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OCZ are seen as the pioneers of the Solid State Drive sector and there is no doubt that their Indilinx platform is leading the way. When OCZ released the Vertex 4 earlier this year I was extremely impressed with the performance, especially when factoring in both compressible and incompressible data throughput.
If you are in the market now for a new Solid State Drive there are certainly no shortage of options. There are literally hundreds of Sandforce 2281 powered drives which basically have a different company sticker on them. There is no doubt that these are generally very fast drives however when dealing with incompressible data they can take a large performance hit.
Furthermore, it is impossible to ignore the firmware and reliability issues in the past which subsequently inflicted high profile problems for several of the top enthusiast companies. It is no coincidence that many of these companies are now focusing on other controllers for their flagship products.
The latest Indilinx Barefoot 3 is truly an exceptional controller and the Vector drive is a worthy successor to the Vertex family. The drive is equally capable with incompressible and compressible data, delivering class leading results. The Vertex 4 was outperformed in our tests, which is a noteworthy achievement.
The Vector also produces fantastic IOPS performance, ahead of the previous generation of drives. We recorded between 90,000 and 100,000 IOPS in our random 4k tests, meaning this drive would be ideal for a myriad of intensive demands, not just simple boot duties.
I have been extremely impressed with this drive on all levels. As I am writing this, we have no indication of pricing, however we expect the Vector to have a slight premium over the last generation. It is a competitive market however, so OCZ need to get the price right. As a performance option, this is without question a ‘MUST HAVE' product.
EDIT: Aria are stocking the 256GB Vector drive for £227.99 inc vat.
Pros:
- Stunning performance.
- IOPS performance leader.
- incompressible data and compressible data performance
- fast boot drive.
Cons:
- The SSD market is flooded with products.
Kitguru says: A stunning, well balanced performer that claims the Number 1 spot.
This is brilliant, IOPS is important for my work. ive ordered one for christmas.
Waiting on this for a while, great review. thanks Z
We need a SATA 4 connector now, for 900MB/s drives. almost at the limit…..
Excellent drive, I hear they might be going under though, I hope this isn’t their swansong.
I wouldn’t buy this, OCZ wont be here in another year. No warranty support is not a good thing.
I’d rather buy a Samsung 830/840 or a Crucial M4 purely because they’re reliable. I know too many people who have had problems with OCZ solid state drives.
OCZ struggling? Ho hum…. just built a PC with an Agility 3 and a power supply of theirs. With the luck I’m having no doubt they’ll end up going under and both will die a day after. Fingers x’d then….. for both my PC and OCZ staying afloat. As for the person who asked if they will honour the warranties if they go under: it’s unlikely!