# When will I be able to buy a 256GB Intel SSD for $400? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 28, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832 "2008-11-28T19:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/1 "2008-11-28T19:12:18Z")
Intel hasn’t even announced one yet, and if they did, I’d expect to pay around $1200. How long until prices come down? ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/2 "2008-11-28T19:28:16Z")
I don’t understand why you can’t buy one today for that price since 32GB flash memory can be had for around $60. SSD pricing seems very mysterious. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/3 "2008-11-28T19:33:20Z")
> [@flex727](#): > > I don’t understand why you can’t buy one today for that price since 32GB flash memory can be had for around $60. SSD pricing seems very mysterious. Well, the problem is size. You can buy 8 32 GB flash hard drives for $480, but my laptop only has room for one. If you want that much storage in a small space, you have to pay… ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/4 "2008-11-28T19:37:47Z")
Flash memory doesn’t have anywhere near the input/output speed of SSDs. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/5 "2008-11-28T20:43:26Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Flash memory doesn’t have anywhere near the input/output speed of SSDs. Yes and no. Flash drives are true SSDs in a technical sense. SSDs can be made with flash memory or with conventional ram that is backed up with battery etc. Flash based RAM can have extraordinary read speeds but few people realize how (relatively) slow the write process for flash memory is compared to other hard disk architectures. Flash also has a (relatively) limited write-erase lifetime compared to other disk architectures. This is never an issue with thumb drives etc but for enterprise level stuff it could be an issue. As you indicate, however, for high performance SSDs flash memory will not meet the IO specs required. See [Flash drive - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_drive) ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/6 "2008-11-28T22:24:49Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Intel hasn’t even announced one yet, and if they did, I’d expect to pay around $1200. How long until prices come down? My question would be…why do you want a 256GB. At least at this strongest application of SSD’s is as O/S and application drives. If you are working with a homebuilt/desktop machine use a standard drive for file storage and apps that will derive minimal benfit from the SSD (like office) and a 32G for the OS. Games and such can be installed there as well and will derive immense benefit in many cases. Buying an SSD and storing Mp3 downloads on it is kinda like buying a formula 1 race car for towing a horse trailer. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/7 "2008-11-28T22:53:25Z")
Yes, well, if it were a desktop, I’d just buy four 80 GB SSDs and RAID 0 them or something. This is for my laptop. In any case, I am doing more with this than storing MP3s. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2008, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/8 "2008-11-28T22:54:26Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > Intel hasn’t even announced one yet, and if they did, I’d expect to pay around $1200. How long until prices come down? Right around the time you no longer want one. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/9 "2008-11-29T03:18:03Z")
I’ve been decently interested in SSD technology since doing a couple of drivers for them. There’s a couple of technologies that are in the gee-wow stage that could be the breakthrough to making them competitive with standard HDDs, but I’d venture to guess that we’re still at least 5 years off. Even as an early buyer just hoping to waste money, I couldn’t convince myself to splurge on one. At useful sizes they’re just way too expensive still. The best page to track the current state of things seems to be this page: [http://www.storagesearch.com/chartingtheriseofssds.html](http://www.storagesearch.com/chartingtheriseofssds.html) ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-will-i-be-able-to-buy-a-256gb-intel-ssd-for-400/474832/10 "2008-12-01T01:43:34Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’ve been decently interested in SSD technology since doing a couple of drivers for them. > > There’s a couple of technologies that are in the gee-wow stage that could be the breakthrough to making them competitive with standard HDDs, but I’d venture to guess that we’re still at least 5 years off. Even as an early buyer just hoping to waste money, I couldn’t convince myself to splurge on one. At useful sizes they’re just way too expensive still. > > The best page to track the current state of things seems to be this page: > > [SSD Market History - Charting the Rise of the SSD Market (1970s to 2019) the original article on StorageSearch.com](http://www.storagesearch.com/chartingtheriseofssds.html) Nice technology overview from that link of [flash vs DRAM SSDs](http://www.storagesearch.com/ssd-ram-v-flash.html)