On the surface, the OCZ Trion 150 SSD is a revamped Trion 100 with new Toshiba 15nm economical flash. Under the cover, OCZ tweaked the firmware to enable more sequential data transfer performance. This makes installing games and other large file transfers complete much faster.
We confirmed with OCZ Storage Solutions that the new Trion 150 uses a technology called direct-to-die writes. This bypasses the SLC buffer and allows sequential data to pass directly to the NAND flash after the buffer fills with data.
Ever since TLC came to market, we've stated that manufacturers would need to hide low TLC sequential write performance to sell low-cost SSDs to gamers. Most TLC-enabled products use the data fold method. The sequential writes must pass through the SLC buffer and then fold into the TLC. With a small SLC buffer, this has a negative effect on sequential write performance. Most SSDs using the fold method write 64 KB block sequential data at 100 MB/s or less (512 GB and larger capacity sizes). The direct-to-die method doubles the sequential write speed and makes it on par with the best mechanical hard disk drives available today.
| Model | Trion 150 120GB | Trion 150 240GB | Trion 150 480GB | Trion 150 960GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Newegg) Pricing | $49.99 | $69.99 | $139.99 | $269.99 |
| Controller | Toshiba TC58NC | Toshiba TC58NC | Toshiba TC58NC | Toshiba TC58NC |
| Flash | Toshiba 15nm TLC | Toshiba 15nm TLC | Toshiba 15nm TLC | Toshiba 15nm TLC |
| Sequential Read | 550 MB/s | 550 MB/s | 550 MB/s | 550 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 450 MB/s | 520 MB/s | 530 MB/s | 530 MB/s |
| Random Read | 79,000 IOPS | 90,000 IOPS | 90,000 IOPS | 90,000 IOPS |
| Random Write | 25,000 IOPS | 43,000 IOPS | 54,000 IOPS | 64,000 IOPS |
| Steady State Random Write | 2,200 IOPS | 3,200 IOPS | 3,200 IOPS | 3,600 IOPS |
| Endurance | 30 TBW | 60 TBW | 120 TBW | 240 TBW |
| Warranty | 3 Years | 3 Years | 3 Years | 3 Years |
Direct-to-die writes do not show up on spec sheets because the write specifications show the SLC buffer and not sustained performance. OCZ does show random sustained write performance of the Trion 150 products, but users are far less likely to write random data for more than a few seconds at a time. There is more than enough buffer to absorb normal desktop small block random writes.
Newegg has listed the Trion 150 products, and all four capacity sizes show as available. The series pricing is much more competitive than the Trion 100, OCZ's first TLC-enabled SSD.
Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware, covering Storage. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Tom's Hardware on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
