Intel X25-V 40GB SSD

Page 1 - Introduction, Specifications

Intel's X25-V is one solid state drive (SSD) that can actually call itself affordable. The capacity and performance offered may be lower than the best SSD, but it does have an appeal at the budget end. Compared to ordinary hard disk drives, this SSD offers good read speed and great data access time. If the rest of your PC is fairly well configured, this drive might be just what you need to gain some more speed. Ready to take your first plunge into the world of SSD?

The Intel X25-V 40GB SSD provides 37.27 GB of usable space. The data capacity thus offered is more than sufficient for an install of Windows 7 (OS), MS Office, Adobe CS3 and still leave space for a game, pagefile, and buffer drive space. Pretty good for a value SSD, eh? This "boot drive" might be sufficient space for a business laptop, but a desktop PC user would definitely want to have a second drive to go with it, a normal hard disk drive which can be used as the storage ground for data that would not benefit from the speed (movies, music, application installation files, downloads, etc). This drive has benefited from price drops in India recently, which make it an attractive buy.

This "boot drive" might offer sufficient space for a business laptop, but a desktop PC would want a second drive (larger HDD) to go with it.

Specifications
As with most solid-state drives, the Intel X25-V 40GB SSD also uses MLC NAND flash (34nm process), can withstand light shocks, does not heat up in operation, and is silent. It is colored metallic silver (not an issue since it will be used internally), looks like a standard laptop HDD, has a 2.5-inch form factor and uses the SATA-2 interface. The package we received had only the SSD itself in OEM style, though a retail package exists with more accessories. Its silent operation and low power usage make it a good candidate for use on well-configured desktops/laptops and HTPC (Home Theatre PC) machines. As with all current SSDs, the X25-V supports NCQ operation (for better speed) and the TRIM command (keeps the SSD fast and alive for longer).

Compared to today’s mainstream HDDs that consume at least 5 Watts on average, this SSD uses 0.15W while active and 0.075W at idle, which takes it into the arena of using just milli-Watts! Its idle power consumption is very low indeed, and if the rest of a laptop's components are frugal with power, this could mean improved battery life.

More details can be seen on this review's "Specifications" page or on Intel's webpage for the drive. We run synthetic benchmarks and real world tests using the fastest PC components, to remove most bottlenecks that hold back performance. Click on the "Next" arrow or go to Page 2 for graphs of performance tests, comparing this drive to the Intel X25-M 80GB SSD, Strontium 64GB SSD, and Kingston SSDNow V+ 64GB SSD. Click on the "Performance" tab of this review to directly view the performance details of only this drive in tabulated form.

Review Index
Page 1 - Introduction, Specifications (you are here)
Page 2 - Performance, Conclusion
Table Listing - Specifications
Table Listing - Performance