Intel prepping even faster SSDs for fall

Intel will add to its upcoming solid-state drive line with a special high-performance range when it appears in the fall, a leaked presentation slide shows. Where the already publicized X18-M and X25-M drives will have fast read access but focus on power saving, a new Extreme series will focus on raw performance. These will read data at 240MB per second but write much faster than the M drives, climbing from 70MB to 170MB per second; the line is targeted at those demanding full performance for servers and other very high-speed tasks, the presentation suggests.

The still unconfirmed line would come in just a single 2.5-inch form that will fit into normal-sized notebooks as well as some blade and rackmount servers; storage will allegedly be limited to just 32GB and 64GB when the drive appears in the fall.

Further information coming with the leak also hints at slight delays for one of the regular speed drives; a 1.8-inch, 160GB drive for ultraportables now isn't scheduled to ship until early 2009. Intel is still expected to release 80GB drives in both 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch shapes by the end of the summer and should have a 2.5-inch 160GB drive in the fall.