OCZ Vertex 3.20 120GB Solid State Drive Review

1. Introduction2. OCZ Vertex 3.20 120GB Solid State Drive3. OCZ Vertex 3.20 120GB (Super High Res Gallery)4. Testing Methodology5. CrystalDiskMark6. ATTO Disk Benchmark7. AS SSD8. PCMark 79. IOMeter10. Real World Testing11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

The OCZ Vertex 3.20 120GB drive delivers decent all round performance sure to appeal to users moving from a standard mechanical drive for the first time and not wanting to spend over £100 on the upgrade.

While the performance characteristics of this drive are certainly not going to break any records, in a real world environment, the drive was very fast and the operating system booted up very quickly. Programs also loaded without a hiccup and unless you were recording the speeds accurately with a digital stopwatch, you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between this drive and a market leader. That said, there are some points we need to address.

While the SF2281 controller has experienced some issues in the past, the development is now so mature that the problems seem to have been ironed out. We aren't sure if the damage has already been done as I know a lot of readers on our social Facebook page have said they would never trust Sandforce 2281 again.

This drive incorporates Sandforce DuraClass technology, adding proprietary RAISE and DuraWrite features said to ensure this product lasts five times longer with less wear on the NAND flash modules. OCZ also back the drive with a full 3 year warranty alongside their active, helpful support forums.

This drive does perform at a lower level than their 240GB version and a review of the larger Vertex 3.20 will be forthcoming in coming weeks. If you want a high value drive but need better levels of performance, we suggest you budget extra and pick up the 240GB version.

The Vertex 3.20 120GB drive can be picked up in the United Kingdom via Dabs for only £93.88 inc vat. At this price it really is difficult to ignore. The 240GB 3.20 is available via Dabs for £167.98 inc vat.

Additionally, If you have another £20 burning a hole in your pocket, then don't forget the ultra high performance OCZ Vector drives – the 128GB is only £111.99 inc vat.

Pros:

• Fantastic price point.
• good all round performance.
• 3 year warranty.

Cons:

• write performance suffers when dealing with incompressible data.
• faces a lot of competition.
• Sandforce 2281 reputation has taken a few knocks over the years.

Kitguru says: A good performance, high value for money Solid State Drive.

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