SSD by stefan @ 2014-05-08
Vertex 460, another OCZ SSD which is priced a little bit lower than the previously reviewed Vector 150, features the same Toshiba 19nm Toggle-mode NAND, along with the lower-clocked Barefoot 3 M10 controller and 512MB of DDR3 1333 Micron RAM.
At first we would like to thank OCZ for offering a sample of their Vertex 460 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."
The OCZ Vertex 460 SSD we are trying to cover in this article comes in a fully sealed enclosure:
We can see a similar design of the packaging which was featured with their previous releases too; in the top right corner, the manufacturer has marked the total capacity for the model we are reviewing; these are available in 120GB and 480GB variants too:
On the back side of the box, we will get to see some of the product highlights along with a product description:
Besides the usual leaflets, we also get a serial number for Acronis True Image HD software and a small, themed sticker:
A desktop adapter with screws can be also found inside the enclosure:
As with the Vector 150 or the Vertex 450, we are dealing with a high quality aluminum case for the SSD in question and the top side is themed with the name of the product, along with the OCZ emblem:
The unit is 7mm thick so it will fit without any issues in ultrabooks too:
The bottom side of the unit doubles itself as a heatsink for the controller; in the middle we get to see the sticker with the product serial number but also with the code mane:
One of the screws is covered by the warranty sticker:
Let’s begin by removing the bottom cover; we will be able to see the central thermal tab right away so we should be careful not to damage it. The central controller is surrounded by both the Toggle NAND Flash chips but also by the buffer RAM:
The Indilinx Barefoot 3 M10 controller is found here (which was also present on the Vertex 450), which is clocked lower at 350MHz (as opposed to the M00 version at 400MHz which drives the Vector 150):
Each of the Toshiba TH58TEG7DDJBA4C (ABL Toggle-mode 19nm MLC NAND) incorporate two 64Gbit NAND devices; these are the same as on the Vector 150:
This time around we will get to see the Micron D9LGK 256MB DDR3-1333MHz buffer as opposed to the D9PFJ on the Vector 150 which was clocked at 1600MHz:
Here is a view on the back side of the PCB which shows the rest of 8 Toggle NAND Flash from Toshiba, along with the rest of 256MB buffer:
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 Vertex 460 240GB SSD comes unformatted out of the box:
After the SSD has been formatted 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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The Vertex 460 from OCZ is featuring Toshiba’s 19nm Toggle-mode NAND as we have seen with their Vector 150, which we have reviewed a few weeks ago. With this model, we have to deal with a lower clocked controller and RAM cache, and the endurance is rated for 20GB/day as opposed to the Vector 150 which is advertised at 50GB/day. Since the IO consistency test proved very interesting when running it on the Vector, we have decided to re-run it on the latest Vertex 460 and see what we get. The results are again impressive and show that during the 12h test the IOps values are constant:
Despite the fact that OCZ Vertex 460 has lower operating frequencies, the difference in speed compared to the Vector 150 is small and we won’t be able to notice it in normal operating conditions.
Now, when we are discussing about the pricing, the Vector 150 240GB can be found online for about 144 Euros, while the Vertex 460 comes close to 140 Euros.
We would like to thank again to OCZ for making this review possible!