OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD Review

1. Introduction2. OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD3. OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD (Super High Res Gallery)4. Testing Methodology5. CrystalDiskMark6. Atto Disk Benchmark7. AS SSD8. PCMark 79. IOMeter10. Real World Testing11. Closing Thoughts12. View All Pages

We review many Solid State Drives on Kitguru every month and to be honest handling a deluge of SandForce 2281 powered drives can often be a tedious process. The results are generally so similar that it really does boil down to the specific manufacturer retail price.

OCZ's Vertex 4 512GB is a game changer and one of the most capable, well balanced Solid State drives on the market. I can't remember the last time I genuinely felt excited reviewing a Solid State drive, so it was a refreshing change putting the Vertex 4 through the paces today.

Sandforce have ruled the performance charts for a year or more now, even though their controllers have been at the center of reported, high profile failures. A portion of the enthusiast audience have subsequently lost faith in 2281 powered drives, turning instead to alternative Samsung and Marvell controllers. OCZ have also experienced reasonable success with their Indilinx Octane drives, however the update to the Indilinx controller today is significant.

OCZ have intended to improve small block performance, as well as reducing write amplification. They can, without question consider their Indilinx Everest 2 a total success.

IOPS performance is class leading, way ahead of Sandforce and other competitors. We recorded 84k and almost 88k in our 4k random read and write test, respectively. This is over twice the performance of the previous controller configured with the same test parameters.

Sequential, compressible performance is a little less than achievable with the leading Sandforce 2281 drives, however when factoring in compressible and incompressible data, the Indilinx Everest 2 IDX400MOO-BC controller is much stronger than anything else we have tested to date.

It is worth pointing out that there are performance variables between the 128GB, 256GB and 512GB Vertex 4 drives. All three are rated at 535MB/s read, but the 256GB and 128GB drives deliver inferior write performance of 380MB/s and 200 MB/s respectively. IOPS performance should be identical between drives, although we can't confirm that as we only have the 512GB drive at hand.

If you are in the market for a new, high performance drive which doesn't pay a performance penalty when dealing with incompressible data then the Vertex 4 should be the first choice. It is also going to be ideal for small block duties, such as heavy database environments.

The Vertex 4 512GB drive will cost $699, however we don't have confirmed UK pricing yet. We would however expect the price to be around the £550 inc vat mark.

EDIT: Price is confirmed at £559.99

Pros:

• equally good with compressible and incompressible data.
• IOPS performance is class leading.
• 5 years warranty.

Cons:

• None we can mention.

Kitguru says: The Vertex 4 is the first major update to the Solid State Market since the Sandforce 2281 controller was released.

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