OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Review

OCZ Vertex 4 256GB Review

OCZ's Vertex series of SSDs first arrived on store shelves with the Indilinx Barefoot controller inside and now the newest generation of the Vertex family returns home to the Indilinx Everest 2 controller. Granted, this probably has more to do with the fact that OCZ acquired Indilinx rather than any potential superiority of the controller chip, but it's worth mentioning.

The reason we're spending so much time talking about the controller here is that it's one of the bigger points of differentiation with this drive. The Everest 2 (IDX400M00-BC) is based on a Marvell controller with significant firmware changes by Indilinx. Unlike SSDs that use SandForce controllers, the Everst 2 leverages on-board cache memory for speed. The controller uses the cache to pre-fetch requests from the NAND into the DRAM, which in theory allows reads to complete as fast as the drives interface will allow. In less technical language this means the Vertez 4 should deliver more consistent performance regardless of the type of data it's reading and writing.

This version of the Vertex 4 is packed with 16 Intel 25nm MLC synchronous NAND flash chips each with 16GB of storage bringing the total to 256GB.

The specifications for the OCZ Vertex 4 256GB are as follows:

• Model: VTX4-25SAT3-256G
• Form Factor: 2.5" (9.3mm thickness)
• Capacity: 256GB
• Memory Type: MLC
• Interface: SATA III
• Controller: Indilinx Everest 2
• Weight: 101g
• Advertised Max Sequential Read: Up to 560 MB/s
• Advertised Max Sequential Write: Up to 510 MB/s
• Advertised 4KB Random Read: Up to 90,000 IOPS
• Advertised 4KB Random Write: Up to 85,000 IOPS
• MTBF: 2,000,000 hours
• MSRP: $300
• Average Retail Price: $210