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Intel Solid State Drive

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Intel has decided to join the Solid-State-Drive category with the new Intel X-25M. Just like their top end CPU’s, it’s built for speed. This unit really pushes the SATA 3G interface to the max. So far, it stands at the top of the speed charts for SSD’s and standard hard drives. At 206MB/s this drive almost doubles the read speeds of the MemoRight MR25.2-32/64 GT.

The one downfall of this drive is in the write technology. Intel opted for multilevel chip (MLC) technology. MLC can not compare to the write speeds of single-level chip (SLC) memory technology. Running two hard drives in RAID 0 is the closest you will get to running near the speeds of this drive. But is it worth the price with only an 80GB storage amount?

This SSD will cost you approximately $600. I would say if you truly have the cash to spend then absolutely yes. However, if you cash flow is a problem, then the Western Digital Velociraptor 150 will get you pretty fast read speeds and very fast write speeds for approximately $180 on newegg.com. You could look at it this way though… At $600, the X-25M is only a third of some of the more popular SSD’s.

Tags: CPU, Hard Drive, HDD, Intel, Intel X-25M, MemoRight, MemoRight MR25.2-32/64 GT, Mirrored Array, RAID, RAID 0, Solid State Drive, SSD, Striped Array, WD Velociraptor, Western Digital

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Western Digital Velociraptor

Personally I can’t believe Western Digital took so long to release this HDD, but hey creating a stable 10,000 RPM hard drive can’t be easy. So obviously the storage amount has changed from the Velociraptors predecessor, the Raptor 150. The new Velociraptor has doubled the storage to 300GB. But who buys these drives for their storage space. Its all about the speed, right!?!

Well I’ve got good news for you when it comes to the speed enhancements. With two 150GB platters and a smaller form factor, the new Velociraptor has increased its speed by over 50% from the Raptor 150. And yes thats correct, it is smaller. It is a 2.5 inch drive now as opposed to the standard 3.5 inch form factor. This makes the drive consume less power and the read/wright heads have a shorter distance to travel, increasing speed for both actions.

With the exception of the incredibly expensive SSDs (Solid State Drive) this is the fastest consumer HDD you can purchase. Newegg.com currently has this drive for $289.99. Its well worth it if you are looking for speed.

Tags: Hard Drive, Raptor, Solid State, Velociraptor, Western Digital

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