Hardware OCZ Vertex 3 SSD Preview

OCZ's Vertex 3 packs the new SandForce 2000 controller, which is capable of 500MB/sec read speeds!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/02/24/ocz-vertex-3-ssd-preview/1

 

Interesting that the next gen OCZ is still beaten by the C300 in random reads... Why would that be?

 

The problem is that new technology will push the prices back up again, just when SSDs were becoming affordable. I'll be happy with the day when £100 will buy me 256GB of fast storage - but it never seems to get here. Even now that only gets you 60-64GB of a SandForce SSD, and the new faster ones will likely be £150+ for the same capacity.

Perhaps this will drive the costs of the "old" SF drives down, but it'll most likely just end up replacing.

 

AMD have had native SATA 6Gbps for ages... where have you been? Or have you tested this SSD on SB850 and found it lacking?

 

We tested AMD's SATA 6Gbps ports back when we looked at SATA 6Gbps port performance and found that they weren't as fast as marvell. We might take another look at SATA 6Gbps elsewhere when these drives are actually released. For now this is just a preview and we found SandyBridge to be plenty fast enough.

 

Yes, we need

SandForce 2281 - Very, very quick. But you'll need SandbyBridge to get the best out of it.

 

Wow.
I am SO pleased I just forked out on a C300.
Actually I am pleased. Its great, but for those that have held off. this looks very exciting

 

The 25nm production that OCZ are employing should *theoretically* mean cheaper prices for consumer. i.e. They produce more of the good stuff using the same resources.

 

Read a few articles about the 25nm drives potentially having shorter lifespans, eg
http://www.storagereview.com/ssds_shifting_25nm_nand_what_you_need_know

 

over-prosvisoned.

 

@Nikols - Anandtech also have quite a comprehensive overview of this problem on their Vertex 3 Pro preview. They say it's not a problem:

"For a desktop user running a desktop (non-server) workload, the chances of your drive dying within its warranty period due to you wearing out all of the NAND are basically nothing."

It's well worth a read:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4159/ocz-vertex-3-pro-preview-the-first-sf2500-ssd/2

And has put my mind at rest, regarding this issue.

 

This looks frickin epic. When can I haz one?!

 

In case what pbryanw posted wasn't convincing enough, this is the line from the same (excellent) preview that sold me:

And that is the author talking. The rest of the people who were using SSDs wrote considerably less.

 

what is the release date for this product?

 

I already have a C300 and I still will get this one too.

 

I'd be more exited if it would get C300 speeds at a lower price, than I am at oh, another speedy but too expensive drive.

 

I want one.

 

That's certainly the truth.

I've just forked for a 64GB C300. On the Asus p6x58D-e SATA3 ports it's nice and speedy. Windows boot times are awesome.

While faster and faster is interesting as a technical exercise and for power users (see: i7 980x), where's the affordable version for the rest of us, who just want something "pretty good", rather than the bleeding edge?

 

Good review, I would have loved too see some real world tests though.
But the conclusion and the parts about sandy bridge was just unnecessary, and wrong. There are controllers out there, and even cheap ones that will fully utilize the performance.

This cheap one should do just the trick; http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=lGYmelQ8mJvPtYTv

 

The article regarding SATA 6Gbps ports seemed to indicate that the SB850 performed pretty well compared to add-in solutions:

Am happy with my Crucial M225 128gb drive, but would like another SSD for my steam install (although would need more than 128GB!)