Kingston Coming With 30 GB 'Boot' SSD for $80

Massive (or at least decently sized) SSDs are still priced too far into the stratosphere to be practical replacements for traditional magnetic storage-based hard disk drives – but the performance advantages of SSDs are just far to compelling to ignore.

SSD makers are now hoping to attack that angle by offering more affordably priced solutions that can sit in a happy middle ground, but proposing small SSDs that are large enough to function as boot drives that hold the operating system and system files.

Kingston will ship next month the SSDNow V Series 30GB Boot Drive which will be promotionally priced at $79.99 after rebates (U.S. only). Performance is rated up to 180MB/sec. read, 50MB/sec. write. The SSD will offer Windows 7 TRIM support, which helps the SSD maintain high performance through the life of the drive.

"In our quest to bring SSDs into mainstream use, we're aiming to deliver a lower price point while boosting performance. The new SSDNow V Series 30GB Boot Drive accomplishes those goals," said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston. "Desktop users can extend the life cycle of their systems with this drive and IT managers in the enterprise space like it as there is less data for them to backup to the network. In addition, we will also release a 30GB SSD twin-pack for prosumers and enthusiasts who want to take performance to the next level."

Last week, Intel's 40GB X25-V drive for $130 finally arrived at retail, giving those who need a fast boot drive a solution available today.

Even though capacity may be limited, RunCore demonstrated at CES that even the most modest of computers can be given new life and become usable again with an SSD upgrade.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
  • sublifer
    Thats closer.... Gimme that at $60 and I'll start using them regularly.

    http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/forum-9-35.html
    Reply
  • Zenthar
    Given how big Windows is getting (mostly because of the WinSxS folder), 30GB isn't enough IMO. Windows 7 will release SP1 and SP2 and the first thing you will notice is that it will be full and the only way you will have to fix it is to reinstall the whole thing with a slipstreamed DVD.
    Reply
  • dark_lord69
    2 of these in RAID 0 sounds good to me!
    Reply
  • AMW1011
    Nice Kingston, that isn't an absolutely horrible price. 50mb/s is a lot better than Intel's budget SSD at 35mb/s at write speed.
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    ZentharGiven how big Windows is getting (mostly because of the WinSxS folder), 30GB isn't enough IMO. Windows 7 will release SP1 and SP2 and the first thing you will notice is that it will be full and the only way you will have to fix it is to reinstall the whole thing with a slipstreamed DVD.+1. Exactly what I'm thinking. For just the OS, few games,etc you need at least 80GB.

    However, if you do RAID 0 them, you can get it for a pretty decent price ($160) which isn't too bad.

    HOWEVER, BEWARE that the Kingston V series doesn't use the Intel controller like the E Series, so your read/writes are going to suffer quite a bit
    See: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=328&Itemid=60&limit=1&limitstart=7
    Reply
  • Shadow703793
    AMW1011Nice Kingston, that isn't an absolutely horrible price. 50mb/s is a lot better than Intel's budget SSD at 35mb/s at write speed.Only in the 4KB write. In pretty much everything else, the Intel PWNS.
    http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1022/9/

    Reply
  • Zenthar
    Shadow703793For just the OS, few games,etc you need at least 80GB.For just the OS and a few basic "productivity" apps, 40GB is enough; I'm still using my old 36GB Raptor as my OS drive.
    Shadow703793HOWEVER, BEWARE that the Kingston V series doesn't use the Intel controller like the E Series, so your read/writes are going to suffer quite a bit.Actually, I know the 40GB Kingston V is based on the Intel X25-M, but was "chocked" in some way, maybe this is also the case. Also note that the Kingston V does not support TRIM where even the new Intel X25-V 40GB does. However, if you are to RAID the drives, it should be of no consequence.
    Reply
  • Zenthar
    Shadow703793Only in the 4KB write. In pretty much everything else, the Intel PWNS.AMW1011 was probably referring to the new Intel X25-V 40GB (or Kingston V 40GB) which is some crippled X25-M for budget users.
    Reply
  • As the article notes, this drive does support TRIM.
    Reply
  • ubertiger
    Get rid of the freakin' ads on here that make noise with no mute button!
    Reply