I bought this 830 (64GB)to replace a near failing 500GB OS drive in my main PC. My old drive was a Seagate 500GB (7200rpm). It scored a 5.7 on the Windows 7 Experience Index. With this SSD it is now a 7.7 (highest possible is 7.9).
This is incredibly fast. I've swapped 5400rpm drives for 7200rpm ones, only to barely notice any difference. I think SSDs are definitely the biggest jump in performance attainable from any upgrade in this price spectrum.
I have to be honest though. I am very pleased with its performance, but I was really expecting more given all the other reviews for the 470 series SSDs. My old time for a complete restart of my computer (from Windows, shut down, restart, log back into Windows) was 69 seconds. With the SSD in, it is now 29 seconds. Again, huge improvement, but based on other peoples' experience I was expecting like 15-20 seconds. I was also expecting large programs like Photoshop to open as fast as it takes to open a folder (i.e. instant), but it still takes about 5 seconds (still a big improvement from 10-12 seconds on my old HDD).
I'm also fussy on the aesthetic aspect, and the appearance of this drive was a huge selling point for me. Even though it's hiding away in my PC and I don't see it, the 10 minutes I spent taking it out of its case, installing the mount, and placing it inside my PC, were great eye-candy moments. This drive is beautiful. I could tell the stock photos were computer-rendered, so I was worried it would be a huge letdown when I saw the real thing, but yeah, it really is that gorgeous. I uploaded several photos for anyone else interested in this SSD's real-world appearance.
So basically, very happy with this drive. Big performance upgrade, but I believe it is a tad bit pricey compare to HDD.
