The Full Intel SSD 525 Review: 30GB, 60GB, 120GB, 180GB & 240GB Tested
by Anand Lal Shimpi on February 3, 2013 2:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
- SSDs
- Intel
- SandForce
- Intel SSD 520
- Intel SSD 525
Final Words
There aren't really any new conclusions to be made here now that we've gone through almost all of the capacities of Intel's SSD 525. While I'd still like to see Intel bring its own 6Gbps controller technology down to the client space, the SF-2281 based Intel SSD 525 should be a good solution for any mSATA client machine facing a typical workload. I do appreciate Intel taking the mSATA space seriously, as it hasn't seen a ton of attention from tier 1 vendors or companies with good validation track records.
The 525 offers users looking for an mSATA SSD a wide variety of capacities and a level of performance that's almost equal to the best from the 2.5" SATA SSD space. The icing on the cake is you get quite possibly the best validated SF-2281 SSD on the market, even more so than Intel's SSD 520 thanks to the 525's newer firmware. Once again I'd still prefer a controller of Intel's own design (or perhaps even the upcoming 3rd generation SandForce/LSI controller), but one (or both?) of those things will take several more quarters to come to fruition. Until then, the 525 is a good option.
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ezrasam - Wednesday, February 6, 2013 - link
Can I add this to my 2 year old Dell N5010?Hok - Thursday, February 7, 2013 - link
hello upgrade to my MSI GT70.... love seeing the mSATA tests!!! THANKS! though the transcend mSATAs currently in there don't seem to be that bad... I would just like more storage. (2 RAID 64s)should I wait for crucial M500?
LeadvilleMatt - Thursday, February 14, 2013 - link
Does anyone know if the current Intel eSATA 525 supports the E7h Flush Cache command? The original SF-22xx did not.Thanks.
damnintel - Wednesday, March 13, 2013 - link
heyyyy check this out damnintel dot commsahni - Monday, March 25, 2013 - link
Hi there,I am contemplating buying mSATA drives 240GB-256GB range. It is really becoming confusing to purchase a drive considering so many different specs.
My options are
1) Crucial m4 mSATA 256GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
2) Plextor M5M 256GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
3) Intel SSD 525 240GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
4) Mushkin Enhanced Atlas 240GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
I have not been able to get a head to head comparison of the drives anywhere. Most of the tech spec shootouts are of these drives against older models.
Could you please advise which of these drives in your opinion would be the most eligible buy in a real world consumer scenario..
Cheers....
KVSNARAYANAN - Monday, November 11, 2013 - link
What is the difference between Intel 525 Series SSDMCEAC180B301 & Intel 525 Series SSDMCEAC180A301. I want to replace my Intel 80GB with a 180GB. The last 4 digits are A301 & not B301. Where as B301 is easily available in the market the availability of A301 is very negligible. K.V.S.Narayanan - India (kvsnarayanan@gmail.com)