Intel X-25M 80GB SSD Review

Packaging and Accessories

Where this unit is not a Retail Market drive (it’s actually an engineering sample) we are going to skip the external packaging and accessories parts of this review as it would not be fair to Intel to do so. As you can see our X-25M came in a cardboard box with foam internal packaging but yours may not or may not come like this.

First Impressions

Moving on to the X-25M itself, you can see it is done is finished in a very unique black, silver and white colour scheme much like Intel's Extreme Edition processor boxes. Honestly, if you didn’t know what kind of power was lurking inside the plain cardboard box, you would have an awfully good inkling once you get your first glimpse of the drive itself. Please don’t get us wrong, its not a overly flashy looking drive but it will get your attention. We will get back to the top of the X-25M in a moment but lets first look at the back.


The back of the drive is totally and completely devoid of any labels, markings, logos or anything whatsoever. However, on the upside, the case itself is made from solid metal and has a very durable feel to it. Also on the positive side, the Intel engineers did go for bottom and side mounting screw holes in "silver" inserts which not only add a subtle splash of spice to the looks of the drive but also improve add durability and rigidity. We highly doubt you will strip out one of these screw mounts with anything less an butt load of abuse.


Going back to the front of the drive we quickly and readily see that this is where Intel’s designers spent most of their time and effort. The first notable feature is the top of this case is not a flat surface but in fact has a gracefully curving arch embossed into it. This arch is further highlighted and enhanced by the white label which follows this curve. It certainly is different and it does work.


The label itself is filled with all the usual information which you would find on any drive, but one thing really did stand out. In the official specifications (PDF) found on Intel’s own website this unit is rated to run at a heck of a lot less than 1 FULL Amp on the 5v line (5W); yet here it is bold and as clear as day stating its max power consumption is 1 Amp. In most circumstances the X-25M probably uses a heck of a lot less juice than this (closer to the 150mA stated in Intel's spec sheets) but when the label and the "official specifications" differ we always side with the label on the drive.