My aging i7 desktop computer was purchased in 2009. After replacing the graphics adapter, I saw that the last real upgrade I can make to it (besides swapping out the motherboard, which would require a new CPU and RAM and is like basically getting a new computer) would be to move to a SSD. From the good reviews, I chose this Intel drive. The 480GB size would let it match my current 450GB drive, and I wouldn't have to uninstall software so that I could move my system over to it.
The drive came in a very small package with a SATA cable and a mini-CD. You'll need to have an available SATA power cable in your chassis. Since it's a 2.5" drive, I also purchased an adapter kit so that the drive could be mounted in the 3.5" drive bay (thankfully, the kits are cheap). I used the supplied cable to plug the drive into an existing SATA port on my motherboard, then dangled the drive from an existing SATA power cable that was available. Starting up the computer, the drive was recognized and Windows 8.1 offered to initialize it for my system. You need to do that if you want to access it with the Intel Toolbox or cloning tool (more on that later in the review). Initializing it didn't add any partitions to it, but let Windows now see it as an non-partitioned drive.
The mini-CD only contained basic operating manuals and no software. Choose the PDF for your language, and there were basic instructions and a link to the tools needed from Intel. Download the Toolbox and the Intel Data Migration Software (which is a stripped down version of Acronis software tailored for the Intel SSD), and install them. When you run the Data Migration Software, it recognizes the drive, then reboots your computer directly into the software (this must often be done as Windows is usually using the system files and they can't be accessed by programs while it's running). The tool then cloned my existing drive to the SSD (it took about an hour), told me it was done, and then let me shut down the computer. I then pulled out my existing hard drive, mounted the Intel SSD into the adapter bracket, and put the SSD into my computer where my old hard drive was. After plugging in the original cables I used for my original hard drive, I powered up my system and watched as Windows came up with blazing speed. Within seconds, I was at the login screen. After supplying my password, the Start screen popped up a second later. Normally I'd have to wait several minutes for background programs and processes to finish loading because it overtaxes my hard drive too much, but now there was no wait.
It was incredible! I rebooted several times just because it was so fun watching it boot so quickly.
Some advice..... my system came with a "recovery partition". It was a 14GB partition that would let me restore my computer to its factory settings. My system originally came with Vista, so there's no reason why I'd ever go back that far. When I cloned my hard drive, that partition was cloned too. And, this is IMPORTANT, the partition was *before* my main partition that holds Windows. Even after deleting that partition from the SSD, available space has to be *after* the partition you want to expand/extend. Since that partition is *before* my system partition, I now have a 14GB section of space that will be its own 14GB drive. Yes, I can still use the space, but it's not all that useful to have such a small partition. It'd be much better to have that space added to the main partition. So if you have a recovery partition you don't need anymore, delete it BEFORE you clone your drive.
My older motherboard means Windows is using an Intel AHCI driver. There's a feature built into the drive called "trim" that the AHCI driver doesn't support. As the OS deletes files, it tells the SSD that the file has been deleted and that the SSD shouldn't treat those areas anymore as holding data. The Intel AHCI driver doesn't do that, so you have to regularly run the Optimizer from the Toolbox. It's recommended to run it weekly, but it seems to run very quickly (within a minute), so you can do it more frequently. That's about the only drawback I can see from using the drive with the older motherboard (which must support AHCI). It's barely an inconvenience as it can be scheduled to run at regular intervals, so don't let that deter you.
Not everything is lightning fast. When loading large games or doing updates, your system still has to process information in memory, so it's not like everything is instantaneous. But it's still amazing how fast things load and how fast Windows starts up and is ready for use. What took minutes before now takes seconds. It's one of the best upgrades I ever made on my computer!
| Hard Drive | 480 GB Solid State Drive |
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