NEW OCZ Vector

[SickBeast]

OCZ makes some of the best performing and also the cheapest SSDs on the market. With them charging 40 cents/gb, I tend to go with them and I have had very positive experiences thus far with a Vertex 2, a Vertex 3, and an Agility 4.

[beginner99]

Originally Posted by SickBeast

OCZ makes some of the best performing and also the cheapest SSDs on the market. With them charging 40 cents/gb, I tend to go with them and I have had very positive experiences thus far with a Vertex 2, a Vertex 3, and an Agility 4.

The Samsung 830 256 GB easily beats any OCZ deals now.

I would not sue an OCZ SSD as my OS drive even if i got it for free. However maybe good for putting steam folder on it or so.

[josephjpeters]

Originally Posted by beginner99

The Samsung 830 256 GB easily beats any OCZ deals now.

I would not use an OCZ SSD as my OS drive even if i got it for free. However maybe good for putting steam folder on it or so.

Those won't be available for much longer. They're deals because they're clearing the channel so that you can only buy an 840 (or 840 Pro). Plus they'll be shifting their NAND manufacturing to 20/19nm so 27nm won't be available.

I like the strategy of having MLC for professionals and TLC drives for consumers. TLC will lead to higher capacity drives (256GB being the 'entry level' SSD) which will help keep overall endurance just because there are more bits to spread the wear across.

From what I hear, OCZ is no longer going to play in the pure consumer market so I'm not sure we'll see if BF3 gets paired with TLC. I want them to follow Samsung's lead and bring a TLC drive to market but it might not make much sense to pursue what is low-margin business.

Again, I'd really like to know more about this "Adaptive NAND management" tech they claim to have.

[Phynaz]

Brand new controller (v1.0) built by OCZ?

Not in a million years would I even consider this. Well, as somebody above said, a Steam drive if it was next to free.

[Hellhammer]

Originally Posted by josephjpeters

Nice to know. What's the performance difference between Samsung's Toggle and IMFT's MLC?

Toggle-Mode NAND is a bit faster, although it depends a lot on what specific NAND you choose (there are tons of part numbers). Take a look at this PDF. Toggle-Mode NAND currently provides much higher maximum bandwidth (400MB/s vs 200MB/s) as well, though that alone doesn't help much because we are often bound by SATA 6Gbps anyway.

I think it's significant (basing it off of the performance difference between the Vertex 3 and Vertex 3 MaxIOPS). Says something about the BF3 controller, doesn't it? I have a feeling we're not going to see a BF3 with Toggle anytime soon, the competition is heating up.

Vertex 3 used 25nm IMFT NAND, whereas the Max IOPS version used 32nm Toshiba NAND. The biggest difference came from the fact that 32nm NAND die topped out at 4GB, so there was simply more NAND die to write to, which is very useful especially at smaller capacities.

[ViRGE]

Seeing as how some of you completely fail to follow directions I have done some pruning. The next time a mod has to do some pruning there will be some infractions to go along with it.

Let's stay on topic here and not make this an OCZ bash-fest, ok? As I remember the topic was about the Vector....... If you wish to discuss OCZ's reliability in-depth (and that's not an unreasonable thing to do), it needs to be in its own thread.

-Thanks
ViRGE

[groberts101]

So much to comment on.. and so little time to do it. That's good for you guys though since it keeps my posts well below 1,000 words. lol

Also nice to see that many folks around here are seeing bigger pictures these days and looking at the tech.. moreso than the company. Personally owning well more than 20 of thier drives, plus having installed them in almost a dozen other machines without issue(although some required using known workarounds to circumvent many of the problems caused by Sandforce's/Intel's earlier power mgmt and firmware/driver evolution).. I can completely agree with some of the other comments about "statistics..shmatistics". Speculating about others issues(especially the assumption that you know EXACTLY why they even had the issues in the first place).. or the stockmarket.. won't get you very far if you want to be on the cutting edge of this tech.

Nuff said, and here's some more input from an actual Vector owner.

This drive is VERY nice and oozes quality when you take it out of the package. Now while some may say "who cares if the thing weighs twice as much as "x brand" SSD".. I can tell you without doubt that initial impression can be very important when you pay hundreds of $$$ for a product. Even those who know absolutly nothing about the tech inside will not feel all warm and fuzzy if the thing feels like a feather and has a plastic casing. Not to mention now we get to see more youtube vid's of people torture testing them by dropping them from building tops.. or parking cars on them. lol

Then there's the performance levels associated with top-line drives like these. Pretty much a no brainer for those who are wanting the best performance for thier rigs. To really understand the gains to be had from these particular drives in comparison to other "fast SSD's".. all one has to do is fill the thing up a bit too much(you know who you are) and watch how the drive maintains its "like new" performance. Not many firmwares will do that and the few that can are dog slow in comparison to this one(some of which are only sata2). Especially important metric for cash/space limited laptop owners to consider, of course. More bang for the buck to be sure.

As for potential bugs and rushing to market? Nope.. not this time boys and girls. In fact.. I've never seen a drive from OCZ that has progressed through the testing stages as smoothly as this one has. IMHO, much of this has more to do with native platform and driver maturity than it does with this particular firmware. but there's an obvious capatilization effect going on here of learning from previous mistakes and implementation of much more mature firmware compatability standards. Quite simply.. many of the growing pains have subsided at this juncture.

Couple of HBA screens to see what the drive can do.

