14 DAY TRIAL // Solid state drives have been getting attention for their significantly higher data-transfer speeds, but they have been found to lack in the areas of storage capacity, reliability and durability. However, the technology has substantially improved and products are finally beginning to truly shine even when reviewed very meticulously. OCZ proudly announced that its Vertex 2 Pro drive made a good impression on the testers from AnandTech.com.
The solid state drive was designed based on the SandForce SSD controller and was compared to the Intel X25-M G2. The 14-page review arduously goes through every aspect of the device and reaches the conclusion that the OCZ Vertex 2 Pro is the fastest ever such drive tested by AnandTech. The device was found to feature fast data rates, increased reliability and high energy efficiency, with excellent performance enabled by the SandForce controller.
“SandForce started work on its controllers back in 2007. The late start meant a late arrival to the party. Even today we’re looking at another 1 - 3 months before we see widespread availability of SSDs based on the SF-1200 or SF-1500. I guess it’s more fashionably late than anything else, because this thing is good,” Anand Lal Shimpi, editor-in-chief and CEO of AnandTech.com and author of the article, wrote. “The OCZ Vertex 2 Pro is the fastest single-controller MLC SSD I’ve ever tested, and it’s not even running final firmware.”
The reviewer also added that, “At 50.9 MB/s in my desktop 4KB random write test, the Vertex 2 Pro is 36% faster than Intel’s X25-M G2.”
More specifically, the SSD was found to be 12% faster in the HDD specific suite of PCMark Vantage, and 6% faster than the X25-M G2 in the overall test. In fact, the only downside to the drive was its price. “For high end desktop and notebook users it may be a tough pill to swallow.” This, however, may not be a big issue, as OCZ aims the device at data center, tier 1 and 2 storage, and high-performance computing environment, where the price will no longer be such a big deterrent.