Intel's Octane Memory: A Game-Changer for Storage and Performance

I have to admit that I never really paid much attention to Intel's Octane memory until now. I had a vague idea what it was, but that's about it. However, it turns out that Octane is actually a pretty big deal. Essentially, it's either a very fast storage drive like one of the options shown in this video or a small capacity acceleration drive also known as a caching drive.

The technology behind Octane is actually really interesting. It uses a brand new type of memory technology developed by Intel called 3D Crosspoint. This is different from traditional NAND memory that we get with normal SSDs. Instead, Octane uses non-volatile memory like normal SSDs but can deliver performance like volatile memory similar to the sticks of DRAM that you have on your PC. This means that we can potentially get the capacity of a NAND SSD with the low latency speed of DRAM.

In terms of how it works, Octane is very fast and very low latency compared to a normal SSD. It's much quicker at receiving and executing commands, which is why it really shines in benchmarks when looking at 4K sequential read and write times or running low Q dev tests. However, what does this mean in the real world? In short, Octane can speed up your storage by caching or storing your most often used apps, games, and files.

I've got a 32GB Octane memory stick here that will cost you around £55 in the UK. You can get a 16GB version for half the price. If you have a desktop PC like this, you may already have an SSD boot drive with Windows on it, but because SSDs are still a lot more expensive than traditional mechanical hard disks, especially at larger capacities if you need lots of storage for your games, videos, and apps, you may have a hard drive like this with 1-2TB of storage. This hard drive is slow, slow when running Windows or opening files on a drive, which can be painful if you're used to SSD speeds.

So, what does this little opt-in stick do? It speeds up your storage by caching or storing your most often used apps, games, and files. Whatever you have on your hard drive whether it's Windows, your Steam library, Photoshop, Premiere Pro, it'll all load faster if you pair it with an Octane memory stick. This is pretty easy to set up as well; you just plug this into an M2 slot on your motherboard, download the Intel software (links in the description), select which drive you want to speed up and click enable, and one reboot later, you'll see the results.

However, there are some fairly hefty restrictions. Octane only works on PCs running Windows 10 with an Intel 200 series or newer motherboard and a KB Lake I three or better processor. This means that not everyone can use it. However, even if you do have a modern PC but maybe still have a big hard drive for your Steam library or videos, you can definitely see adding a nice little Octane memory stick to that and making it feel like an SSD.

The future of Octane is looking exciting as well. We're actually seeing the first generation of laptops with Intel Octane memory coming out now, which I'm really excited about. Making a separate video on the speed difference between two identical laptops one with Octane and one without is pretty incredible, so make sure you subscribe to not miss that.

