Intel 320 160GB SSD + Battlefield 3 combo for $154.99 AR FS

Yeah I saw that on slick deals when I woke up and wondered how the fuck I got two. People must really not know SSD's for those to be in stock like 5 hours after it posted.
 
Yeah I saw that on slick deals when I woke up and wondered how the fuck I got two. People must really not know SSD's for those to be in stock like 5 hours after it posted.

That's what puzzles me so I have been looking if there are problems with this model...like there has to be.
 
I really really hate rebates, But i'm in need of a SSD, and I do not have BF3 yet.
Hard to pass up. In for one. Thanks OP.
This is my only BF purchase
 
That's what puzzles me so I have been looking if there are problems with this model...like there has to be.

There is one problem with this model that is easily fixed and prevented by making sure you have the latest firmware. I got hit with the bug out of the blue one day on my Intel 320 300GB drive in my laptop and didn't know about the issue. Since I encountered the bug before applying the firmware fix for it, I had to wipe the drive completely using an Intel compatible version hdderase first. After applying the fix the drive was usable again. Fortunately I do not keep critical data on my laptop drive.

Aside from the firmware issue, the drive works wonderfully. It was rock solid for me for 6 months until I got hit with this bug. If I hadn't fixed it with the firmware fix on my own, they would have RMA'd the drive for a new one.

I am interested in this 160 GB drive for the after rebate price listed in this post title, but the though of waiting 2 or 3 months for $120 rebate doesn't seem like fun to me. Other then that it seems like a pretty hot deal for what you are getting.
 
This past Wednesday, I bought twenty-three of these. Seriously. Wow... haha.

Rebate, though... but still!
 
Got excited!.....then realized it's a older SATA 3 SSD, not the newer SATA 6.

I know, I know it'll still be fast.....
 
There is one problem with this model that is easily fixed and prevented by making sure you have the latest firmware. I got hit with the bug out of the blue one day on my Intel 320 300GB drive in my laptop and didn't know about the issue. Since I encountered the bug before applying the firmware fix for it, I had to wipe the drive completely using an Intel compatible version hdderase first. After applying the fix the drive was usable again. Fortunately I do not keep critical data on my laptop drive.

Aside from the firmware issue, the drive works wonderfully. It was rock solid for me for 6 months until I got hit with this bug. If I hadn't fixed it with the firmware fix on my own, they would have RMA'd the drive for a new one.

I am interested in this 160 GB drive for the after rebate price listed in this post title, but the though of waiting 2 or 3 months for $120 rebate doesn't seem like fun to me. Other then that it seems like a pretty hot deal for what you are getting.

Thanks for this. Guess this will be one of the first things I do if they have not been updated already.
 
Thanks for this. Guess this will be one of the first things I do if they have not been updated already.

They also just recently released an updated Intel SSD Toolbox (found on the same page as the firmware link I listed above). This newer toolbox also informs you of the latest firmware for your drive, so it's a good tool to have. I had the older version of the toolbox, prior to my drive getting hit with the bug, that did not provide this info.
 
pretty awesome deal. even if you dont play bf3 or already have it u can probably sell it for 30dollars.
 
Wish I'd seen this before I bought BF3 on Origin this morning...I'm thinking $155 is still a heck of a deal, even just for the drive. Can't decide if I want to do it or not, that's a big chance on the rebate if they decide they don't want to honor it for some reason.

EDIT: Pulled the trigger...hopefully I don't have a problem dumping the BF3 key for another $30 or so.
 
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In for 1! Thanks OP! Used 1% back on CC and got another 1.5% via speedy rewards to make this deal even sweeter!

I ended up with 4175 speedy points and 96,000 = $100 gasoline card which means I got about $4.30 additional by going through speedy.
 
Got excited!.....then realized it's a older SATA 3 SSD, not the newer SATA 6.
SATA revision 3.0 is 6 Gbit/s.
This SSD is SATA revision 2.0, which is 3 Gbit/s.

Just thought I'd clarify, since the SATA-IO hates the improper terminology that folks are throwing around.
 
SATA revision 3.0 is 6 Gbit/s.
This SSD is SATA revision 2.0, which is 3 Gbit/s.

Just thought I'd clarify, since the SATA-IO hates the improper terminology that folks are throwing around.

I bought this for my x120e....I'm fairly certain it's too low-end to have sata3 (6.0Gbit/s) correct?
 
Well, if you have a z68 board with active caching wouldn't speed be more important than size?

So, wouldn't it be better to get a cheap Sata 3 64gb drive?
 
I don't think most people use the Z68 caching at all. Otherwise everyone would be rocking 20GB SSDs instead of larger ones as OS drives.
 
Well 20GB isn't really all that useful, but with 64GB you would have plenty of room for your OS and to cache what you use the most.
 
Battlefield 3 for PC gives me days of entertainment. (literally, there is stats and it tracks every weapon stat on your page, including time played)

And you can't go wrong with one of the best SSD drives....

Wish it was cheaper, I'd get it..... at least SSD are under $1/GB now! :)
 
Only downside to this deal I can see is having $120 of your money tied up in a MIR. Oh and having to pay taxes on nearly $300 in the first place (for us Californians :D)
 
Only downside to this deal I can see is having $120 of your money tied up in a MIR. Oh and having to pay taxes on nearly $300 in the first place (for us Californians :D)

Don't know if it makes a difference sales-tax-wise, but Amazon has a similar deal without BF3. The A/R price on just the drives alone are pretty good...

