How much is a speedy computer worth to you? Often one of the slower components is the hard drive in your computer. When you are booting, data needs to be pulled from the hard drive. During a computer session, numerous temporary files are saved to the main drive.

These are just some of the reasons you should consider an SSD (solid state drive) drive for the boot drive in your system. Due to the higher cost for the storage space provided, you should also have a mechanical hard drive for storing your data.

One of the fastest drives available today is the OWC Agility 3 series. You can get a 60 GB drive for around $111, a 120 GB drive for around $182 and a 240 GB drive for around $386.

The best time to upgrade to an SSD is when putting a new computer into service. Install the operating system on the SSD and then use a mechanical drive to store your software and your data. While you can put some of those on the SSD, you’ll soon be out of storage space unless you want to get multiple SSD drives.