Intel Optane memory stirs excitement among owners of PCs with older hard disk drives or slower solid state disks. To be at par with current data processing speed, Intel Optane can provide a much-needed boost by acting as a high-speed cache that comes in at 16GB and 32GB. But while it is a nice alternative to the NVMe SSDs, Intel gave some specific requirements before any PC can qualify.
To be blunt about the requisite, PC should be running with Intel Core processors and not the Y-series. M2 slot is also a requirement for Intel Optane, apart from the seventh generation of processors mentioned. While a bit frustrating for the Y-series owners, Intel is at least prudent to be more specific, Tech Report has learned. At least, Intel deserves credit for being honest about the limitations and benefits of Optane.
If these explanations are not sufficient, here is a bit of layman terminology. PCs with Intel Pentium and Celeron are definitely out of the list. Even the newer CPUs with Core Y-series are out of the equation. The Intel Optane particularly needs processors within the Core i3, Core i5, and Core i7 family. Ironically, it may be observed that netbooks and fanless notebooks were shunned while Intel Optane favors the expensive processors in the first place, Digital Trends stressed.
A bit of advice; those who are tight in the budget should prefer buying PCs with seventh-generation processors paired with low-powered SSDs. In this way, Intel Optane can be a later upgrade when the demand for boost presents. Either way, users can also opt for high-speed SSD instead of Optane. At least there is flexibility through this way.
Lastly, buyers of new PC should bear in mind when choosing their machine that Intel Optane is not the only cheap option. There are alternative routes when building a PC for better storage and processing power. Intel Optane is just one of several performance boosters when high-speed SSD is not cost-effective.
