Some companies are content to be first to market with an SSD and then spend months and months squashing bugs which had no business being in firmware released to the general public. Intel on the other hand tends to chart a safer course and while they may not be able to take advantage of early adopter...

We are using a new addition to our scoring system to provide additional feedback beyond a flat score. Please note that the final score isn't an aggregate average of the new rating system.

5 year warranty

IMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time.

Fastest SATA storage device ever tested; Delivers over 83K IOPS performance in IOMeter; Outstanding 559/528 MBps read/write speed with ATTO; Built-in 256-bit AES data encryption; Hardware-level data compression preserves NAND longevity; 5-Year Intel product warranty support; Enhanced power-loss data...

Expensive enthusiast-level product

The Intel SSD 520 series drives sport the same 2.5" form factor that's common with other SATA solid state drives on the market. In fact, the drives look virtually identical to Intel's older SSD 510 and 320 series products, save for the decal on top.

If our review of the Intel SSD 520 shows anything, it's that engineering is a key component when it comes to SSD performance. Specifically, when thinking about the effort that went into development of the firmware on the SSD 520, we see the effort pays off.

Exceptionally strong performance up against OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS; Incredibly fast compressible speeds in our mixed-workload tests; Industry-leading reliability testing; Custom firmware and engineering shows its value

More expensive than other SandForce SF-2200-powered SSDs with synchronous NAND

Intel's 520 Series SSD is undoubtedly a good match for any high-end PC; it's lightning-quick in various scenarios, and if you're coming from a traditional hard disk, it'll provide a jolt in performance that few other components can offer.

Intel is looking to SandForce to provide it with a performance-class SSD in the Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB. It changed tack about a year ago and started using third-party controller chips in its consumer class solid state drives (SSDs).

The Intel 520 Series 240GB is one of the fastest solid state drives on the market, right at the very top of our group test beside the Patriot Wildfire 240GB and Vertex 3 240GB MAX IOPS.

not quite as fast as the latest Samsung drives when reading imcompressible data

SandForce was an unknown newcomer to the solid state drive business when they announced their first SF-1000 memory controller in 2009. Nevertheless many storage manufacturers recognized the chip's potential and moved quickly to adopt it, among them A-Data, Corsair, G.Skill, OCZ, Patriot, Super...

Excellent performance; The speed of SandForce's latest controller with the backing of Intel's testing and firmware validation

A tad more expensive than other similar drives; SSDs in general are still limited in storage capacity given the premium you pay per gigabyte

The Intel SSD 520 breaks through setting new SATA6 performance standards due to three important features: High quality synchronous NAND, a more mature controller and more polished firmware.

Fastest SATA6 SSD for consumers; "End to End" 256bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard; Great overall performance; SandForce controller polished firmware

Still a costly upgrade for regular consumers