OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-Express SSD Review

[Apoptosis]

OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-Express SSD Review

OCZ has been on the cutting edge of SSD's since they hit the consumer market and are on the pioneer trail once again with their most affordable PCI-Express based SSD yet - the RevoDrive. As implied, this isn't their first PCI-E drive but it is the first that carries a price tag that rivals that of the more traditional SATA port based SSD's. Will the price and performance be enough to compete with traditional SATA SSD's?

OCZ has been on the cutting edge of SSDs since they hit the consumer market and are on the pioneer trail once again with their most affordable PCI-Express based SSD yet - the RevoDrive. As implied, this isn't their first PCI-E drive but it is the first that carries a price tag that rivals that of the more traditional SATA port based SSDs. At an MSRP of $349 for the 120GB version (part number OCZSSDPX-1RVD0120), they aren't what you would consider inexpensive for storage devices in general, but considering the performance, hardware onboard and pricing of similar capacity SSDs, the price point is rather impressive. The RevoDrive features a pair of Sandforce SF-1200 controllers in a RAID 0 configuration - all on one card. Think of it like the NVIDIA SLI and ATI Crossfire cards with dual GPU's on one card. You get all the benefits of a traditional RAID 0 configuration without the hassle and expense of multiple drives and add-in RAID controller cards. We've seen the performance of just one Sandforce based drive begin to hit the SATA II bandwidth ceiling, and moving to a higher bandwidth interface will really allow the RevoDrive to stretch its legs...

Article Title: OCZ RevoDrive 120GB PCI-Express SSD Review
Article URL: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1370/1/
Pricing At Time of Print: ~$349.99

[Bwall]

Great write up Joe. I'll need to retest my set up but this appears to be similar in performance (and capacity) to a pair of 64GB Intel X-25E in RAID 0. At $700+ each for the Intel drives it's easy to see that the RevoDrive has excellent performance per dollar!

[trucz]

keep us posted if the performance degrades over time. good review.

[jnanster]

Thanks for the great write-up Joe. A great product.
Your review made me realize just how much i don't know about solid state drives.
I be need'in some education before making the move to soled state.

[FZ1]

Thanks guys. As a follow up, OCZ has delayed the release of the RevoDrives to correct a last minute but undisclosed issue. They have not provided an ETA.

[jonahkirk]

Does this drive support HDErase or hdparm (how I currently restore my dana-electric intel G1)?

[FZ1]

It should. I have not had the opportunity to test that because the drive needs to be returned.

[Apoptosis]

The 120GB OCZ RevoDrive is now available at Newegg and is listed for $369 after rebate plus $4 shipping.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227578

[dio_free]

SUPER useful post, thank you!

Two questions, what is idle garbage collection support????

Also, could someone give me a bit of context? Where would the OCZ fall on a graph compared to normal HDD drives (7200rpm for example)?

That would help me.

thanks guys!!

df

[FZ1]

Idle garbage collection is a process that happens in the background that essentially defrags or consolidates data, freeing up whole blocks. As for HDD comparisons, there is none. The RevoDrive blows it away. Nate did a recent review of the new 6Gbps VelociRaptor drive and compared it to SSD's which should give you an Idea and that is probably the fastest HDD you can buy.

[Skippman]

Do you think something like this would be good for something like a gaming PC if used by itself? Or is the the kind of drive you'd use as a boot/OS drive paired with a high speed SATA HD?

Having a server for a storage device the only think I keep on my gaming machine is the games themselves, my OS, and usually the ISO's of my games for use with Daemon Tools.

[dio_free]

Idle garbage collection is a process that happens in the background that essentially defrags or consolidates data, freeing up whole blocks. As for HDD comparisons, there is none. The RevoDrive blows it away. Nate did a recent review of the new 6Gbps VelociRaptor drive and compared it to SSD's which should give you an Idea and that is probably the fastest HDD you can buy.

Thank you so much Joe.

On those benchmarks, am i correct to think that the PCI-e SSDs would destroy the results of any of those listed?

thanks.

df

[t3h0th3r]

it would be interesting comparing the Revo vs a C300 not being limited by sata2 speeds...

[benderx]

Could someone who bought it compare it with Ramdisk plus 9+ please?
Also benchmarks would be appreciated.


Thanks

[FZ1]

We'll have a look at the Revo X2 before long...

[benderx]

Ah don't bother, I just found this review:

http://fiehnlab.ucdavis.edu/staff/kind/ ... k/RamDisk/

Ramdisks outperform this card many times more, even with crappy DDR2 667mhz ram.