Intel 320 Series SSD 160 GB Review

Introduction

Most solid state drive (SSD) manufacturers make their drives with a standard set of capacities with the most popular being 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB. Intel is the exception to this rule, as they produce their SSDs in more varied capacities from 40 GB to 600 GB. Today we are going to look at a 320 Series 160 GB SSD from Intel which will give you a little more space than the 128 GB drives that most manufacturers offer.

Before going on, we’d highly suggest that you read our Anatomy of SSD Units tutorial which provides all the background information you need to know about SSDs. The SSDs featured in this review use MLC memory chips.

Many people would love to upgrade their laptop to a solid state drive but can’t afford one that is capacious enough for all their programs and files. With this 160 GB unit, Intel provides a solution which fits in between the standard 128 GB and 256 GB capacities. This is ideal for people who think 128 GB is a little too small for them but can’t afford the extra expense of a 256 GB unit. With desktops, the larger capacity is less significant, as the SSD can always be combined with a larger mechanical hard drive.

Because the Intel 320 Series drive is unique with its 160 GB capacity, we will be comparing it with two 128 GB drives in our tests. These will be the Patriot Torqx 2 and Kingston V100 models which we recently reviewed in detail here. In the table below, we are comparing the Intel drive with the two other drives. All three drives use a SATA-300 interface and occupy the standard 2.5” form Factor

Manufacturer	Model	Model #	Capacity	Price
Intel	320 Series	SSDSA2CW160G310	160 GB	USD 290
Kingston	SSDNow V100	SV100S2D/128GZ	128 GB	USD 226
Patriot	Torqx 2	PT2128GS25SSDR	128 GB	USD 225

We researched the prices at Newegg.com on the day that we published the review and noted the following observation.

The listed price for the Kingston drive is for the “Desktop Bundle” version that we have for review. The same drive is also available on its own or as part of a “Notebook Bundle” from Newegg.com. Both of these options cost USD 220.

In the table below, we provide a more in-depth technical comparison between the drives. Most chip manufacturers don’t detail the specifics of their chips on their websites, so we are only linking to those we found.

Model	Controller	Buffer	Memory
Intel 320 Series	Intel PC29AS21BA0	64 MB (Hynix H5585162EFR)	Intel 29FI6B08CCMEI
Kingston SSDNow V100	Toshiba JMF618	64 MB (Mira P3R12E4JIFF)	Toshiba TH58NVG6D2FTA20
Patriot Torqx 2	Phison PS3105-S5	128 MB (Hynix H5MS1G22AFR)	Toshiba TH58NVG7D2FLA89