5punk

Following article appeared in this months PCFormat, all I've done is trim it down to make it more 5punk friendly.

Proper solid state drives cost an absolute fortune atm but by using this guide you can make your own for under £80.

Firstly you will need a fast compact flash card like this: <a href="http://www.pricestorm.com/moreInfo.asp? ... e_Tracking ">8Gb Kingston</a>

Secondly you will need a Sata+Pata to compact flash adaptor like this: <a href="http://www.pyramid.com/Product.aspx?Sto ... Adaptor</a> (You can get them for £5 on Ebay but I can't get get onto the site from works computers).

Thirdly you need to get an old PCI slot backplate to attach the adaptor to.

Construction:

Most of the adaptors come with 3mm mounting holes so all you need to do is measure, cut two flaps and drill matching holes into the backplate. Once that's done screw the adaptor on, add the CF card and screw the whole assembly into the PC case conecting the cables at the same time. Turn the PC on and ensure the bios spots the new drive. Install windows and enjoy the 43Mb/s transfer speed.

Profit?

These things pop up fairly regularly, but I don't rate them that highly for most things, quiet pcs and fast boot drives perhaps, but not much beyond that.

they get more useful if you get towards 16gb drives in raid-0, but for that sort of money, you may as well buy a raptor or an OCZ SSD, both of which will perform bloody well, and have more than enough space.