --> 00:03:02.640 S3500 and S3700, which are both enterprise products. And while peak 00:03:01.040 --> 00:03:07.760 performance isn't at the top of the charts, the 730's ability to 00:03:04.920 --> 00:03:11.800 consistently perform its best even when it's full or being hit with a lot of 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:16.239 data over an extended period of time is topnotch. The extended summary is a bit 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:21.680 more complicated and includes a longer series of consumer versus enterprise 00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:25.920 trade-offs. First up, Intel is using the 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:28.560 same controller and MLC HET for both 00:03:25.920 --> 00:03:33.040 uses and is using the same combination of die screening and an increase in the 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:37.120 drives page programming cycle to achieve up to six times better endurance than 00:03:34.959 --> 00:03:41.040 regular MLC NAND. That's where the 5-year warranty comes from. But for the 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:45.680 consumer version, they are also aggressively ramping up the clock speed 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:51.200 of the controller by 50% and they increased the interface speed on the nan 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:53.040 flash as well. Next up, we get robust 00:03:51.200 --> 00:03:58.159 power loss protection with a pair of capacitors that will allow the 1 gig of 00:03:55.360 --> 00:04:03.360 RAM cache to dump its data to the flash, but we are sacrificing full drive 00:04:00.560 --> 00:04:08.319 encryption and the normally low power that SSDs consume to the PC hardware 00:04:05.760 --> 00:04:12.959 gods. So, the 730 will keep your data safe as long as no one physically steals 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. 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 00:04:19.919 --> 00:04:26.320 finally, the drive delivers excellent write performance, more important in an 00:04:24.320 --> 00:04:30.720 enterprise or workstation environment, but lags behind in reads, which are 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:35.199 unfortunately more common in a consumer's daily life. So, I guess the 00:04:33.040 --> 00:04:40.400 conclusion for this drive is this. All those trade-offs are either making you 00:04:37.280 --> 00:04:43.040 groan and wonder why Intel even bothered 00:04:40.400 --> 00:04:47.520 putting a super duper skull graphic and speed demon sticker on this thing or 00:04:45.840 --> 00:04:54.000 those trade-offs are making you super excited because like me, you still have 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:55.919 a handful of firstg X25M deployed out 00:04:54.000 --> 00:05:00.240 there that are all humming along and it's more about the long-term viability 00:04:57.919 --> 00:05:05.840 of a product to you than the day one performance. Anyway guys, like and share 00:05:03.919 --> 00:05:09.600 this video if you liked it, dislike it if you disliked it, and leave a comment 00:05:07.600 --> 00:05:13.759 on the Linus Tech Tips forum linked in the video description if you want to 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:17.039 discuss this product or if you have any constructive criticism for me and my 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 00:05:19.759 --> 00:05:26.240 monthly contribution, or give us a kickback whenever you buy random junk on 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:29.759 Amazon.com. Check it out if you enjoy our videos. It helps us out a whole 00:05:27.840 --> 00:05:43.699 bunch. And as always guys, thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe.