As you might know, the new Intel Z68 chipset features a technology called Smart Response that copies your most commonly used applications from your hard disk drive to your SSD in order to speed up system boot and/or applications startup.

To take advantage of this technology, you need three components: a motherboard with support to Smart Response, an SSD drive (64 GB max), and a hard disk drive.

Although Smart Response Technology supports any SSD drive (up to 64 GB of capacity), Intel has developed a brand new SSD drive specifically for use as a cache with Z68 platforms. This is the Intel SSD 311 Series (codenamed Larson Creek).

The SSD 311 is available in 20 GB capacity, features 34-nm SLC memory chips, a 2.5-inch or mSATA form factor, SATA-300 interface, and provides maximum read and write speeds of up to 200 MB/s and 105 MB/s, respectively. It is priced at USD 110.

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