OCZ's HSDL: A New Storage Link For Super-Fast SSDs

Features
By Chris Angelini
published

SATA 6Gb/s not fast enough? OCZ's new High-Speed Data Link serves up to 2 GB/s through a PCIe-like connection. Complementing the interface technology is a similarly-new 3.5" SSD called IBIS. Rated for up to 120,000 IOPS, enthusiasts should take note.

Test Setup And Benchmarks

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Test Hardware
ProcessorIntel Core i7-980X (Gulftown) 3.33 GHz, 6.4 GT/s, 12 MB L3 Cache, power-saving settings enabled. Turbo Boost enabled
MotherboardGigabyte X58A-UD5 (LGA 1366) X58/ICH10, BIOS F5
MemoryKingston HyperX DDR3 (3 x 2 GB) KHX2000C8D3T1K3/6GX @ DDR3-1333 7-7-7-24
Hard DriveOCZ3HSD1IBS1-240G IBIS 240 GB HSDLCustom OCZ Single-Channel HSDL Controller
Row 4 - Cell 0 Intel SSDSA2MH160G2C1 160 GB SATA 3Gb/sIntel ICH10R Storage Controller
Row 5 - Cell 0 2 x Intel SSDSA2MH160G2C1 160 GB SATA 3Gb/s in RAID 0 (320 GB)Intel ICH10R Storage Controller
Graphics CardsNvidia GeForce GTX 460 1 GB
Power SupplyCooler Master UCP 1100 W
CPU CoolerIntel DBX-B Thermal Solution
System Software And Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
DirectXDirectX 11
Platform DriverIntel INF Chipset Update Utility 9.1.1.1019
Graphics DriverNvidia GeForce 260.52
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Benchmarks
Performance Measurementsh2benchw 3.13PCMark Vantage 1.0.2.0
I/O PerformanceIOMeter 2008.08.18File server-BenchmarkWeb server-BenchmarkDatabase-BenchmarkWorkstation-BenchmarkStreaming ReadsStreaming Writes4k Random Reads4k Random Writes
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini
Chris Angelini is an Editor Emeritus at Tom's Hardware US. He edits hardware reviews and covers high-profile CPU and GPU launches.
38 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kelfen
    I like where they are headed but price still high mates
    Reply
  • Randomacts
    *faints* I will never be able to afford these.


    Those HDDs cost more then my entire comptuer
    Reply
  • jaghpanther
    I do want to try out one of these, maybe sell my car?
    Reply
  • randomizer
    Chris I think I'll need to double-check your results. Better send the drive my way.
    Reply
  • mianmian
    Optic link technology may be more exciting. Can't wait to see lightpeak or similar stuffs to become real.
    Reply
  • First time saw those numbers, i gasped for air... OCZ, can you try to saturated with PCIe 2.0 x16 bandwidth? And can anyone tell me how much is it in Write and Read speeds at that bandwith?
    Reply
  • wribbs
    Very nice to see secondary storage tech at orders of magnitude beyond what we're used to. Can't wait for this type of tech to become mainstream.
    Reply
  • compton
    Stuff like this makes me wish I was involved in an enterprise-class technology environment that could actually benefit from 130,000 IOPS in a package like this. I guess I don't need to ditch my Agility 60, but I like where OCZ is headed.
    Reply
  • h8signingin
    Yet there are already drives that outperform these by a large margin available for a while now, like this:
    http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.php?name=RGS0256M&title=Super-Talent-RAIDDrive-GS-256GB-RAID0-PCI-Express-x8-Solid-State-Drive

    Read 1.4GB/s, Write 1.2GB/s

    At those speeds, it's like writing to RAM, only it's your hard drive.
    There were also capacities up to 1TB that cost about $4,000. There were even SLC models (which cost 4x more, approx. $15,000) which are slightly faster still.

    Personally, I wouldn't mind having 1TB of "slow" RAM as my hard drive, but it's just beyond my budget.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    h8signinginYet there are already drives that outperform these by a large margin available for a while now, like this:http://www.superbiiz.com/detail.ph tate-DriveRead 1.4GB/s, Write 1.2GB/sAt those speeds, it's like writing to RAM, only it's your hard drive.There were also capacities up to 1TB that cost about $4,000. There were even SLC models (which cost 4x more, approx. $15,000) which are slightly faster still.Personally, I wouldn't mind having 1TB of "slow" RAM as my hard drive, but it's just beyond my budget.
    Yup, check it out! =)
    http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/super-talent-raiddrive,2513.html
    Reply