Why Did Intel Even Make This? – Optane 800P SSD

The video begins by noting that consumer SSDs have finally reached a level of affordability and capacity where they could realistically replace hard drives, which leads to the central question: why did Intel release the Optane 800P as a small, expensive option for enthusiasts in 2018? The host explains that the 800P comes in a standard M.2 form factor and can function as a regular boot drive or as an accelerator for a secondary drive, though with limitations on its accelerator capabilities for now. The discussion dives into the notable tradeoffs: 58GB and 118GB SKUs, pricing that seems high for the limited capacity, and the fact that Intel markets Optane more for latency and real-world responsiveness than raw throughput. The host shares personal impressions from booting off the 118GB drive and proceeds to synthetic benchmarks like CrystalDiskMark, showing that random reads can be competitive while random writes lag behind a high-end NAND SSD, with latency improvements highlighted as a key advantage. In real-world tasks such as Word, Excel, and Chrome, Optane demonstrates modest gains in load times, while applications that launch many programs or large video editing workloads do not always show dramatic improvements. The video then explores the potential use cases, including the possibility of RAID, the idea of using Optane as a small, fast scratch disk, and the broader question of who would actually benefit given the price and capacity. The host concludes that while Optane represents strong technology with low latency, it does not currently provide a compelling value proposition as a boot drive for mainstream consumers, and suggests that future price reductions or different configurations might alter its appeal. The video closes with a broader takeaway: Intel’s Optane is excellent technology for certain workloads, particularly where latency matters, but the consumer case remains murky, leaving viewers to weigh whether the benefits justify the cost for their own setups.

Topics · technology · hardware · storage · performance