Intel launches Octane SSD 905P offering up to 575,000 IOPS for random read

Intel Octane 905P SSD very fast, but very expensive

Intel has cranked up performance of its latest Optane solid-state disc drive (SSD), the Optane SSD 905P.

The company claims that it can achieve up to 575,000 IOPS for random read, and 555,000 IOPS [input/output operations per second] for random write.

By way of a comparison, the highly regarded Samsung 960 Evo M.2 NVMe SSD offers around 350,000 IOPS.

Sequentially it offers 2,600MB/s read and 2200MB/s write which isn't nearly as exciting with so many other drives offering more in the same ballpark, but with random speeds like this, you're really going to notice the difference in some key areas - it will be able to find and action data stored on the disc almost as soon as you hit the enter key.

The 905P is already 25,000 IOPS (read) and 50,000 IOPS (write) faster than the last generation of Intel drive - the Optane 900P - released less than a year ago.

This is a separate comparison to the ‘SSD killer' Optane 800P which uses 3D XPoint instead of traditional SSD tech, and is still too expensive for primetime. Just don't be fooled by the model numbers.

And as if that wasn't enough Intel is offering the devices with a maximum capacity of 960GB against the 480GB of the 900P.

The PCie expansion card has RGB lighting to attract the kind of people who like their PCs to light up like Christmas trees every time they turn them on.

However, you'll have to dig deep if you want one: The PCie version will cost around £830 for the 960GB capacity, with the more traditional 2.5-inch version topping out at 480GB for around £445.

While the SSD isn't for everyday users web surfing, emailing and typing the odd document, it may appeal to gamers, power users and professionals with hefty compute requirements, as well as organisations requiring maximum performance on their servers.