OCZ Vertex 2 100GB Performance Preview

[Rob Williams]

If you think you've seen everything that an SSD has to offer, you may wish to take a look at OCZ's Vertex 2. Like many other SSDs, it features a SandForce SF-1200 controller, but with a careful helping of OCZ's special spices to deliver unbelievable performance. While we're working on the full article, you can enjoy this small preview.

You can read Robert's full preview here and discuss it here!

[JAW_DROP]

[Doomsday]

damn! look at the performance!

[Kougar]

Yes... I thought I was happy with the Vertex Turbo, but damn. I've been blown away with this thing. It's mind boggling how fast this drive is.

OCZ may not like me for saying this, but if anything I can't wait to see the "next gen" Sandforce controller that uses SATA 3, there is quite a bit of potential for growth here given this is a SATA 2 drive operating at the very limits of SATA 2's capabilities, and because of how the controller technology works. Such a next-gen Sandforce controller will be at least a year away though, I'm sure!

[TheFocusElf]

I knew I should've just gotten a Corsair Sandforce 200GB drive. I mean I am sure the Vertex 2 would beat it as well, several technological nuances there. But if you get a chance to review the Sata 3 Crucial or any other Sata 3.0 drive, note the pain in the rear that goes into configuring a mobo bios to acknowledge it... rough. =D

I am drooling now at this Sandforce drive =D

[looisboo]

That is a very fast SSD..I want the full review

[Rob Williams]

Originally Posted by looisboo

That is a very fast SSD..I want the full review

I want the SSD

Looking forward to the full article. Would like to see performance data for the X25-M G2 added to the comparison (charts only include G1).

[Kougar]

The article is almost finished! Sorry to keep everyone waiting!

Originally Posted by nomo

Looking forward to the full article. Would like to see performance data for the X25-M G2 added to the comparison (charts only include G1).

So would I as they would be an important addition, but unfortunately I do not have any Intel G2 drives available to benchmark, and having Rob ship me his and then shipping it back by International post almost makes it cheaper just to buy one! Thanks for voicing your thoughts though as I do agree.

Something to keep in mind is that Intel's 160GB G2 is limited to 100MB/s writes by the firmware itself, it won't go higher. Based on results I am seeing the Vertex 2 can almost double that write speed while still offering higher IOPS than even the Intel G2 drives. The only difference in Intel's favor is that the G2 costs much less when looking at the dollar per GB ratio, which admittedly is the only real drawback for the Vertex 2.

[Tharic-Nar]

Originally Posted by Kougar

Something to keep in mind is that Intel's 160GB G2 is limited to 100MB/s writes by the firmware itself, it won't go higher.

That is a little strange, did Intel state why the write speed was capped? Is it a limitation of the controller to prevent some catastrophic failure instigated by writing too fast or a read/write corruption prevention?

I've actually been keeping an eye on the Vertex 2, it's a little steep here in the UK at £3.30 per GB, but is the performance worth it... and more importantly, will it last? There's also the new 400GB version announced, wonder if there's an internal RAID involved with that and an accompanying speed increase as well.