Finally, speaking of Intel, I've teamed up with them to give away another brand new i7 8700 K processor. You can check the description and my pin comment for details on how to win.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enif I'm being honest I never really paid that much attention to intel's octane memory I've heard of it had a vague idea what it was but that's about it but it turns out obtains actually a pretty big deal essentially it's either a very fast storage drive like one of these or a small capacity acceleration drive also known as a caching drive like this that can make your old and slow mechanical hard drive feel as fast as an SSD how does that actually work the technology behind obtain is actually really interesting it uses a brand new type of memory technology developed by Intel called 3d crosspoint that's instead of traditional NAND memory we get with normal SSDs now getting into how obtain is non-volatile memory like normal SSDs but can deliver performance like volatile memory similar to the sticks of DRAM you have on your PC is kind of fascinating if you're a nerd like me as it means we can potentially get the capacity of a NAND SSD with the low latency speed of DRAM but that's getting a little bit technical this is supposed to be a quick explainer so without getting into the nitty gritty too much obtained is very fast and very low latency compared to a normal SSD it's much quicker we're receiving and executing commands so in benchmarks it really shines when we look at 4k sequential read and write times or running low Q dev tests so that's all lovely and very technical and quite boring but what does it mean in the real world well as I say you can get a storage drive like this or an obtain memory stick like this and I think this is where the real magic is I've got the 32 gig obtain memory stick here which will cost you about 55 pounds here in the UK you can get a 16 gig version for half the price and let's say you have a desktop PC like this you may already have an SSD boot drive with windows on it but because SSDs are still a lot more expensive than traditional mechanical hard disks like this especially at larger capacities if you need lots of storage for your games your videos your apps you may have a hard drive like this with say 1 2 3 4 terabytes of storage but this hard drive is slow very slow running windows or opening files on a drive is painful if you're used to SSDs speeds so what this little opt-in stick can do is speed this up it caches or stores you're most often used apps games and files whatever you have on your hard drive whether it's windows your Steam library Photoshop Premiere Pro it'll all load faster if you pair it with an obtained stick and it's pretty easy to set up as well you just plug this into an m2 slot on your motherboard download the Intel software I put links in the description select which drive you want to speed up and then click enable one reboot later and you'll start to see the results there are some fairly hefty restrictions though obtained only works on PCs running Windows 10 with an Intel 200 series or newer motherboard and a KB Lake I three or better processor so you'll need a pretty modern PC to use it so it's not gonna be for everyone but even if you do have a modern PC but maybe you still do have a big hard drive for your steam library or your videos whatever you have in your PC then I can definitely see adding a nice little obtain stick to that and making it feel like an SSD is gonna be a big upgrade and considering the price of this I think it's definitely worth doing however what I think is going to be even more interesting is obtained in laptops we're actually now seeing the first generation of laptops with Intel obtain memory coming out which I'm really excited about and making a separate video on which you're not going to want to miss the speed difference between two identical laptops one with octane one without is pretty incredible make sure you do subscribe so you don't miss that speaking of Intel I've teamed up with them to give away another brand new i7 8700 K processor you can check the description and my pin comment for details on how to win thank you so much for watching guys do hit that like and subscribe button down there somewhere if you enjoyed this video I'll see you next time right here on the tech jackif I'm being honest I never really paid that much attention to intel's octane memory I've heard of it had a vague idea what it was but that's about it but it turns out obtains actually a pretty big deal essentially it's either a very fast storage drive like one of these or a small capacity acceleration drive also known as a caching drive like this that can make your old and slow mechanical hard drive feel as fast as an SSD how does that actually work the technology behind obtain is actually really interesting it uses a brand new type of memory technology developed by Intel called 3d crosspoint that's instead of traditional NAND memory we get with normal SSDs now getting into how obtain is non-volatile memory like normal SSDs but can deliver performance like volatile memory similar to the sticks of DRAM you have on your PC is kind of fascinating if you're a nerd like me as it means we can potentially get the capacity of a NAND SSD with the low latency speed of DRAM but that's getting a little bit technical this is supposed to be a quick explainer so without getting into the nitty gritty too much obtained is very fast and very low latency compared to a normal SSD it's much quicker we're receiving and executing commands so in benchmarks it really shines when we look at 4k sequential read and write times or running low Q dev tests so that's all lovely and very technical and quite boring but what does it mean in the real world well as I say you can get a storage drive like this or an obtain memory stick like this and I think this is where the real magic is I've got the 32 gig obtain memory stick here which will cost you about 55 pounds here in the UK you can get a 16 gig version for half the price and let's say you have a desktop PC like this you may already have an SSD boot drive with windows on it but because SSDs are still a lot more expensive than traditional mechanical hard disks like this especially at larger capacities if you need lots of storage for your games your videos your apps you may have a hard drive like this with say 1 2 3 4 terabytes of storage but this hard drive is slow very slow running windows or opening files on a drive is painful if you're used to SSDs speeds so what this little opt-in stick can do is speed this up it caches or stores you're most often used apps games and files whatever you have on your hard drive whether it's windows your Steam library Photoshop Premiere Pro it'll all load faster if you pair it with an obtained stick and it's pretty easy to set up as well you just plug this into an m2 slot on your motherboard download the Intel software I put links in the description select which drive you want to speed up and then click enable one reboot later and you'll start to see the results there are some fairly hefty restrictions though obtained only works on PCs running Windows 10 with an Intel 200 series or newer motherboard and a KB Lake I three or better processor so you'll need a pretty modern PC to use it so it's not gonna be for everyone but even if you do have a modern PC but maybe you still do have a big hard drive for your steam library or your videos whatever you have in your PC then I can definitely see adding a nice little obtain stick to that and making it feel like an SSD is gonna be a big upgrade and considering the price of this I think it's definitely worth doing however what I think is going to be even more interesting is obtained in laptops we're actually now seeing the first generation of laptops with Intel obtain memory coming out which I'm really excited about and making a separate video on which you're not going to want to miss the speed difference between two identical laptops one with octane one without is pretty incredible make sure you do subscribe so you don't miss that speaking of Intel I've teamed up with them to give away another brand new i7 8700 K processor you can check the description and my pin comment for details on how to win thank you so much for watching guys do hit that like and subscribe button down there somewhere if you enjoyed this video I'll see you next time right here on the tech jack\n"