New firmware release... Today? When?

[idata]

The end of the month is here and now the community want their new firmware!

I want some reliable info about the release. No false statements!! Is It coming today? Or?

I believe this question is asked over and over again, but I ask It again anyway

[idata]

I've been monitoring this site for the past two weeks, waiting for the firmware update tool to reappear. This is my first post and the only thing I can say is how disappointed I am with Intel. I spent a premium on this new X-25 G2 so I could get the TRIM firmware update. Now that Intel has withdrawn it, I'm seriously considering sending it back to exchange it for the new Kingston SSDNow V Series Boot Drive that Anand Shimpi wrote about in the last issue of CPU Mag. Same controller as the Intel, but only $129 for the 40GB model. Anand has done the research and knows more about SSD's than anyone at this point. If he likes the new Kingston SSD, I'm willing to give it a try. For the price I paid for this X-25, I can buy four of them!

[idata]

remember, right now there are like only three major controller makers. Intel, Indilinx (sp), and Samsung. Doesn't really matter what the brand (OCZ,Supertalent, Kingston, etc). If the main controller maker doesn't have a firmware the OEM company won't have their own to build off from. Look at OCZ, they couldn't put GC or TRIM into their firmwares, until Indilinx released theirs. That's because they have to build off theirs. Now take a look at the OCZ summit. No new firmware because samsung hasn't released theirs yet. So basically you won't have much to choose from regarding firmware upgrades. They'll all use one of those controllers. The only difference the the memory they use.

[idata]

The difference is the PRICE! Why should I pay 4 times as much for Intel when there is no TRIM firmware? If there is no firmware upgrade, there is no reason to pay extra for the Intel SSD's any more.

[idata]

It's not all price. Read the article by Anand. Intel created a good product and Anand's article details this. This is why the Intel SSD really performs well in benchmarking. This is why Intel will not divulge how their SSD works to reviewers; OCZ did not take that route and they explained how their SSD's work. Speed-wise the Intel SSD is slower than OCZ's, but the Intel SSD does a more efficient job of trying to keep the performance of the SSD up EVEN without TRIM and "garbage collection" which OCZ uses. I have 3 Intel SSD, 2 gen 1s and 1 gen 2, and they continue to perform at their spec.

You are not paying for "TRIM", you are paying for Intel's implementation of their SSD which has their own proprietary firmware.

[idata]

Their announcement from 2 weeks ago simply said they "planned" to issue a new firmware by the end of the month.

I'd take that to mean they thought it was something they'd normally get figured out within a couple weeks. But I'd also figure the priority is on getting it corrected and tested rather than rushing to meet some arbitrary "deadline" only to see the cycle occur all over again.

Back when they said to expect a TRIM firmware at the time of Windows 7 release, they had one out within roughly a week -- and it was problematic. I'd personally lay off rushing them, and keep the emphasis on them getting things correct, even if it takes another week or two. I personally don't want to deal with a hosed drive.

And if people are going to jump down their throats for things like that announcement from a couple weeks ago, and expect it to be a hard deadline, it's almost no surprise they don't say anything frequently, period. It's not like they have a 100% tested fix and are just being lazy and holding out on getting it posted or something.