Intel says its Optane M.2 caching drive can accelerate HDDs to SSD-like speeds.

Hot off the heels of announcing its crazy fast $1,520 enterprise Optane SSD, Intel is releasing its more affordable Optane Memory solution geared towards the mainstream market. According to the company, this can boost hard drive performance to traditional SATA-based SSD-like speeds with your most-used games and applications.

Using Intel's Rapid Storage Technology Driver, the company says Optane Memory automatically caches your most common computing tasks to accelerate them. The company claims it also improves system boot times. The drive is designed for users who want the capacious storage of a hard drive coupled with the speed of an SSD. The M.2 caching drive is based on the same 3D Xpoint architecture as the DC P4800X and comes in two sizes: 16 GB and 32 GB.

One caveat is that users will need a 7th generation Kaby Lake CPU coupled with a 200-series motherboard that has a 22x80 M.2 slot.

The 16 GB variant will retail for $44 and Intel suggest that it offers enough cache for most mainstream users. Power users, who use more applications, should look to the $77 32 GB drive.

Expect non-caching SSDs built entirely on Intel's super fast Optane technology to release at a later date.

source: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/in.../1100-6448933/