LSI 9211



Highpoint 2720

You don't get the big caching performance that the native 6G chipsets do.. but it sure ain't slow.

[capeconsultant]

I bought this drive today! I am very excited! Comes Friday!

[Phynaz]

Originally Posted by groberts101

I've never seen a drive from OCZ that has progressed through the testing stages as smoothly as this one has.

You claim to be just a OCZ customer, but the above would require inside information.

[groberts101]

Originally Posted by Phynaz

You claim to be just a OCZ customer, but the above would require inside information.

LOL.. umm.. I did?

Anywho.. cry foul all you want.. again.. but my drive will beat up your drive any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.

[josephjpeters]

Originally Posted by Phynaz

You claim to be just a OCZ customer, but the above would require inside information.

I'm assuming he was part of the beta test team but you'll probably find a way to turn this into some unbelievable conspiracy. How dare they test these drives before launch! Oh the humanity!

Give me a break.

[Brahmzy]

Originally Posted by groberts101

LOL.. umm.. I did?

Anywho.. cry foul all you want.. again.. but my drive will beat up your drive any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.

LOL! I'll take that bet. Been a while groberts! You still into car modding?

[groberts101]

Originally Posted by Brahmzy

LOL! I'll take that bet. Been a while groberts! You still into car modding?

No way dude!.. that was aimed at lessor builders/systems than yours. Wait till I hotrod my next system upgrade and then we'll talk turkey.

As for hotrodding.. I've done more car work this year on my own projects that I can't wait to get back to making money from working on others. Plus.. they can afford nicer parts than me.

I did pick up a new '71 Mercury Comet GT though.. so I can't wait to get going hot and heavy on that one next year. Around a 150 shot of N2O combined with a 6 speed just about ought to do it.

Please keep on topic & save the garage talk for The Garage. Thanks! -Admin DrPizza

[Brahmzy]

Nice! Sounds like a good time project you've got waiting for you.

Like many others I cannot wait for Haswell/Z87. Skipped Ivy for obvious reasons, so it's been a LONG wait, LOL. I think April is when it's s'posed to drop. Something tells me SATA Express won't debut on Haswell's first chipsets, so the top SSDs of today should still be good to go past Haswell's initial release.

[beginner99]

Originally Posted by groberts101

This drive is VERY nice and oozes quality when you take it out of the package. Now while some may say "who cares if the thing weighs twice as much as "x brand" SSD".. I can tell you without doubt that initial impression can be very important when you pay hundreds of $$$ for a product.

I liked the way my Intel G2 drive shipped. Anyone else you has one will know. Simple brown cardboard with a simple white sticker on it. Straightforward. I prefer paying for the tech not a nice package and cover for a good visual impression.

[groberts101]

Originally Posted by beginner99

I liked the way my Intel G2 drive shipped. Anyone else you has one will know. Simple brown cardboard with a simple white sticker on it. Straightforward. I prefer paying for the tech not a nice package and cover for a good visual impression.

Couldn't agree more there. Unfortunately we live in a visual.. and very shallow.. world where people judge things on looks alone. Some people won't give you the time of day if you don't look the part though.

Myself.. I go on substance first and then add bling appeal after that. Fortunately.. this drive has both.

[josephjpeters]

I just saw 3dguru.com's review and they claim Vector uses 25nm Toggle NAND. Does IMFT even make Toggle?

"The 25nm Toggle NAND flash memory is tied towards a new Barefoot 3 controller located under product code IDX500M. "

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...ew_test,2.html

[groberts101]

Originally Posted by josephjpeters

I just saw 3dguru.com's review and they claim Vector uses 25nm Toggle NAND. Does IMFT even make Toggle?

"The 25nm Toggle NAND flash memory is tied towards a new Barefoot 3 controller located under product code IDX500M. "

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages...ew_test,2.html

didn't read that one yet.. but based on that quote.. I would have to say they are mistaken.

Although, I really would LOVE to see toggle make it into this drive. That would make it even awesom'er.

[josephjpeters]

Originally Posted by groberts101

didn't read that one yet.. but based on that quote.. I would have to say they are mistaken.

Although, I really would LOVE to see toggle make it into this drive. That would make it even awesom'er.

Thanks. That's what I thought. Has to be a typo.

[ryderOCZ]

The Vector that is on the streets has 25nm IMFT, it DOES NOT have toggle. I will talk to marketing and make sure they straighten that out with Guru3d.

[josephjpeters]

Originally Posted by ryderOCZ

The Vector that is on the streets has 25nm IMFT, it DOES NOT have toggle. I will talk to marketing and make sure they straighten that out with Guru3d.

Thanks Ryder.

[cytg111]

preemptive erase

[Phynaz]

Originally Posted by groberts101

LOL.. umm.. I did?

Anywho.. cry foul all you want.. again.. but my drive will beat up your drive any day of the week and twice on Tuesday.

Oh, so you are employed by OCZ. That's fine with me. Just wanted to be clear is all.

[Phynaz]

Originally Posted by josephjpeters

I'm assuming he was part of the beta test team but you'll probably find a way to turn this into some unbelievable conspiracy. How dare they test these drives before launch! Oh the humanity!

Give me a break.

External testers aren't given information about how well things are working on the inside.

[ryderOCZ]

Originally Posted by Phynaz

Oh, so you are employed by OCZ. That's fine with me. Just wanted to be clear is all.

No, Groberts101 is not employed. He does get a drive, but he receives no monetary compensation. He is a beta tester, if that counts as employed in your opinion, so be it.