Intel SSD Generational Shift – Performance/Part Number Ordering Considerations

While researching our purchase of Intel SSD drives, the plethora of part numbers for what seems to be the same product needed to be sorted out.

Here is the product grid from Intel’s Solid State Drive page (Intel Partner Site):

Now, SSD drive technology has been known to have issues out of the box with performance degradation over time:

• Long-term performance analysis of Intel Mainstream SSDs
• Excellent article explains a lot about SSDs, performance degradation, how to maintain performance, and more.
• Intel can't yet replicate published SSD performance drop
• The controversy continues.

Intel’s performance grid also from the Intel Reseller site:

It seems that the second generation 34nm products are showing themselves to be a vast improvement over the 50nm first generation products:

• AnandTech: The SSD Relapse: Understanding and Choosing the Best SSD 

Okay, so how do we figure out what product is in which generation?

Let’s have a look at one of our supplier’s pricing grid:

Note that the pricing reflects what we see in the actual grid.

Now, the listing is essentially for the same product. An 80GB Intel X25-M SSD.

But, two things stand out in the grid:

• Obviously one version is less expensive than the other.
• The less expensive items have a product code of xxxxG2C1 or xxxxG2R5.

In the product part number, the G2 near the end of the part number indicates the generation, second or 34nm version, of the Solid-State Drive.

Keep this in mind when considering an order for Intel SSDs. The newer generation drives deal with the fragmentation issue and are less expensive.

The catch is, at this time we need to wait for at least a couple of weeks or more before the G2 product is available. That may be too long for those that require the products now.

We still see a lot of first generation, G1xx, product stock with our various suppliers, so some may be a bit leery of stocking the newer generation products at a lesser price.

Intel’s public product site:

• Intel® X25-M and X18-M Mainstream SATA Solid-State Drives
• Solid-State Drives and Caching

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

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Ingram Micro Canada - Frustating - Infuriating - Downright Obnoxious

NOTE: Frustration induced post...

Up here in Canada, we have essentially the Big Three suppliers for purchasing IT stuff at jobber/wholesale:

• Synnex
• Tech Data
• Ingram Micro

There are a couple of others that we have dealt with from time to time.

While we are not a large I.T. business by any means, our sales do make a difference.

Here is our breakdown for purchases:

1. Synnex 70%
2. Tech Data 24%
3. Other 5%
4. Ingram Micro 1%

There are reasons we only give Ingram Micro Canada less than 1% of our business:

1. Try getting an RMA within the alloted time frame for that product
2. Try getting product recovery that was damaged in shipping
3. Try getting the RMA credit back.

Today, we came across a situation that absolutley dumbfounds: We were issued an RMA for a DOA laptop in January where the credit is still not reflected on the credit card.

So, we called up the customer service folks at Ingram Micro to find out why there is a credit sitting in their bank that belongs to us almost 3 weeks later. Apparently the credit needed to be processed manually!

Not only that, we were the ones that needed to chase them down in order to get that credit issued. No phone call from their customer service people to say, "Mr. Elder, there was a hang up in our system and your credit will be processed as soon as we clarify things" around the time the original RMA credit transaction happened.

The kicker is this: Checking our Ingram online statement while talking with the customer service representative showed another credit from quite a while ago. Upon requesting clarification on that credit, it too had not been issued!

Folks, want to really insert expletive here off your clients? Hang onto their money for a little while with no explanation or initiative to give it back.

When looking back across the transactions we have done with Ingram Micro over the last number years, less than 10% of them were trouble free. To rephrase: Over 90% of all transactions we have ever done with Ingram Micro Canada had a problem.

Folks, just because a company is the cheapest on the block, doesn't mean that we are going to buy from them. The extra point or two that we pay at the other guys is justified when we need to turn to them for anything and they give us the red carpet treatment.

And believe me, the extra service from phone calls from our sales representatives, to product promotions calls, to "how are things going" calls from the various Synnex and Tech Data people makes a whole world of difference to us.

That same standard we hold to those we deal with in our day to day business life is the one we hold against our own business: Our clients and their business come first.

Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists

*All Mac on SBS posts are posted on our in-house iMac via the Safari Web browser.