OCZ 30GB Vertex (OCZSSD2-1VTX30G)
Jun 9th, 2009 | By SimonI received the OCZ 30GB Vertex in its retail packaging. It promptly displays what the Vertex drive looks like but on the list of features the first line is “New, Faster SATA II Access Time”. This can basically be attributed to the 64MB Cache listed as the second key feature. The back of the package gives a breakdown of the specifications and a paragraph marketing the Vertex.
The sides of the box re-iterate the product name so we’re going to skip those photos and jump right into the internal packaging. The Vertex is packaged almost identical to the G.Skill Falcon earlier reviewed. The second box completely surrounds the drive with foam to protect it from bumps and drops during transportation.
With the exception of the hard drive, the only other item with the packaging is an instruction and warranty manual. Surprisingly, there is no jumper included in the package to assist in firmware flashing.
The drive is protected in an anti-static plastic bag and by removing this we get our first good look at the OCZ Vertex. The front is pretty bland and the underside displays some technical information about the Vertex and its capacity.
Since the Vertex is 2.5″ and really intended for a notebook the power and data connection points are oriented as such. We can clearly see the two pings used for flashing the firmware on the second image.
My hdd died a few weeks ago… I have some spare traditional drives I could have replaced it with but wanted something new to play with and wanted to ease the bottleneck that normal drives create. I got 2 of these 30gb drives for the price of one, do to a deal I worked out with a customer, and in raid0 they KILL traditional drives. KILL.
The Intel X25-M is still king of the hill because of its read speed with 4kb files. The X25-M scores 112,164 on my system with 4KB read (ATTO) vs. the Vertex 50,000. I have personally used 5 different types (SLC, MLC JMICRON 1, MLC JMICRON 2, Vertex, Intel) of SSD and nothing compares to the X25-M.
Sean wrote:
We’re doing a review for HighPoint card and the results are smoking indeed. We’ll have the results up soon and they are definitely good
Frank Rizzo wrote:
Yes, the Intel X25-M is still the king of the hill but not everyone can afford one and that needs to be taken into considerations. You’re looking at twice the price for an Intel SSD vs the Indilinx MLC.
Simon wrote:
The Intel drives are actually less expensive than the Vertex. I just bought another X25-Ms 80GB from Newegg.com for $289.95 (free shipping) yesterday. That is $2.96 per Gigabyte.
The OCZ Vertex 30GB is $4.30 per Gigabyte AFTER you factor in the rebate.
The Vertex drives aren’t bad, but they are OVERPRICED. The 30GB drive should sell for $75 not $149. The 120GB Vertex is not worth a dime more than $180. I would consider a 120GB Vertex for $180, but I’ll take an 80GB Intel ($290) over a 120GB Vertex ($355) any day of the week.
Frank Rizzo wrote:
If the Vertex 30GB cost $75 and the 120GB cost $180 then it would definitely be a steal and it would sell out in no time. As it stands even if OCZ’s cost per GB is still higher the overall cost for being able to own an SSD, and get good performance, is much lower than buying an Intel drive. Not everyone can afford $300 for an 80GB Intel SSD. The $130AR makes the Vertex a very promising buy and the $150 saved could be put to other upgrades.
@ Sean:
I have 2 vertexes in raid 0 as well with windows vista, the only thing they killed is each other…
something is obviously wrong with my installation, I used to get random hangs, but now it is even worse, windows crashes with one of the drivers not detected any more on restart… I have to leave my system cool down before it can detect the driver again…
strange…