14 DAY TRIAL // Not long ago, it was reported that OCZ was getting ready to start shipping its latest iteration of the Agility 2 Series of solid state drives. Dubbed the 'Extended' line, they were described as almost identical to the Agility 2 Series, but configured with the latest firmware, which slightly decreases performance but increases available storage space without any sort of impact on pricing. Now, it appears that not Agility, but Vertex 2 Extended drives are showing up for pre-order.
The firmware achieves this by taking a somewhat different approach to the allocation of spare area. Spare area is a part of the total available capacity used for such operations as wear-leveling, among other things. Many SSDs have about 28 percent of their total capacity allocated as such. The more recent firmware, however, reduces said area to only 13%. For the SandForce SF-1200 controller, this doesn't qualify as a significant impediment. In fact, AnandTech has already published a review, in which it proves that, according to tests, performance loss is negligible, if not non-existent.
The Vertex 2 Extended SSDs can reach maximum read and write speeds of 285MB/s and 275MB/s, respectively. They are designed to be compatible with the SATA 3.0Gbps interface and constructed out of MLC (multi-level cell) NAND Flash memory chips. Also, they make use of the 2.5-inch form factor. Furthermore, they all have full support for the Windows 7 TRIM command, which makes sure this high-end performance does not degrade over time.
The newcomers reportedly have storage capacities of 60GB, 120GB, 240GB and 480GB. The 60GB model will best serve as a boot drive, allowing faster boot-up times while the bulk of the data is housed on an HDD. The other SSDs should soon start showing up as options in high-end laptops and desktops alike. As for pricing, the models are listed as available for pre-order at 220 Euro, 415 Euro, 727 Euro and 1,786 Euro, respectively.