▷ Intel optane what it is and what it is for

We explain what the new Intel Optane memories are and what they are for. And it is that in the search for increasingly faster computers, Intel constantly presents new updates to its products.

One of the company's most dramatic introductions lately has been its Intel Optane memory, released alongside the seventh generation of Core series processors. Optane as technology and implementation is quite confusing, even once you exceed the basic requirements. We've put together this post with everything you need to know about Intel Optane.

Index of contents

What is Intel Optane memory and how does it work?

Optane is Intel's registered term for a new class of super-fast memory modules. The name specifically refers to the memory itself, not an individual format, but is currently primarily marketed on an M.2 card, being compatible only with compatible motherboards that can use seventh and eighth generation Intel processors. Memory stands out for achieving super low latency, as fast as 10 microseconds.

We recommend reading our post about Intel Optane vs SSD: all the information

Intel Optane is not a conventional type of random access memory, or RAM, and it is not a technology that is being used for conventional storage, at least not at the consumer level. The consumer M.2 Optane modules initially came in capacities of 16GB and 32GB, these are designed to function as a cache bridge between RAM and storage, allowing for faster data transfer between memory, storage and processor. We can imagine Optane as a supercharger for a conventional gasoline engine, it's not a necessary component for the engine to run, and it doesn't replace any existing parts, it just makes everything run faster.

Intel Optane is basically a next-generation version of Intel's Intelligent Response Technology (SRT), which could use cheap, low-capacity SSDs to cache data for slower, larger-capacity conventional hard drives. The difference is that Optane uses memory made and sold by Intel, along with special hardware and software components on compatible motherboards.

While the Optane brand is currently limited to super-fast M.2 cache modules on the consumer side, Intel is already selling Optane storage units for corporate data centers. These are closer to conventional SSDs, bringing that fast and expensive memory directly to the storage component of mission-critical servers. Right now, the industrial-class Optane 905p storage unit mounts 960 GB of storage directly into a PCI Express slot, and those drives sell for over a thousand dollars. Optane 800p may be the driving force behind the implementation of this technology at the domestic level, as it offers modules of up to 118 GB with which to cache a large number of applications and greatly accelerate a mechanical hard drive.

The following table summarizes the main characteristics of the different models based on Intel Optane:

Intel Optane models on the market
Model	Function	Format	Interface	Memory	Capacity	Sequential reading and writing	Random read and write	Resistance
Optane 16 GB	Cache	M.2 2280	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2	3D XPoint	16 GB	900 MB / s and 145 MB / s	190000IOPS and 35, 000 IOPS	182.5 TB
Optane 32GB	Cache	M.2 2280	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2	3D XPoint	32 GB	1350 MB / s and 290 MB / s	240, 000 IOPS and 65, 000 IOPS	182.5 TB
Optane 800p 64GB	Cache	M.2 2280	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2	3D XPoint	64 GB	1450 MB / s and 640 MB / s	255, 000 IOPS and 145, 000 IOPS	365 TB
Optane 800p 128 GB	Cache	M.2 2280	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2	3D XPoint	118 GB	1450 MB / s and 640 MB / s	255, 000 IOPS and 145, 000 IOPS	365 TB
Optane 900p	Storage	PCI Express	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4	3D XPoint	280 GB 480 GB	2500 MB / s and 2000 MB / s	550000 IOPS and 500000 IOPS	8.76 PB
Optane 905p	Storage	PCI Express	PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4	3D XPoint	480 GB 960 GB	2, 600 MB / s and 2, 200 MB / s	575000 IOPS / 550000 IOPS	17.52 PB

Intel Optane benefits

An Intel Optane memory module to a 7th-core Core motherboard can accelerate overall performance by 28%, with a 1400% increase in data access for a hard drive design, in addition to offering twice the capacity of response of daily tasks.

These claims are based on the SYSmark 2014 SE benchmarks and the PCMark Vantage HDD Suite, so they are quite reliable. That said, the actual hardware used to test those numbers is hardly an industry leader: Intel used a mid-range Core i5-7500 processor, 8GB of DDR4-2400 memory, and a conventional 1TB hard drive with a speed of 7200 RPM.. That's a decent system, but without the Optane plugin almost everything with an SSD installed will outperform it in terms of storage access and responsiveness.

Anandtech conducted a series of more intensive benchmarks using the same SYSmark 2014 test. They found that combining an Optane memory module with a conventional rotating hard drive could increase overall system performance and, in some cases, outperform an SSD, but it is still preferable to use a simple SSD configuration over a hard drive plus a Optane memory module, especially if you can afford a 1TB or denser SSD.

The tests make clear that a hard drive with Optane barely exceeds the speed of a conventional SSD, which will become much slower once Optane's capacity has been saturated and it can no longer save more data as a cache. For the price of a 1TB hard drive with a 32GB Optane module we can buy a 512GB SSD, more than enough capacity for most users.

Is Intel Optane worth it?

As the Optane modules are quite expensive performance plugins, approximately 37 euros for the 16GB M.2 card and 60 euros for the 32GB version, at the time of writing. The second generation of Optane, known as Intel 800p offers broader capabilities, since it is already possible to purchase 128 GB and 256 GB units for prices of approximately 130 euros and 200 euros. This is still a much higher cost per GB than NAND memory based SSDs, this is Optane's main drawback and it will make its adoption quite slow. We can currently buy a conventional 1TB SATA SSD for 200 euros or less.

To all this you have to take into account some things like that you will need the latest seventh or eighth generation processor and a compatible motherboard to take advantage of it. Second, while Intel is touting performance for more or less any situation and application, the most dramatic improvements come from a system with a hard drive and not SSD storage, which is becoming increasingly popular.

You'll need a compatible motherboard, but that motherboard also needs an Intel chipset that supports Optane and at least one M.2 expansion slot. There is a list of compatible boards from ASUS, Asrock, Biostar, ECS, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, and SuperMicro. They range in size from mini-ITX to ATX, so system builders have plenty of options. Optane generally works with the Z270 chipset and all 300 series chipsets. Currently, the Optane software component is only compatible with Windows 10.