First SSD - Intel X25M or 510?

H

HardyOne

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
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I am ready to get my first SSD for my desktop computer. I have the choice narrowed down to a 120GB drive: either the Intel X25M or the Intel 510. My motherboard is an Asus P6T Deluxe V2 and only supports SATA at 3GBs. Will I see any advantage to getting the 510 over the X25M? Of course if I get the 510, I could use it for any future new system builds.

Also, is there a good source of information for first time SSD buyers? I am looking for anything to be aware of when installing for the first time. That is, I will be installing Win7-64 on the SSD and then using it for my primary drive. When I help people install Windows on a fresh HD, I tell them to always do a full format, not the quick format. It's tips like this that I am looking for.
 
Enable AHCI or RAID in the SATA settings in BIOS. Have AHCI/RAID drivers on a flash drive. Install like you would a standard hard drive. On my P67 I had to power up with nothing plugged in, shutdown, plug it in, startup and start install.

I'd opt for the 510 for speed or the X25m for ease of mind. X25m has been out longer and known issues would have already been fixed. The 510 is still new and you never know until it's been around the block a few times.
 
If you'd like more future-proofing, then obviously the 510 will be better.

Good info for first time SSD user:

Enable AHCI
Install Intel drivers and SSD Toolbox
Ensure defrag is disabled for the SSD
Enjoy your speedy new OS!

Optional: if you need more space on your SSD for whatever reason, reduce the size of your pagefile and disable hibernation.
 
So, will the 510 be faster than the X25M, even though my motherboard only supports
3GBs ?
 
The 510 really needs 6GBs to fully utilize its speed, otherwise it is pretty bottlenecked. How ever if you can stomach the extra cost I'd still go 510 as you can use it with a 6GBs mobo when you upgrade that
 
HardyOne said:
So, will the 510 be faster than the X25M, even though my motherboard only supports
3GBs ?
Click to expand...
In most cases, yes. But often not by a whole lot, particularly on SATA 3GBs. See http://www.anandtech.com/show/4202/the-intel-ssd-510-review for the numbers with the caveat that a 120GB drive should be measurably slower.

The 510 isn't really designed to be a consumer drive (and the price reflects that); you'll have to wait for the G3/320 from Intel for that. The X25-M or Crucial C300 are a better value, with the C300 having better performance than the X25-M.

And a final warning, rumor has it the next generation Crucial and OCZ drives hit shelves next Monday.
 
Vertex 3 launches next week. I'd wait for that as its faster than every drive mentioned in this thread and not too expensive either.
 
i would be careful with OCZ drives.. they like changing things without letting anyone know
 
I have an Acronis image file of a freshly formatted HD. Can I restore that onto the newly installed SSD?
 
you should be fine to go with the image file. the intel drives ship with a version of arconis for migrating from one drive to another. you can download it from intels website. I was able to use it regardless if the intel drive was plugged in or not.
 
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