1 00:00:01,600 --> 00:00:11,120 Okay, so if you've read the title of the video, you've probably got a pretty good 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:13,440 idea of what's in this box. But I don't 3 00:00:11,120 --> 00:00:18,480 have my knife. Clearly, at this point, I'm filming the video. I haven't read 4 00:00:15,679 --> 00:00:22,240 the title, so you're going to have to humor me as we 5 00:00:20,160 --> 00:00:27,680 uh come along on a voyage of discovery here. 6 00:00:25,039 --> 00:00:33,520 Okay, so we know it's from Intel Corporation. Could this be the plans for 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:38,399 world domination that we ordered? I mean, what could be what could be red 8 00:00:36,239 --> 00:00:42,280 hot rush? That sounds dirty. 9 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:54,160 All right, then. So, let's pop the side panel on this ow puppy. 10 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:56,960 There we go. and get a better look at 11 00:00:54,160 --> 00:01:03,760 what's going to be pretty much the most generic damn computer I think I've ever 12 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:05,680 seen in my life. But wait, 13 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:11,760 maybe this is exactly the point they're trying 14 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:15,680 to make. Maybe this 3D cross point 15 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:19,439 accelerator Optane module is so amazing 16 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:23,759 that it can make even this mid2000 17 00:01:19,439 --> 00:01:27,330 style beauty fly. 18 00:01:23,759 --> 00:01:36,000 Well, let's see if it can. 19 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:43,920 Browse privately and securely with Tunnel Bear, the simple VPN app. Try 20 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:47,040 Tunnel Bear for free at the link in the video description. 21 00:01:45,759 --> 00:01:52,880 All right, so what do we got here? We got B250 motherboard, the most generic 22 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:54,320 RAM ever, WD Black, Core i57500. Yeah. 23 00:01:52,880 --> 00:02:03,439 Okay, whatever. Let's let's skip all over that. Let's get straight to the 24 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:04,960 Optane memory series, Opane module, 25 00:02:03,439 --> 00:02:12,400 whatever. Let's let's skip over to this thing. So, this is a fundamentally new 26 00:02:08,879 --> 00:02:15,599 type of computer memory. It's different 27 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:18,000 from both NAND flash and DRAM, offering 28 00:02:15,599 --> 00:02:25,920 up a lot of the benefits of both. So, lightning fast latency and lower cost 29 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,920 than system memory and lower cost than 30 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:34,319 system memory. Okay, here let's just pull this out with the ability to retain 31 00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:39,440 the data without being constantly powered on like this stuff. You can 32 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:42,959 actually learn more about 3D cross point in a couple of videos that we've done in 33 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:47,519 the past, which you can check out in the cards up there. Okay. So, the way this 34 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:52,879 is supposed to work, why am I holding this? Sorry. The way this is supposed to 35 00:02:49,599 --> 00:02:55,599 work is kind of like Intel's SRT 36 00:02:52,879 --> 00:03:01,040 technology of yestery year, where you would take a a small SSD and you would 37 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:05,120 like bolt it to a larger hard drive in order to accelerate your operating 38 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:10,319 system and frequently used programs. The difference though is that in the last 39 00:03:06,879 --> 00:03:14,319 seven years, we've gone from 32 gigs of 40 00:03:10,319 --> 00:03:17,599 NAND flash being a reasonable cost to 41 00:03:14,319 --> 00:03:20,800 achieve this functionality to 32 gigs of 42 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:24,319 Optane, which Intel is boasting at the 43 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:26,879 cell level is up to a thousand times 44 00:03:24,319 --> 00:03:32,080 better in terms of access latency, which should translate to dramatically 45 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:37,599 improved system responsiveness. Okay. So, for starters, let's get the 46 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:42,040 Oops. Let's get the module back in there. Get this baby fired up. 47 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:51,120 Get this baby fired up and validate Intel's claims the way the product is 48 00:03:48,799 --> 00:03:55,040 intended to be used. So, an Optane module with a mechanical spinning hard 49 00:03:53,680 --> 00:04:01,799 drive. Probably shouldn't have been knocking on that. So in terms of benchmarks, we used pass marks, discark, 50 00:04:02,879 --> 00:04:10,319 ADO at a variety of QEPs, boot times, 51 00:04:06,959 --> 00:04:13,920 and Grand Theft Auto 5 since it's 52 00:04:10,319 --> 00:04:16,959 notoriously long loading times are the 53 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:19,600 bane of the existence of gamers who 54 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:23,759 really play a lot of Grand Theft Auto 5 everywhere. 55 00:04:21,120 --> 00:04:28,639 But come on, you guys, this is Linus Tech Tips. You don't want to see me test 56 00:04:26,479 --> 00:04:35,120 the Optane module the way it's supposed to be used, the way Intel expects us to 57 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:38,639 test it. We need uh Here, hold on. Get 58 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:44,080 one of these out of here. Ah, yes. We 59 00:04:38,639 --> 00:04:47,199 need an SSD. I mean, by my logic, if an 60 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:49,360 SSD could accelerate a hard drive, cuz 61 00:04:47,199 --> 00:04:56,800 it's a lot faster with much lower latency, then an Optane module 62 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:58,960 should be able to accelerate an SSD. I 63 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:04,080 asked them about this at the super embargoed event, and they refused to 64 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:07,840 answer me, opting instead to stick to the marketing message. I'm not going to 65 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:11,120 accept that. I've got the hardware in my hands. There's nothing that would 66 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:16,120 prevent me from testing this. So, let's shut this baby down the manly way. 67 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:22,720 That's right. And fire it back up with one of these and have a look at some 68 00:05:20,880 --> 00:05:27,600 numbers here. Before we can evaluate whether Optane 69 00:05:24,960 --> 00:05:32,639 can accelerate the SSD, we need to get a baseline reading for the SSD in all 70 00:05:30,240 --> 00:05:38,880 those same performance benchmarks. So, it's a Kingston SSD now KC4001 TB. And 71 00:05:36,639 --> 00:05:43,919 you can see here we've got all of our numbers run now and Intel Optane memory 72 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:50,400 is disabled. Now this is really important. We enable it by clicking 73 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:51,919 enable then yes and then it takes a 74 