Intel Optane Memory
Intel’s M.2 Optane NVMe stick is used as a ‘caching’ drive that can speed up regular SATA drives to the equivalent of an SSD drive. When paired with an SSD drive it is even faster since the caching load is taken off the main SSD drive. This module is not used for memory or for storage despite the name. It works in conjunction with your hard drive to increase overall speed.
Does My Computer have Optane?
Not everyone will be able to run Optane Memory. This is because it requires a motherboard that has an M.2 module as well as BIOS support for Optane technology. You’ll also need an Intel 7th to 11th generation processor and Windows 10 or Linux.
To set up Optane, you simply drop it into the M.2 slot, install the drivers and application, then pair the drive with your primary boot drive. The Optane software moves some OS files to the Optane drive itself to aid in faster performance. If you decide to remove the Optane drive, you must unpair them so you don’t lose files.
Once installed, the Optane memory drive will NOT be invisible to the OS. In other words, you will not see it when you look at This PC or My Computer this is normal.
In Summary
Intel’s Optane Memory sticks were introduced to help speed up regular SATA drives until SSDs became mainstream. Hard drives and processor speeds have increased substantially since then, but if you have a motherboard and processor that support it there is no reason not to.
Optane Memory End of Life
The Intel Optane Memory products have reached End of Life production and no longer supported on newer Intel® Processors starting with 12th and 13th Generations. — Source Intel
