Intel Set to Enable Overclocking Of Solid-State Drives.

Intel to Demo SSD Overclocking at IDF Next Month

It is possible to overclock nearly everything these days. Microprocessors, graphics cards, memory; even game consoles and smartphones can be overclocked. As it appears, it is also possible to overclock solid-state drives (SSDs). In fact, Intel Corp. plans to demonstrate how to boost performance of SSDs yourself at the upcoming Intel Developer Forum next month.

Intel Set to Enable Overclocking of Solid-State Drives - X-bit labs

 

good god why would you want to? data corruption is already barely under control with the smaller geometry NAND let alone with unstable operating clocks. I can understand maybe overclocking the controllers themselves but I wouldn't touch the NAND.

 

ntel Shows PAX Attendees SSD Overclocking!

The Intel Developer Forum is next month and on the agenda is a workshop on SSD Overclocking with a new prototype Intel SSD! We were expecting to learn all about that next month, but it appears that Intel wanted to get some community feedback before IDF and they are showing off SSD Overclocking right now at PAX Prime.
Read more at Intel Shows PAX Attendees SSD Overclocking! - Legit Reviews

Intel Shows PAX Attendees SSD Overclocking! - Legit Reviews

The rumor is Intel to release 'K' series of SSDs that would be overclockable.

 

Everything is overclocked these days. Wonder if I can overclock my coffee machine.

 

I see this 'ability' as nothing new, nor exciting.

SSD's have always been throttled up to now (eg. SF based drives with DuraWrite 'tech', lately some specific SSD's throttle due to temps (M500, etc.) and while the marketing guru's claim otherwise, the root cause has always been excess heat (along with trying to keep the power usage in check) with no reliable way to dissipate it efficiently.

This is why some claim they see no difference between SSD's (they're all effectively working in the same 'envelope' - especially in most consumer notebooks).

In a properly setup/cooled platform - with an appropriate SSD (ie. without DuraWrite crap, etc.) - the real world differences are obvious in my setups.


What O/C'ing an SSD does is try to take away these artificial limitations at least as long as the temps behave.

In my opinion, O/C'ing an SSD is just a waste of time and I would have serious doubts that this will become available soon.


What we need are real solutions to the heat these devices put out (built into the chassis design) and firmware that doesn't try to second guess/adjust for the inadequacies and outright marketing lies (no noise! no heat!) the current nand chips inherently have.


Whether an SSD or a HDD try to dissipate 5W+ of heat - the drive and the notebook chassis should be able to handle it, first. SSD's aren't special in any way in this regard; even if the current 70 Celsius is above the 55-60 Celsius HDD's can handle 'safely' (depending on the HDD model). Actually, SSD's are worse: the nand accuracy and lifespan decrease exponentially with the increased heat (and can easily heat up to higher levels if used heavily/allowed), while the HDD's will plateau temperature-wise (because they can only 'perform' at so high a level).


As usual, first principles need to be addressed first:


Give us the great quality nand.
Give us great controller design.
Give us great firmware.
Give this in a package that is properly designed (for cool running).
Give us notebook chassis' that take this fact of SSD's into their cooling equation.

and...

Viola, we have an effectively O/C'd SSD we can count on.


Dual/triple core cpu's and TLC nand that needs much higher erase/write current to be programmed properly need not apply.

As was the case back in the HDD's heyday - the most efficient use of power (ie. the least heat produced for the same work...) is what makes the best 'balanced' storage device (Hitachi won that battle almost every time with their TravelStar line).

Intel had that with the 320 Series SSD's (160GB and larger).



To me, this feels like Intel is simply exposing some of it's internal tools used to optimize a drive's performance vs. power/heat characteristics before the firmware is finalized.


To use this on a personal/production machine would seem careless at best.