The desktop computing industry is known for developing the speeds of processors, memories, and graphics cards. However, there is one component that has been left behind in terms of speed, and that is storage. In its bid to upgrade the current state of storage components, Intel recently unveiled the company's newest and very fast Optane storage technology.

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Intel said that Optane will essentially replace SSDs and DRAMs in the future. Oddly enough, Optane's form factor looks a lot like an SSD.

Aside from being a traditional storage option, Intel said that Optane can be used as a memory module as well. In terms of speeds, Optane is reportedly 10 times faster than conventional SSDs. With this claim, it is important to note that no real world tests have been done yet, and Intel's claims are solely based on in-house testing results.

Intel unveiled the first Optane storage at this year's Consumer Electronics Show. According to PC World, it is a low-capacity model that is to be used as a cache rather than as a primary storage option. It comes in two variants: 16GB and 32GB.

Intel's new Optane technology was developed alongside Micron. According to The Register, it is based on a technology called 3D Xpoint wherein memory cells are arranged in a three-dimensional mesh.

The first variants of Optane are only compatible with Kaby Lake processors. Intel said that it will not support older Intel processors like Broadwell or Skylake, as well as processors made by AMD. Intel did not confirm whether it will change this stance in the future.

TagsIntel, intel optane, Optane, Optane SSD, optane memory, optane RAM, intel optane ssd