Intel 530 240GB SSD Review

Introduction

We've spent quite a bit of time with this drive over the last three months. Upon release, we purchased the drive from Newegg for $259, and then started what we assumed at the time would be a regular round of tests. We were wrong, and after writing seven TB of data to the drive, we still can't figure out why the Intel 530 240GB still performs as poorly as it does.

Initially, we assumed the performance issues revolved around the 20nm flash, but after looking at our 335 Series 240GB results with the same flash, we knew that wasn't the case. Also, we tested the drive on no less than four different motherboards; all with SATA 6Gbps.

With the flash eliminated as an issue, and our test systems configured properly, that only leaves the controller or the firmware. Surely LSI doesn't have firmware issues again... or do they?

I initially started writing this review on Black Friday, and at that time, the Intel 530 Series 240GB retail was down to $179.99. The retail drive is now down to just $159.99, a price that undercuts Samsung's 840 EVO 250GB by ten dollars.