Intel Will Add SSD Caching Support to Its P67 Motherboards – Report

Intel is getting ready to add support for the so called Smart Response SSD caching technology to some of its older motherboards based on the P67 Express chipset, although the company said previously this wasn't possible.

According to a report posted just recently by VR-Zone, the Santa Clara chip giant plans towards the end of next month to add support for the Smart Response technology to a series of motherboards based on the P67 PCH (platform controller hub).

The LGA 1155 boards in question are the mid-range DP67BA and DP67DE, two solutions that were released at about the same time with the Intel Sandy Bridge processors.

This move is a bit odd considering Intel stated previously the P67 chipset can't support SSD caching through the SRT (Smart Response Technology).

No information regarding how will this technology be implemented in the P67 chipsets is available at this time.

However, it's extremely likely that SRT support will be introduced via a BIOS update and a series of new drivers.

Right now we don't know if Intel plans to enable SSD caching in other P67 motherboards, but it goes to show how many of the chipset features are just artificial limitations for product differentiation, that aren't based on any specific hardware capabilities.

SSD caching allows users to speed up their storage system by pairing together a solid state disk with an HDD and using the former as a fast cache memory for the hard drive.

Real world testing has revealed that the SRT offers a tangible speed improvement over using just a hard drive, although its has its limitations especially as far as boot times are concerned.

In related news, the end of October should also mark the introduction of the Intel DZ68PL and DZ68AF motherboards based on the Z68 Express chipset.

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