I was an avid proponent of the raptor series for a long time. I used the 36GB raptor not too long after they came out. I was amazed at the performance and speed. In about 2005 I upgraded to the 74GB model, and a year later, I bought a second one for RAID 0. These beasts were fast for platter drives. Eventually, higher capacity hard drives with perpendicular recording surpassed the raptor read/write speeds but few reached their random seek times and everyday usage speeds. One day in 2007 one of my 74GB died and my RAID 0 along with it. Ever since, I started to use a single raptor as my OS drive. I've used that drive with XP Pro, Vista Ultimate x64, and Windows 7 Ultimate x64. It performed admirably, but really showed it's limitations when I would do heavy multitasking and run demanding programs. On December 09, 2009 my champ of a drive died. I was really developing bad sectors in the master boot record of my Win 7 install, but never the less, the drive was on it's death throes. I did a data recovery and RMA'd the drive for the last time since it was nearing the end of it's warranty.

I had planned to just reinstall my OS image on the raptor when it came back from Western Digital. That was not to be the case because I had been tempted by the lure of SSD's for a good six months prior to the Raptor's death. I ordered an Intel X25-M G2 80GB drive the day I sent out the raptor. I received the X25-M on December 24; Merry Christmas to me. I installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 immediately since it had TRIM support.

My X25-M coupled with Windows 7 turned me into a little kid on Christmas. Boot time from loading screen to fully loaded windows is clocked at 18s. It was 18s at fresh install with all my critical programs and it still is now. Outlook used to take a few seconds and hang when opening emails, but now my emails are accessed instantly. PDF's, Excel spreadsheets, Adobe Master collection, you name it; they all open at speeds that are unimaginable with a platter drive. The X25-M has made my computer adapt to my work style, which is in bursts and efficiently. After using a SSD for an OS drive, I can't imagine installing an OS a platter drive. If they were more affordable with the same performace, I would definitely build all my workstations with an SSD from here on out.

Well I just have to say that having an SSD in my system will kill the bottleneck of my segate 7200's I have 2 of wich o0ne has already failed....... ANd I had two 160's and one failed as well. I would just use the last one for Storage and the SSD for Boot-up and OS. I have a NICE EVGA based system and HOPE to win one to be able to TRULLY appreciate Windows 7.

My current rig contains a 320 Gig hard-drive, which is a good amount of storage, but I have been filling it up to almost max capacity and even after cleaning up a bit, I'm having some slowdowns.


A Solid state drive would help in many ways, mainly I would really love to use it to boot from, as my boot time takes a good chunk of time, and for any programming work I would do I'm pretty sure it would help compile times, and even for gaming, any intensive games I could put on there to load faster.


I would really like having it to improve my overall speed of my computer, I have a decent computer but it can't match up to any new generation.

I have considered getting an SSD drive when I built my new system.  However the price of them seems a little too much at this moment.  I have also considered getting 2 drives to use in a raid setup however my new EVGA GTS 250 card which is full length and double height restricts how many drives I can put in my system.  A free SSD would be nice since on two parts considering it's FREE and the dimensions are smaller then a regular 3.5" drive which would fit perfectly in front of the beautiful GTS 250.

 A SSD will change every aspect on how I perform in gaming and computing. I have used VRaptors- and have been nothing but disappointed. I believe a SSD will bring the ultimate computing in my every day use. Gaming is my escape and well speeds and computing is just another advatage on being on top of the world. just make sure you don't tell my wife she will kill me if I get hooked on having a hardware advatage as I wont get off the computer.....

recently I was thinking about purchasing a high-rpm hdd like a measure to improve the perfomance of the system. now i imagine that the next step will be for those ssd - silent, compact with high-leveled reliability and finally i think it's cool to have a "flash memory"  of this capacity in your system)

Already have a P55 860 @ 4.0 GHZ and 8gigs of 2000 memory just need the SSD to make this system fly. 

Built the system with a pair of WD Caviar Blacks in Raid 0 thinking it would be enough, but should have gone to SSD from the start.

I would use an SSD for their I/O capability and raw read speeds.  Last year I spent thousands to build my current system for the game ArmA and then soon to be released ArmA 2 only to find out that a 4.2ghz Core i7 and EVGA GTX275 were not enough to keep the game as smooth as I liked and had to turn down the details because my hard drives were the bottle neck causing shuddering.  An SSD would greatly benefit the hundreds of megabytes and gigabytes of data that are constantly streamed from the hard drive during any type of game play and allow me to enjoy my EVGA GTX275 to its maximum potential.

