Honey I Shrunk The Vertex 3 (Again)

OCZ is certainly getting a lot of mileage from the Vertex moniker. First introduced way back in early 2009, it seems a lot longer than just four years ago. They have good reason to perpetuate the name as the Vertex drives have been one of if not the best selling line of SSDs ever. Back in 2011, we first had a look at the Vertex 3 drives featuring the then new SandForce SF-2281 controller. At the time, it featured 25nm -34nm (keep reading!) MLC NAND and set the bar for enthusiast level SSD performance. Fast forward to 2013 and OCZ has quietly released the latest Vertex 3 incarnation with a .20 mantissa tacked on to represent the 20nm MLC NAND contained within. This is somewhat noteworthy in that there was a fuss raised by customers at one point when OCZ decided to move from 34nm to 25nm NAND and not overtly disclose it. Perhaps showing more maturity and proactive thinking from the new OCZ leadership, they’ve decided to forgo any customer ire by simply re-branding to Vertex 3.20.

What hasn’t changed is the controller. It’s still the SandForce SF-2281 that the original Vertex 3 came equipped with although this time around LSI is the parent company for the SandForce hardware. It carries the same three year warranty and is offered in 120GB (VTX3-25SAT3-120G.20) and 240GB (VTX3-25SAT3-240G.20) capacities. The 240GB will run you $216.99 and the 120GB Vertex 3.20 solid-state drive is $119.99.

The Vertex 3 was originally the flagship drive from OCZ at its inception but that honor now belongs to the Vector series. Still, one cannot scoff at the robust specifications of 500MB/s reads and 520MB/s writes. This is still a very fast drive although how it compares to the Vector and other competitors we’ll let you see for yourself on the following pages.

OCZ Vertex 3.20 Features and Specifications:

 

Performance	120GB	240GB
Sequential Reads:	550MB/s	550MB/s
Sequential Writes:	520MB/s	520MB/s
Random 4k Read:	20,000 IOPS	35,000 IOPS
Random 4k Write:	40,000 IOPS	65,000 IOPS
Maximum IOPS:	90,000 IOPS	90,000 IOPS

 

• PHYSICAL:

• Usable Capacities (IDEMA): 120GB, 240GB
• NAND Components: 20nm Synchronous Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
• Interface: SATA 3 6Gb/s
• Form Factor: 2.5 Inch
• NAND Controller: SandForce® 2281
• Dimension (L x W x H): 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm
• Weight: 83g

RELIABILITY / PROTECTION:

• MTBF: 2 million hours
• Data Path Protection: Up to 55 bits correctable per 512-byte sector (BCH)
• Data Encryption: 128-bit AES-compliant
• Product Health Monitoring: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) support

ENVIRONMENTAL:

• Power Consumption: Idle: 0.55W, Active: 2.1W
• Operating Temperature: 0°C ~ 55°C
• Storage Temperature: -45°C ~ 85°C
• Shock Resistance: 1500G
• Certifications: RoHS, CE, FCC

COMPATABILITY:

• Serial ATA (SATA): Fully compliant with Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. Fully compliant with ATA/ATAPI-8 Standard Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
• Operating System: Windows / Mac OS X / Linux

ADDITIONAL FEATURES:

• Performance Optimization: TRIM (requires OS support)
• Other Performance Features: SandForce’s DuraClass™ technology for reliability, performance, and power efficiency. DuraWrite™ architecture extends flash rated endurance Service & Support 3-Year Warranty, Toll-Free Tech Support, 24 Hour Forum Support, Firmware Updates

PART NUMBERS:

• 120GB: VTX3-25SAT3-120G.20
• 240GB: VTX3-25SAT3-240G.20

The exterior design is almost dead on the original Vertex 3 save for the “.20” appended to the name. Black and silver is still the color scheme of choice.

Included in the packaging is a multilingual brochure with installation instructions and warranty information along with the latest sticker design professing fondness for OCZ SSD products. Everyone loves stickers.