OCZ Will Continue Using SSD Controllers From Competitors

News
By
published

OCZ has shared that in the future is still planning on using SSD controllers manufactured by its competitors.

OCZ's admission that it will continue to use SSD controllers manufactured by the company's competition is somewhat puzzling, considering that the company currently produces its own Barefoot 3 controller and last year purchased Indilinx, a fabless provider of flash controllers and SSD software.

CEO Ralph Schmitt attributes this situation to his belief that the company can't "ever fully cover the size of company what we are and the ability of our R&D spent. So, we will always have one controller in development at a time. The next controller we come out with, which will be later this year, will really be more enterprise focused than the controller, Barefoot 3, which came out three months ago.”

OCZ clearly holds a preference for its own SSD controllers, and for fairly obvious reasons such as not needing to wait for other companies to release compatible memory and it is always easier to develop firmware for your own product.

Sadly, there was no word from OCZ on whether it has plans to develop more in-house SSD controllers to cater to a greater market.

Contact Us for News Tips, Corrections and Feedback

Niels Broekhuijsen
Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

See more SSDs News
6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • lunyone
    Well where is the grammar nazi's?? Here ya go:
    OCZ has shared that in the future is is still planning on using SSD controllers manufactured by its competitors.

    &

    OCZ clearly holds a preference for its own SSD controllers for fairly obvious such as not needing to wait for other companies to release compatible memory and it is always easier to develop firmware for your own product.

    So much for good grammar this year :(
    Reply
  • ssd_pro
    Not a bad idea, as long as they stick to the mid-high end market now. Making that cheap stuff isn't a good idea, ie Petrol anyone?

    Vertex 4 and Vector are amazing drives, rock solid and pro-quality. First time I opened Vector I was shocked at the build quality. Had 3 for just about 3 months now and they are trouble free and the fastest I own.
    Reply
  • folkema
    SandForce has been owned by LSI for a while now and the SF-22xxx drives have been stable for a long time. I see no reason not to keep using 3rd party controllers if they keep selling and are reliable.

    I agree with the Vector comments above. While I have never had an issue with any OCZ PSU or SSD, Vector really is an attempt to be something special - it is heavy duty and performs like a champ. I have both the 840 Pro and Vector and both are similar in speed, but the 840 Pro seems to slow some after a few days usage where the Vector actually seems to get faster, at least in benchmarks.
    Reply
  • blazorthon
    If I was OCZ and I had to keep using third-party controllers, then I'd stick with Marvell. I realize that SandForce has been improved significantly in reliability lately, but the trade off between compressible throughput and in-compressible throughput can be annoying. Maybe I'll be more impressed by the next SandForce controller and eat my words, but from where we stand now, I'd stick with Marvell over SandForce. OCZ and Marvell have a good history together at this point and a good future if they keep working together or a lot of things (what they did with Kilimanjaro was nothing short of spectacular for PCIe SSD storage).
    Reply
  • lunyoneWell where is the grammar nazi's?? Here ya go:OCZ has shared that in the future is is still planning on using SSD controllers manufactured by its competitors.&OCZ clearly holds a preference for its own SSD controllers for fairly obvious such as not needing to wait for other companies to release compatible memory and it is always easier to develop firmware for your own product.So much for good grammar this yearHow ironic. You criticize other people's grammar, yet you don't know when to use is/are, when to use a comma, when to use capital letters and that there's no apostrophe when expressing plural.
    Reply
  • anti-painkilla
    sublime2kHow ironic. You criticize other people's grammar, yet you don't know when to use is/are, when to use a comma, when to use capital letters and that there's no apostrophe when expressing plural.
    Maybe a lazy grammar Nazi? He was hoping someone else to do it for him?
    Reply