NAND flash memory drives really came into their own in 2010. With current SSD's clearly outpacing ANY spinning platter drive, they're the single best performance enhancing upgrade you can buy. 64GB and 128GB are the sweet spot cost-wise and deliver unprecedented performance at affordable prices. Large 256GB and now 512GB drives still beyond wallet's reach for most. In the year ahead, be on the lookout for 6GBps SATA III drives coming down the pike.
Solid State Drive Price Deals
Patriot Signature Series

Sandforce Controller Chip
Of note: Amazon's SSD Drive Selection
NewEgg.com has a large range of SSD Drives
NEW 120GB SSD Price Low
OCZ Technology is revamping their drive lineup with the new '2' series: OCZ is also changing the size of thier drive capacities with the new '2' line: in 50GB, 100GB and 200GB sizes to replace their previous 30/60/120/250GB lineup. It seems they're allocating more 'spare' flash memory space for reliability and performance reasons. First out of the gate: there's notably improved performance in the value-priced Solid 2 Series line by switching from the older generation JMicron to a tried-and-true Indilinx Barefoot controller chipset.OCZ's Solid 2 Series

Higher Performance, Low Cost Per GB
As Low as $2.25/GB + Free Shipping
SSD Price Bargains
> TigerDirect.com| Search at TigerDirect.com: |
BEST SSD PRICES & REBATES
> A few pricing quirks recently: Amazon OCZ Price Check Snafu?Top-Performing SSD Disk Deals
> Single-Layer SLC drives continue to provide the best write speeds and longevity - at a price. In the Multi-Layer MLC arena, Intel's custom chipset, Indilix 'Barefoot' chip and Samsung's latest controllers lead the pack.| 80GB Intel MLC Mainstream Series 25% Price Cut |
60GB OCZ Vertex Indilinx Controller |
SATA III SSD 6Gbps Interface |
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Intel X25-M SATA![]() |
OCZ's Best SSD Value![]() |
Crucial C300 SATA 3![]() For SATA 3 Motherboards |
Best Tech Analysis Articles of 2010:
> For those seeking ultimate disk performance, check out this nerdy yet informative in-depth analysis of SSD drive controllers and chipset design by Anand at www.anandtech.com. His extensive take on the Solid-State storage market in his "Final Thoughts" section is a must-read for Top-Performance Geek-Freaks. PC Perspective has a good take on OCZ's Apex Series vs Intel X25-M vs Velociraptor etc in this Apex SSD Benchmarks/Comparison with concluding thoughts. Keep in mind, Anandtech - and other deep-geek sites fret over nanaosecond differences that the average consumer wouldn't perceive - or care about.Low-Cost Bargain SSD Deals
> Several previous-generation drives were recently removed from this section. Most were OLD JMicron 602 controller chip SSDs which were just not optimal for smooth WRITE performance in particular. However, revised next-generation JMicron controllers with far more onboard cache are now available in 2010 - and will likely be widely used in many 'VALUE' series drives. Unless you can find discontinued models at an absolute bargain-bin closeout price -- focus on finding a new Jmicron 612, Indilinx, Samsung or Intel chipset drive for better overall performance.DRIVES OF NOTE FROM INTEL CRUICIAL, CORSAR, SUPERTALENT
128GB Solid State Drive Less Than $300: Patriot PE128GS25SSDR Warp Series Extreme Performance SATA-II 2.5" SSDMiddle of the road SSD performance - but ample capacity at this price point.
For easy mounting a small Serial-ATA solid-state laptop drive in desktop computers:
Convert your 2.5" SATA disk to standard 3.5" mounts w/an ICY DOCK SATA II ADAPTER CASE

Smart design: just plop a 2.5"drive in - tension springs hold it in place - and slide the cover shut. 4 standard drive-rail mount screws are all thats needed to complete the SSD installation in your computer.
Want MAXIMUM performance? Buy two matching flash drives and put them in a RAID case:
SATA II Dual-Drive RAID Enclosure with a standard 3.5" form-factor with both SATA and mini-USB 2.0 interface

For Geeky-Types This SATA enclosure has DIP-Switches to configure different RAID Levels, or set to JBOD modes.






