This innovation put AMD ahead of Intel in desktop performance for a crucial period, especially in real-world application responsiveness and gaming. SSD: Intel X25-M G2 (2009)Why it’s the best: The Intel X25-M G2 wasn’t the first SSD, but it was the first to truly make solid-state storage a viable, high-performance option for the consumer. It offered excellent cooling performance for increasingly hot components, alongside decent cable management for its time. While it’s hard to choose specifically, there are certain key components that released that were special to me. In terms of SSD, again, AI did well with the Intel X25-M G2, and I can see why AI chose it.