OCZ Vector 256 GB Review: An SSD Powered By Barefoot 3

Features
By Andrew Ku
published

Less than two years after acquiring Indilinx for $32 million in stock, OCZ is ready to introduce its first SSD based on controller technology developed in-house. Can its new Barefoot 3 propel the 256 GB Vector we're testing into a performance victory?

128 KB Sequential Performance

Sequential Read Performance

Examples include file copying, transcoding, game level loading, some gameplay, watching video, and editing video

With the exception of Crucial’s m4, all of the drives in today's review top out between 530 and 550 MB/s in sequential reads. Practically, we cannot expect much more from the SATA 6Gb/s interface.

But most desktop workloads are going to impose much lower queue depths. As you drop back to a queue depth of one, the Vector delivers close to 380 MB/s, which is less than the 840 Pro's 410 MB/s and the Vertex 4's 405 MB/s. Fortunately, the Vector does improve upon the Vertex 4's performance.

Sequential Write Performance

Examples include Application Installation, Document Backup

Our sequential write performance looks pretty similar. In this case, however, Samsung's 840 Pro cannot be overtaken by any other drive.

OCZ's Vector doesn't trail far behind, though, generally outperforming the Vertex 4 for a second-place finish.

The SandForce-based SSDs do reasonably well in this test, boasting speeds near 350 MB/s at a queue depth of one, so long as you're working with compressible data. However, once you start working with incompressible files, throughput falls to somewhere between 290 and 310 MB/s.

Andrew Ku
50 Comments Comment from the forums
  • gnesterenko
    "In the real world, it's almost a certainty that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them (or a number of the nearly-as-fast but tangibly less expensive models featured each month in Best SSDs For The Money)."

    This, This, This. All SSDs are pretty amazing at this point for me, the average user. What I care fare more about is - Are they reliable. At the moment, it still seems that Intel holds the reliability crown. Reviews like this are great, for sure, but they don't answer the most important question sadly.
    Reply
  • acku
    gnesterenko"In the real world, it's almost a certainty that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between them (or a number of the nearly-as-fast but tangibly less expensive models featured each month in Best SSDs For The Money)."This, This, This. All SSDs are pretty amazing at this point for me, the average user. What I care fare more about is - Are they reliable. At the moment, it still seems that Intel holds the reliability crown. Reviews like this are great, for sure, but they don't answer the most important question sadly.
    Let's make one thing clear. Endurance, reliability, durability, they all refer to different things.

    When it comes to reliablity, everything we know is rather anecdotal. There are no published RMA rates (only return rates and for a 500 sample size), so its rather flawed. Second, two users subject their SSDs in different ways. The first may have more random data in their workload. You can't make an evaluation that drive x failed for user y therefore its bad. What you do matters. Unlike HDDs, performance and characteristics of the drive change based on what you do to it. Since no two users do the same thing with their system, the only real way to test this out is to get a few thousand SSDs, subject them to the same workload in a big data center for a few years. I'd love to do this but naturally, it's really not feasible. :)

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    So basically all good SSD's are constrained by the SATA3 interface. I cant wait for the direct PCIE interface(express pcie ?) to become standard.
    Reply
  • Hupiscratch
    Do these drives (specially the Samsung 840) support TRIM in RAID 0 arrays or this is a property related to the chipset?
    Reply
  • acku
    HupiscratchDo these drives (specially the Samsung 840) support TRIM in RAID 0 arrays or this is a property related to the chipset?
    That's a mobo thing. You're going to want a 7-series chipset from Intel.

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    Reply
  • Jerky_san
    Jebus Samsungs are such strong contenders on all fields..
    Reply
  • edlivian
    i dont care how much slower the crucial m4 is compared to the new kids on the block, I will keep stocking them for myself and company, since that is the only one that has never failed me.
    Reply
  • acku
    10447277 said:
    i dont care how much slower the crucial m4 is compared to the new kids on the block, I will keep stocking them for myself and company, since that is the only one that has never failed me.

    Glad to hear the m4s are working out for you! Indeed, they have a pretty good track record.

    Cheers,
    Andrew Ku
    Reply
  • dingo07
    So should I buy some of thier stock now...? It can't get much lower than them going out of business from the lawsuits... :/
    Reply
  • I just hope that there won't be as many firmware updates with this drive. I got tired of that with my past 2 OCZ SSD's (Vertex 3 & Vertex Turbo). It was way too often, almost as much as my GPU drivers. That being said, they both have given me no issues whatsoever and run like champs. I see a 256GB Vector in my future.
    Reply