Both PC Perspective and TechReport take a further look at the Intel's X25-M solid-state drive. Here's a bit:

Solid-state drives have an inherent power consumption advantage over their mechanical counterparts, so the energy efficiency isn't much of a feat. What's more impressive is the X25-M's performance. Thanks to a 250MB/s sustained read rate and a smart Native Command Queuing implementation, Intel's first SSD sets a new standard for MLC-based solid-state drives. Unfortunately, though, Intel can't escape the relatively slow write speeds that plague MLC drives, and that results in a performance profile that's decidedly mixed.

When the X25-M is good, it's exceptional. The drive absolutely dominated our IOMeter workloads and ran away from the field in our sustained-read-speed drag race and in our real-world file read tests. The X25-M also posted speedy game level load times and a higher WorldBench overall score than any other drive-solid-state or mechanical. Start to stress the Intel SSD's relatively slow write rate, however, and things don't look nearly as impressive. The X25-M excels with iPEAK multitasking workloads that are heavy on read requests, but not those that favor writes. Its real-world write speeds aren't all that hot, either, with the Intel drive turning in particularly poor file creation speeds in FC-Test. Flash can be very fast indeed, but the slower write speed of MLC memory is still a weak link.

Price is another problem for solid-state drives, and with the 80GB X25-M slated to sell for just under $600 in 1,000-unit quantites, Intel's first entry in the market won't be cheap. At that price, the X-25M sits between budget MLC-based models and their more expensive SLC-based cousins, which seems about right to me. After all, the X25-M was often faster than Samsung's SLC-based FlashSSD, which costs nearly $800 for only 64GB.  Obviously, SSDs still have a lousy cost per gigabyte when compared to their mechanical rivals. But there's usually a premium to be paid for performance leadership, and if you measure value in IOMeter transactions per dollar, the X25-M is an absolute bargain. This SSD's power efficiency, shock tolerance, and silent acoustic profile will probably appeal to other markets, as well. I have a feeling boutique PC builders are going to snap these up for their uber-high-end notebooks and even desktops.