I'm in a real desperate need for a new drive, being a solid state would be icing on the cake. I recently, 2 weeks ago built a new system that allows me to play TF2 and not have the game appear to be a slide show, even though I only average 22FPS w/ the new system. I only had enough cash to purchase a motherboard that had intergrated video,lan,audio, 2 sticks of ram and a new processor. The rest of my gear is all hand me downs. The current hard drive has to be at least 7 years old, if not older. It uses an IDE cable, not sata and shared with my cd burner. If I have to use my old school dvd player 5x I have to shut down and swap the cable around since I only have 1 ide port. I have 6 sata ports but nothing is using them. The hdd sounds like a bowling alley when it reads and writes. I also believe its only 5400RPMs. A new drive would definitely help me out in a big way. I'm currently saving up for a Geforce GTS 250 and a mouse so I don't get pwn'd as much while playing TF2. Those 2 items might have be put on hold if this old hand me down hdd crashes. I know I have my priorities backwards, but living in the spawn room is so frustrating.

A computer is only as fast as its slowest component... so I'm always trying to make the storage solution for my OS and apps as fast as possible.  Right now I'm striping 2 VelociRaptors but SSD is the direction I want to move in.  If I was to win this SSD I would buy a 2nd and stripe them.  That would bring me a few steps closer to an "instant on" PC.

I would use a SSD as a primary boot drive for my system since Windows 7 supports TRIM.

Maybe later on I'd swap it to a HTPC, if I ever build one.  SSDs are completely silent :)

I've been buying them for work for people to compile on, but I've never gotten the chance to use one myself!

My tribute to these wonderful new drives, with apologies to every poet who ever lived! 

Upon a Stormy, Snowy Day I stood, and pondered my array. 
Sad and Stale it Did appear, an aging, ancient pile of gear. 

Such Stunning Drives (in ancient times), inspiring song and verse (and rhymes!), 
These Soldiers, Still and Dark they sit, for service now no longer fit. 

SCSI Spun at Daring speeds. In its time, it met our needs. 
I See it Sit there, Dim and silent, its RPMs no longer violent. 

For Some, it Solved their Data woes, and kept their system on its toes. 
Several Stacked could keep your Datas safe from harm - but all those plattahs! 

So many Said, Dear lord that sound, it can be heard for miles around." 
They Screamed, "it's So Damn loud in here.... I've lost my train of thought, I fear." 

Sizzling, Searing heat Dismayed the users: serious bucks they'd paid! 
"Surely Something can be Done, some lower speeds that can be spun?" 

We Saw them live, we Saw them Die, we cursed them when they chose to fry. 
Such Speedy Drives they were, but now just right for dropping off a prow. 

What's Said is Said, what's Done is done, and SCSI was no longer fun. 
We needed Something So that Data could be stored, not eardrums shattahed! 

Some Super Disks were next in line, and they were lookin' mighty fine. 
Sleek and Smooth and Dense with bits (although the cost was just the pits). 

Serial ATA Sent Data back and forth on many strata. 
At first it Seemed to Sense our Dreams, our wishes, hopes, our private schemes. 

Some Stuff, it seemed, these Disks had brought it to you 'fore you even thought it! 
"It's Simply Sinful having Drives that give such joy to all our lives!" 

Still, even Such stupendous Disks will, over time, end up as bricks. 
Slow and Small and out of Date, used only as a paperweight. 

But Suddenly (or So it Did appear), I heard of brand-new gear 
on Sev'ral Sites Discussing stuff like cases, mice - I'd read enough. 

I Sped with Such Demonic lust that other drivers ate my dust. 
The Store, its Silver Doors flung wide, lured my panting frame inside, 

and Saw me Stop and turn in Doubt - where are all your drives, I shout? 
I Somehow found those Shining Disks and, standing there, my eyes transfixed, 

I Swiftly, Sensing a Disturbance in the Force, did made observance 
of a Sleek and Sexy Dame. I wondered, should I ask her name? 

I did, and it was SSD! I stared at her in awe, and she 
Said, "Sailor, if you Dig my face, just wait till I'm inside your case." 

And she was mine, Such Sleek Design, she saved me power, she saved me time. 
And oh Such Speed! In Disbelief I watched with something near to grief. 

Simply Seconds Did elapse from signing on to loading apps. 
It's Swell, it's So Divine, it's heaven (especially running Windows 7!) 

Suffice to Say, I'm Done with platters.  We must have been as mad as hatters! 
Why did we ever Suffer So, Depending on those old... but no. 

So now it's Said and Done, my tale.  A thrilling saga - fresh, not stale. 
So Swiftly Does my rig fly free, and all because of SSD! 

When I constructed my first rig, back in October of 2008, I knew I wanted  high quality, top of the line components.
My previous machine had an EVGA 7800 GS which served me well for two years of gaming, and having browsed the EVGA site
for a while, I put an EVGA 790i  mobo and EVGA GTX 260 card in my new machine.   Well over a year later I can say that my decision was the correct one.
EVGA is the Gold Standard in computer components.  I know that a product featured on your site from another company will also
meet those same high standards that EVGA sets for themselves.

The Kingston V Series 64GB SSD will allow me to begin the next phase in my rig upgrade.  It will become the home for my new OS, Win7, allowing me to cleanse my WD 500 GB Caviar Black and WD 150 GB Velociraptor and use them for less intensive apps and data storage.
The boost from the SSD will help with my gaming, and the money saved can allow me to finally get the twin for my GTX 260 so I can SLI.