Intel's newest Mainstream X25-M SATA Solid-State Drives are designed to deliver outstanding SATA performance, and an advanced architecture using 10 parallel NAND flash channels equipped with multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory. Native Command Queuing to enable up to 32 concurrent operations,

Intel Mainstream SATA SSDs deliver higher input/output per second and throughput performance than other SSDs on the market today - and drastically outperform traditional hard disk drives: Claiming Up to 250MB/s Read Speeds - Up to 170MB/s Write Speeds with 85 microsecond latency. These drives also feature low write amplification and a unique wear-leveling design for higher reliability - delivering SSD's that not only perform better - but last longer. Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) commands supported. The cost? Currently about $370 for an 80GB drive.

There's two models in the X25 line: The Intel SSDSA2MH080G1C5 X25-M 80GB MLC 2.5-Inch 9.5mm Solid State Drive with SLIGHTLY SLOWER WRITE speeds at a lower cost. And the X25-E - Extreme SLC - single-layer construction that will have FASTER WRITE speeds at a much higher cost. Initally introduced with 32 and 80gb models a higher-capacity X25-M 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive is now available.

Tags: High-end SSD, Best SSD, SSD advances

Speeds of SSD solid-state flash disk drives nearly doubled within the past year as improvements to SLC and MLC NAND flash improved, higher volume of sales increased SSD profits and competition, and manufacturing efficiency and competition really heated up through 2008.

The first months of the year, SSD read-speeds hovered around 100mbs and initially 32GB and 64GB SSDs started shipping. Towards years end, top-performing SSD's with mind-blowing benchmarks are now approaching 200 mbps as capacities are pushing well beyond 120 gigabyte drives - or pushing prices down into the DOWNRIGHT CHEAP SSD range for drives now nominally in the 30-60gb range.

What makes the latter interesting is YOU CAN AFFORD AN SSD to test, replace, DIY upgrade for yourself to explore Solid-State disk technology and performance on your own system for well under $200. It doesn't have to be a break the bank proposition anymore.

Tags: SSD Speed, SSD Performance

The bulk of SSD solid-state drives are manufactured to the modern SATA II specification. Careful selection will find standard ATA SSD's (sometimes referred to as PATA - Parallel ATA as well such as this low-cost Transcend ATA interface 2.5" 64GB drive -for retrofitting in somewhat older computers before the SATA standard superceded it. Still a huge market out there for ATA interface solid-state drives - tho the latest NAND-Flash technology can now exceed the data transfer rates of an ATA interface.

Tags: sata ssd, ata ssd, pata ssd, zif ssd

Imation and it's Mobi brand were initially most noted for producing SSD's in standard 3.5" drive form-factors with standard screw-hole mounts. Most other SSD mfrs like Sandisk, Patriot, Transcend, Super-Talent et. al. are largely focused on the 2.5" LAPTOP replacement solid-state drive market. OCZ followed with it's Colossus line of high end drives.

There are adaptors and brackets to mount these smaller portable size drives in a 3.5" or even 5.25" drive case/mounts. Most notably ADDONICS which has long been a great source of adapters for many years.

Tags: ssd brackets, ssd adapters, ssd adaptors, ssd interfaces

1st Blog entry for SSD discs: More detailed absolutely the best deals on latest generation drives that sizzle and smoke the pants off of their predecessors. It isn't just about SSD read/write tranfer-rates and performance: Improved SSD controller chips with superior write-error management and wear-leveling logic can extend the life and capacity of an SSD over the long haul.