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:57,360 couple of seconds here in order to prepare the system, copy some files, 75 00:05:54,639 --> 00:06:04,960 whatever the case may be. Okay, there we go. So now what we need to do is run all 76 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:08,479 of our benchmarks a second time to see 77 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:12,639 on our clean Optane run if there's any 78 00:06:08,479 --> 00:06:15,440 improvement and the numbers are pretty 79 00:06:12,639 --> 00:06:22,720 much the same but we were expecting that Optane like any caching solution works 80 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:26,000 by watching data access patterns over 81 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:30,400 time and then using the knowledge that 82 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:34,240 it gains to predict what data the user 83 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:37,680 is going to need in the future. So then 84 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:40,960 what we needed to do was run an entirely 85 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:43,440 new round of testing to get a second run 86 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:50,720 of data to see what our module learned the first time around. And this time now 87 00:06:48,080 --> 00:06:57,199 we are looking at a significant difference. And by significant, I do 88 00:06:54,240 --> 00:07:02,319 mean in the scientific sense, not in the sense that in realworld applications, 89 00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:09,599 the average user would actually notice it since the Optane acceleration of an 90 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:11,680 SSD was only really noticeable in 91 00:07:09,599 --> 00:07:19,199 synthetic benchmarks. Okay, so it's conclusion time then. 92 00:07:17,039 --> 00:07:25,360 That was a lot of fun, but I think we uncovered the reason why Intel doesn't 93 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:33,360 want people talking about accelerating an SSD with an Optane module. If you 94 00:07:29,759 --> 00:07:36,800 want greater than SSD performance, there 95 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:39,759 will actually be full-on Optane SSDs for 96 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:46,400 enthusiasts coming in the future. But for now, I'd recommend at the price that 97 00:07:43,039 --> 00:07:48,400 they come in at, so 40 bucks or 77, 98 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:53,199 depending on the capacity you choose, I'd recommend sticking with the way 99 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:58,160 Intel's marketing them as a way to accelerate a mechanical hard drive for a 100 00:07:56,240 --> 00:08:04,400 system that otherwise wouldn't be able to achieve that level of responsiveness. 101 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:10,800 It works like SRT, but thanks to the improved responsiveness, we did notice a 102 00:08:07,919 --> 00:08:15,520 tangible difference day-to-day just launching applications and navigating 103 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:21,840 the operating system from having the Optane module installed on our drive. Is 104 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:28,639 it worth the 77 bucks for the top-of-the-line one? It's hard to say. 105 00:08:25,199 --> 00:08:31,039 Like so many things in life, I guess it 106 00:08:28,639 --> 00:08:36,000 kind of depends on your priorities. And that's where Intel has lost me a little 107 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:41,440 bit on this one because they are limiting compatibility with Optane 108 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:45,040 memory to 200 series chipsets with KBL 109 00:08:41,440 --> 00:08:47,200 Lake processors and up. So most of the 110 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:51,920 people that Intel's trying to sell an accelerator module for a hard drive to 111 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:58,080 have a brand new system. And I would question why exactly it is that they 112 00:08:54,480 --> 00:09:00,640 don't then have a boot SSD for that 113 00:08:58,080 --> 00:09:05,120 aforementioned system. But I'd love to hear that I'm wrong. Let me know you 114 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:10,880 guys based on what you know now that Optane is flipping cool and that it 115 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:13,680 really does work. Do you see this as a 116 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:17,920 valid way to use your system or would you just kind of go, you know what, I'll 117 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:23,040 use one of these until I can get a much bigger one of these. You know what's 118 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:28,560 awesome? Home-cooked meals. You know what sucks? It's actually the worst part 119 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:32,560 is like thinking about what to make and shopping for the ingredients. If only 120 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:37,760 there was a solution. All right. Blue Apron. Blue Apron delivers all the farm 121 00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:41,680 fresh ingredients you need right to your doorstep in exactly the right 122 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:46,959 proportions. So there's no trip to the grocery store and no waste from unused 123 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:51,600 ingredients. They're delivered in a refrigerated box so everything is fresh 124 00:09:49,839 --> 00:09:56,080 even when you're not at home when your package arrives. And their whole vision 125 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:59,760 is to develop a more sustainable food system through sustainable fishing, 126 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:04,720 responsible farming, and reducing food waste. They've got two types of plans, 127 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:10,160 the twoerson plan and the family plan. And there is no commitment. You can skip 128 00:10:06,959 --> 00:10:12,640 or cancel the service at any time. And 129 00:10:10,160 --> 00:10:17,200 the first 100 people will get three free meals on their first Blue Apron order 130 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:20,079 using the link in the video description. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you 131 00:10:18,560 --> 00:10:23,350 enjoyed this video, then you can click that like button. I mean, there is also 132 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:24,720 the other one, but 133 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:29,600 and if you really enjoyed it, you can get subscribed. You can check out where 134 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:32,560 to buy the stuff we featured at the link in the video description. And you can 135 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:36,560 check out both our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one, and our 136 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:43,240 community forum, which we will also have linked, you know, down there, if you 137 00:10:39,760 --> 00:10:43,240 know what I mean. 138 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:50,079 I'm always watching out of the corner of my eye for the camera person to uh 139 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:53,399 cringe. Then I know I've delivered it just right. 140 00:10:54,079 --> 00:10:56,320 Oh.