The new 730 SSD is based on the Intel PC29AS21CA0 controller which, as previously mentioned is also inside Intel's DC S3500 and S3700 SSD's. The S3500 is a SSD specifically designed with servers in mind, where consistent performance is of the highest priority. The S3700 is a higher end model designed for servers with very write-intensive workloads, thanks to special memory chips the S3700 is capable of sustaining 10 full drive writes per day for five years.

Intel is now implementing this same controller in a consumer SSD, but in this case combined with "standard" 20nm ONFI flash-memory. Intel is describing the 730 as a "factory overclocked SSD", the controller now operates at 600 MHz instead of 400 MHz as with the server SSD's. The NAND bus speed has also been increased from 83 MHz to 100 MHz. Thanks to these improvements the performance of the SSD has increased compared to the previous models without affecting the lifespan, according to Intel. The 730 comes with a five year warranty in which you can write up to 70 GB per day, 127 terabyte in total. Based on normal use, i.e. writing 10 GB a day, the SSD should, in theory, last 35 years. These claims of endurance and reliability could be a deciding factor if your planning to use the SSD in an environment where you frequently write a lot of data, such as a video editing workstation.