80GB for $70
120GB for $120
160GB for $155

Link here.
 
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Comes out to $295 - 120 Rebate so for those of us in California so that's $175 if you get the rebate. I already have BF3 so I would need to sell it for $30 bringing it down to $145 if I can even sell the game.

I think the Amazon deal might be a little better for those of in in California. But still thats a huge Mail in Rebate, I want to save money now not in a month or 2.... Damn...
 
How will the speed compare to a SATA III (6gbps) drive, such as the Crucial M4?
I was holding out for the M4 but may jump on this if the speed diff is not major.
 
How will the speed compare to a SATA III (6gbps) drive, such as the Crucial M4?
I was holding out for the M4 but may jump on this if the speed diff is not major.

I have the C300 and it's a very good drive, the Intel drives are not as fast. Both have been reliable for me, in fact those are the only 2 I would consider getting. The M4 and C300 are faster than this drive, but I have not found any deals on those drives, as I would prefer those if offered the Crucial drive for the same price. To me the difference in performance isn't that significant as both will be much faster than Primitive Spinning Disks. Also I don't think there is a 160GB version of Crucial drives.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/370?vs=425

wow looking at this this product gets killed my crucial in many area....No wonder they have it discount. Oh well still not a bad price IMO :)

I just bit on the amazon deal now that they are back in stock there. $20 cheaper for me and I already have BF3.
 
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Got excited!.....then realized it's a older SATA 3 SSD, not the newer SATA 6.

I know, I know it'll still be fast.....

The only reason this drive isn't selling more is because it's based on an older controller AFAIK (same as what was on the X25-M), which actually matters more than any interface bottleneck (which would only be relevant during large sequential transfers, not random read/writes which is the majority of what you do). It's basically a last gen drive but it's still a very good deal for a very reliable drive, any SSD is still leaps and bounds better than any HDD.

I bought a 120 GB Samsung 830 for $210 on Monday because it came with Batman AC (it's comparable to a Crucial M4 or Intel 510), I wanted something larger than my 80GB X25-M G2 which I'll now use elsewhere; otherwise I would've jumped on a deal like this even though it's a slower drive (relatively speaking).
 
Yeah, there are so many ssd sales today. Buy.com, amazon, newegg, tigerdirect all have them with the same rebates basically.

If this wasnt from newegg, I might have purchased it. The tax completely destroys any good deal for me. I bought the 120gb retail yesterday on amazon for $110AR.
 
I hope Crucial M4s don't go on sale on Monday, I was holding out for those, but just put in an order for a 160GB. Still nervous about the rebate, hopefully it comes through.

Edit: Anyone else having problem with Intel's rebate site?
 
[H]ocusPocus;1038066566 said:
If you go here: https://intel.4myrebate.com/Claim/SearchOffer/?CategoryID=150
(site is very slow right now but I think that is the correct link) you will see the same rebate appears to be available for multiple stores. I ended up going through Amazon as I had some gift cards I wanted to use up and I already have BF3 anyway.

Yea I went through Amazon too, I have prime + no tax in CA :) The site is probably getting hammered with people, so I'll probably wait until later on today to do it.
 
i bought a 80gb with 70 dollar rebate for 80 dollars.

the rebate site is really really really slow so you have to patient. didnt know all rebate was done in american express cards, i prefer checks.
 
I hope Crucial M4s don't go on sale on Monday, I was holding out for those, but just put in an order for a 160GB. Still nervous about the rebate, hopefully it comes through.

Edit: Anyone else having problem with Intel's rebate site?

Yes: http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038066683&postcount=17

I'm also gonna kick myself if the M4 or Samsung 830 go on sale Monday (as I bought an 830 when it when I saw it dropped $20 at NE and came with Batman AC), but I doubt it... I think the discounts on these (and the Agility 3) are due to the fact that people usually pass them up for the newer/faster drives because normally the difference isn't much, so if there was one SSD that it'd be smart to drop the price on, it'd be this.
 
I'm going to be watching prices like a hawk. If the 830 goes on sale I will cancel the Intel 320 160 GB one for the Samsung 256.
 
A $300 sale on the 256GB M4 or 830 would be epic... But doubtful, I'd snap one up in a heartbeat tho. Anything more and it'd still be more than I usually like to spend on any one part, heh. That's why I opted for the 120GB 830 even tho it costs more per GB than the 256GB (give or take, the inclusion of Batman also throws that equation off).
 
A $300 sale on the 256GB M4 or 830 would be epic... But doubtful, I'd snap one up in a heartbeat tho. Anything more and it'd still be more than I usually like to spend on any one part, heh. That's why I opted for the 120GB 830 even tho it costs more per GB than the 256GB (give or take, the inclusion of Batman also throws that equation off).

Great point, but the 256 comes with Batman too :) Getting one that's 6gbps is very important to me, so will more than likely be the 830
 
Sigh.. I don't really need another ssd but I couldn't pass it up.. darn you OP! :p awesome deal
 
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