SSD by stefan @ 2014-03-24
The latest Vector 150 SSD from OCZ is equipped with the 19nm Toggle MLC NAND from Toshiba, provides IO consistency after very long usage periods and is rated for no less than 50GB/day, which is more than twice compared to the previous models like the Vector (25nm MLC) or the Vertex 450 (20nm MLC).
At first we would like to thank OCZ for offering a sample of their Vector 150 240GB SATA III SSD for testing and reviewing.
"San Jose, California-based OCZ Storage Solutions - A Toshiba Group Company, is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of industry-leading solid state drives (SSDs), a disruptive, game-changing technology that is replacing traditional rotating magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). OCZ develops best-in-class solid state drive solutions for professionals, enthusiasts, and gamers, and is committed to driving storage innovation. With a rich portfolio of consumer SSD offerings for laptop, desktop, and workstation applications covering a range of popular interfaces and media formats, our SSDs utilize proprietary in-house controllers and firmware to deliver exceptional I/O performance, differentiated features, lower power consumption and superior reliability, all of which translate into faster file transfers, instant system boot-ups, and an enhanced computing or gaming experience.
OCZ has a worldwide presence with regional offices and manufacturing in key regions to support our valued clients, and has earned outstanding brand equity and a reputation for quality products and customer service."
In this article we will look upon another SSD from OCZ, to be more precise the Vector 150 which is rated to have up to 150% higher endurance compared to the original Vector model, while they have moved from a 25nm to a 19nm NAND type.
The new model is available in 120GB, 240GB and 480GB versions and is equipped with the Barefoot 3 M00 controller. The packaging is very similar to what we have seen at the previous models from OCZ; on the frontal side we have a photo of the product along with the main product features and total storage space:
On the back side of the packaging, we will get to see a product description:
The SSD is also shipped with a 3.5’’ adaptor for desktop upgrades, a nice OCZ sticker, one Acronis True Image HD Cloning Software license, mounting screws, but also some words regarding warranty and a small installation manual:
Vector 150 comes with a durable aluminum chassis which also acts as a heatsink for the main controller; on the front we have the product name listed along with the “Indilinx Infused” logo:
The back side of the unit lists the product code name along with the serial number:
A warranty sticker is placed on one of the lateral screws:
In the back, the SSD comes with the usual SATA Data/Power connectors:
Let’s begin with the SSD disassembly; after removing the four screws on the back, we had to gently lift the thin aluminum cover for not ruining the thermal pad between it and the controller:
On one of the sides of the PCB we will be able to see 8 NAND Flash chips around the controller, but also one memory cache:
The central controller comes with the IDX500M00 code name:
Each of the Toshiba TH58TEG7DDJBA4C (ABL Toggle-mode 19nm MLC NAND) incorporate two 64Gbit NAND devices:
One Micron D9PFJ 256MB DDR3-1600MHz chip can be also seen here and serves as cache:
On the other side of the PCB we will be able to see the other 8 remaining NAND Flash along with an additional 256MB of cache:
A Texas Instruments TPS652510 DC-DC converter with integrated FET can also be observed here:
CPU : Intel I5 3750K Retail @ 4.7GHz
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14
Motherboard : ASRock Z77 Extreme6
RAM :GeIL PC3-17000 2133MHz 8GB EVO Leggera
Video : Sparkle X560 Calibre
Power Supply : Cooler Master 850W
HDD : Seagate Barracuda 320GB 7200.10
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
The OCZ Vector 150 240GB SSD comes unformatted out of the box:
After the SSD has been formated NTFS, here is the total free space reported by Windows 7:
With the help of AIDA64, we can extract more information regarding the drive:
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Filled SSD
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After the successful Vector, OCZ has released a newly revised model featuring Toshiba’s 19nm Toggle-mode NAND Flash; the new product is not the speediest (falls behind the original Vector) when compared with some of the previous models we have tested but compensates a lot with other features. The most important we can think of are the IO consistency which is quite high and we should not see any performance drops after long usage periods. With the help of IOMETER we have simulated a normal 4-month usage by running a 12h test and afterwards we have taken the output results for drawing the IOps variance during this time. The results are pretty impressive and prove the OCZ statement:
The other major improvement is the fact that the Vector 150 has a rated endurance of 50GB/day, while the original Vector had a rating of only 20GB/day. This is quite impressive and should cover the needs of almost any user.
OCZ has also made available on the market the Vertex 460, which is based on a slower version of the Barefoot 3 controller, but with the same 19-nm Toggle MLC NAND and is placed at a lower price point.
The Vector 150 240GB SSD can be found online for about 169 Euros.
We would like to thank again to OCZ for making this review possible!