Intel takes different tack on PC performance with launch of Optane 2280 storage cache

Intel claims that M.2 compatible Optane 2280 will boost PC load times

While AMD has been busy launching its new Ryzen CPUs to generally positive reviews, Intel has instead focused on storage, with the launch this week of the Optane 2280.

Intended as a M.2 compatible intelligent cache that plugs-in to the PCI-e slot on the motherboard, the Optane 2280 comes in 16GB or 32GB varieties. Intel claims that the device will help radically improve the speed with which PC applications are launched.

It comes just a week after Intel launched the 375GB Optane DC P4800X datacentre SSD, which is intended to do much the same thing for datacentre loads.

Intel claims that a slew of motherboard makers and PC manufacturers are lined-up to support the Optane 2280.

Indeed, the Optane 2280 will be supported by HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer, among others, shipping consumer and business PCs equipped with Optane from April, according to Intel.

The company also claims that all the major motherboard manufacturers are readying supporting boards, including Asus, Evga, Gigabyte and MSI. Pre-orders are already being taken and the devices will ship on 24 April.

The M.2 compatible Optane 2280 uses 3D XPoint memory, a technology developed by Intel and memory-chip maker Micron. Faster than NAND flash, but slower than DRAM, it is intended to be used as a cache managed by Intel's Rapid Storage Technology.

This is similar in conception to the SSD caches touted a few years ago by companies like SanDisk to provide a performance boost to conventional hard-disk drives at a time when SSDs were expensive.

"Intel Optane memory enables PCs to deliver significantly more performance and faster load times across a broad range of personal computing experiences," claimed Intel's Navin Shenoy, senior vice president and general manager for the Client Computing Group at the company.

He continued: "It will enable new levels of PC responsiveness for everything from compute-intensive engineering applications to high-end gaming, digital content creation, web browsing and even everyday office productivity applications."

While the device hasn't been independently benchtested yet, and Intel hasn't released any of its own figures, Shenoy claimed that Optane would enable a PC to boot-up twice as fast and provide storage performance "up to" 14 times faster.

"Applications like Microsoft Outlook will launch up to nearly six times faster, the Chrome browser launches up to five times faster, games launch up to 67 per cent faster, and levels load up to 65 per cent faster," insisted Shenoy.

Optane was first introduced at the Intel Developer Forum in 2015 and its commercial release coincides with the launch by rival AMD of Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 CPUs.

These are arguably the first competitive CPUs from AMD in ten or so years, with AMD looking like it will only ratchet up the pressure on Intel, while undercutting the company either in terms of price or performance.

There are already signs that the release of the Ryzen-series of CPUs is having an impact on prices - at the least, on the prices of AMD's existing devices.