OCZ Vertex 120GB v1.10 MLC SSD Review

[Apoptosis]

OCZ Vertex 120GB v1.10 MLC SSD Review

The OCZ Vertex Series is the result of all the latest breakthroughs in SSD technology, including new Indilinix barefoot controller, 64MB of onboard cache and insane read and write speeds. Read on to see if we can hit the rated read speeds of up to 250MB/s and write speeds of up to 180MB/s.

"The OCZ Vertex SSD (OCZSSD2-1VTX120G) uses the 2.5" form factor used in notebooks, so this drive will work in any notebook. If you wanted to be able to mount it in a desktop chassis with 3.5" bays you'll be forced to use something like the OCZ Solid State Drive 3.5" Adaptor Bracket in order to get it bolted up in the system properly. You'll need to secure it as the 120GB version of the Vertex can read up to 250 MB/s and write up to 180MB/s. Actually, a little double sided tape will work and you can stick it any place your heart desires as these drives have no moving parts and don't make any noise..."

Article Title: OCZ Vertex 120GB v1.10 MLC SSD Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/954/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: $345.99 plus shipping at Newegg.com

[Slicster]

I have 2 x 30GB Vertex drives in stripe set raid0 and have not seen any performance degradation since I started using them. I get constant 440MB Read and 310MB Write. Compared to my single G.Skill SSD 64GB that I use in my laptop which also works very well, just one of those 30GB Vertex drives offers much better performance even if it does degrade by 10% after a few days. I mean compared to a HDD 7200RPM disk that gets fragmented almost immediately and after a few weeks drops down to under 60MB/Sec read/write, SSD is the way to go. Sure the SSD's with the Jmicron controllers have freeze issues but for tech guys who can follow the OCZ instructions on partition alignment and performance tweaks for XP and Vista can get great results even out of the drives. For everyday users I'd say stay away until now when onboard cache seems to fix these issues.

[Apoptosis]

For everyday users I'd say stay away until now when onboard cache seems to fix these issues.

I agree with that with the exception of the firmware updating and TRIM.... Once you don't lose your data to update the firmware and the wiper utility works on 32-bit and 64-bit OS's without the risk of corupting your data then it will be ready for everyday users IMHO

[gwolfman]

Once the jumper is on the drive like shown in the picture above, you can power up the PC. Once the PC boots enter the BIOS and make sure the SATA mode in BIOS is set to IDE (Native) not RAID.

But what if you OS is installed on your RAID array? SOL? Looks like you might need another drive with 32-bit windows just to do this.

I'm loving those HD Tune Pro random write tests. Thanks for adding those to the benchmark reviews!

[FeRaL]

Great review... My pessimistic thoughts on SSDs are starting to melt away. Given how this thing performs and it relative cheap price in comparison to other top tier manufacturers products/prices, I can easily see myself buying at least one of these when I do my new build this summer and when Windows 7 comes out...

Did you happen to play any games or run any non benchmark apps on this thing to see how slow they are to start up? Like Photoshop, Outlook, and the usual suspects... One thing I would really like to see is how long it takes for a full anti-virus scan to run on these.

Any of you guys going to TechEd 2009 in LA?

[gwolfman]

Any of you guys going to TechEd 2009 in LA?

Nope

[Zertz]

MLC is Multi-Level Cell, not layer ;)

Great review other than that, looks like SSD's aren't quite ready for prime time yet

[FZ1]

I have 2 x 30GB Vertex drives in stripe set raid0 and have not seen any performance degradation since I started using them. I get constant 440MB Read and 310MB Write. Compared to my single G.Skill SSD 64GB that I use in my laptop which also works very well, just one of those 30GB Vertex drives offers much better performance even if it does degrade by 10% after a few days. I mean compared to a HDD 7200RPM disk that gets fragmented almost immediately and after a few weeks drops down to under 60MB/Sec read/write, SSD is the way to go. Sure the SSD's with the Jmicron controllers have freeze issues but for tech guys who can follow the OCZ instructions on partition alignment and performance tweaks for XP and Vista can get great results even out of the drives. For everyday users I'd say stay away until now when onboard cache seems to fix these issues.

A drop in benchmark numbers doesn't always translate into a noticeable different in real world use so it's not surprising you haven't noticed the difference.

[Major_A]

$345.99 for 120GB + more Internet e-weiner points.
or
5 x 1TB drives for $347.95

I might not be the most bleeding edge guy on these forums, or maybe I just look at the cost/performance benefits, but at this juncture SSD just does not make sense to me.

If you install Vista Ultimate on this 120GB drive there goes 15GB. If you don't adjust Vista's system restore there goes another 1GB on average a day. Then you install a handful of programs, some music and a few games and you are out of room. To gain some room you delete a few things now your performance suffers.

I want to pat the early adopters one the back for helping subsidize the R&D for this tech but I'll wait a few years.

[Apoptosis]

OCZ got back to me about the different speed ratings at different capacities:

Density of nand and how many channels are used because of this from the controller.

120 is fastest..then 250, then 60/30

The number of channels present is why the 250GB drive is slower than the 120GB version it seems

[Wickedt]

I love my 120 Vertex, it rocks, very snappy. A lot of the tweaks can be done by most anyone, if you follow instructions in the forum. Also, i use the Trim command with Vista 64 from Task manager at startup, if you search the forums, i created a guide on how to do this. Its great because with the blocks erased properly, you get a much better wear leveling.

[Apoptosis]

feel free to share the link to your guide or post it up in here for people to follow if you want.

Glad to hear that you have success with Wiper.exe on a 64-bit OS as Big Toe told me only 50% of users have had success.

[Wickedt]

Hi again, heres the link, i have mine set up now to run wipe.exe on startup, because after thinking about it, it is probably a good idea, as the more blocks available for the wearleveling algorythm.

heres the link,

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum ... post375480

If anyone has questions, ill post back.