Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive

by Intel

Product Details

• Item Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B001MTJYC8
• Item model number: SSDSA2MH160G1C5
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 27, 2008

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description The future of computer storage is here! With the Intel X-25M Mainstream SATA Solid State Drive, you'll experience dramatically faster disk performance and greater durability than traditional hard drives. Since it uses NAND flash memory instead of spinning platters for storage, there's no waiting for disks to spin up, and there are no moving parts to worry about breaking down.

Experience blazing fast disk performance with the X-25M drive.

A New Kind of Storage for Faster Data Access
The X-25M is an SATA hard drive with a capacity of 160 GB in a 2.5-inch form factor that will work anywhere a regular 2.5-inch hard drive does, such as in notebook computers and external enclosures.

But don't think that the X-25M is your normal drive. Instead of using spinning platters like traditional hard drives, the X-25M is a Solid State Drive (SSD) and uses flash memory for storage, giving you dramatically faster data access. If you need more disk space, the X-25M also comes in a 80 GB version.

Performs Even Faster than Other Solid State Drives
Intel has been making memory chips for decades, and this experience is on clear display with the X-25M drive. This drive uses Intel's Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND Flash Memory that delivers better performance than other SSDs thanks to an advanced architecture and technologies such as Native Command Queuing, which enables up to 32 simultaneous operations. The result is sustained sequential read speeds of up to 250 MBps, sustained sequential write speeds of up to 70 MBps, and a read latency of just 85 microseconds.

And by using the SATA interface that offers data throughput of up to 3.0 Gbps, you can duly take advantage of all the speed. What all this means for you is that applications launch instantaneously, files copy in less time, and your overall productivity is significantly increased.

Higher Reliability and Silent Operation
Compared to traditional hard drives, the X-25M is both faster and more durable. Since it doesn't have spinning disks or writing heads, there are fewer parts to fail. It is also less susceptible to vibrations and shock and is completely silent. The X-25M is rated at 1.2 million hours mean time before failure (MTBF) for superb reliability.

Lower Power Consumption is Good for the Environment
The X-25M also consumes far less power than traditional drives, which saves you money and makes it a choice. When installed in a laptop, you'll experience better battery life, so you can work longer on those cross-country plane trips. Additionally, the drive is certified RoHS compliant for its use of non-hazardous materials.

The Intel X-25M Mainstream SATA Solid State Drive supports Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) commands as well as additional SSD monitoring. It is backed by a three-year limited warranty.

The X-25M has no moving parts for faster and more reliable performance.

Product Description

160GB SSD 2.5 SATA INT MLC X25-M 9.5MM

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best SSD for MAC, June 5, 2009

By 

D. Valdez - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive (Personal Computers)

I upgraded an intel 2.4ghz IMAC which had a Hitachi 7200RPM drive in it. The speed of this drive over a regular hard drive is night and day. I ran xbench 1.3 with my original drive and got a score of 64 which is average for these type of drives. With the new Intel drive I now get a score of 255. The boot time with this drive is less then 10 sec. and makes the machine blazingly fast. It takes me longer to get through the BIOS load during the boot process then it actually takes to get to the desktop.

I like the firmware upgrade of this drive over the OCZ Vertex. For MAC users this can be very import. For the intel drive you burn an ISO to a CD then boot your MAC/PC off the CD and update your drive. The update also does not delete the data you already have on the drive saving you a rebuild. For the OCZ you have to remove the drive and install a pin so you can update the drive. You then have to boot into a Windows OS to run the firmware upgrade. The firmware upgrade for the OCZ DOES delete the drive causing you to have to rebuild it.

Make sure if you do get one of these Intel drives it is running at least firmware 8820. This firmware addresses some fragmentation issues causing the drive to lose performance over time.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IBM Lenovo T500 with Ubuntu Linux -- No Problems & Fast -- Note Optimizations at the end of review., July 7, 2009

By 

Robert "Linux User, Attorney, Hacker" (Herndon, VA, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive (Personal Computers)

This drive is very fast. (Note, the linux optimizations I have included at the end of the review.) However, one might get confused when reviewing the technical specifications of this drive and comparing them to the specifications of the rebranded samsung drives that now come in capacities as high as 250 GB. I really would prefer the larger size, but after a lot of research I discovered that the benchmark data for the rebranded (non-Intel) drives are done using hypothetical non-real world scenarios. From what I have learned the Intel X25-M can handle multiple read/writes much more efficiently then the other SSD drives. With most usage scenarios a modern operating system will have multiple files open. Finally, with respect to price/performance I believe this drive is a reasonable purchase if: (1) you want a fast laptop, (2) you want more storage then the 80 Gig model which is about 40% of the cost of this drive, and (3) power consumption is an issue (for example you need to travel alot and you hate running out of power). Considering 8 GB of DDR3 memory for a T500 is about the same price, I consider the cost consistent with other premium laptop components. Optimizations for linux: (a) replace relatime with noatime in fstab; (b) add the following to fstab tmpfs /tmp tmpfs defaults,noatime,mode=1777 0 0 (uses memory as a buffer for tmp); and (c) elevator=deadline as a kernel boot parameter.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great drive, but get the current firmware, June 9, 2009

By 

Pipper (DFW, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Intel X25-M Mainstream 160GB SATA 2.5-Inch MLC Solid State Drive (Personal Computers)

This drive is blazing fast, and I love it except for one problem: any firmware older than 8820 has a fragmentation issue that causes serious performance degradation. Intel fixed this issue with the 8820 firmware version. My problem is that it's been impossible for me to upgrade the firmware because the necessary BIOS changes are locked out on my brand new HP laptop. I've tried to upgrade the firmware by installing the drive in 3 other computers and boot from the image update CD, but the update software will not recognize the drive in any of them even though the drive subsequently mounts on the desktop. I'm returning this for another with the current firmware.

All in all, though, this is a great product: programs that took 30 seconds to load seem to open instantaneously. It runs silent and cool. Just check the firmware version in the upper right corner of the drive's label. Depending on your system, you might have difficulty performing an update. Also, don't format these drives: formatting writes a pattern to every sector and will degrade performance.