Three months ago we tested the first SandForce-based solid-state drive when OCZ treated us with a sample of the Vertex 2 Pro. As a true newcomer to the SSD market, the new controller took us by surprise with encouraging results, but the fact remained that this was an enterprise class product and few consumers were ever going to lay their hands on one of these drives. At the time we were also told that a successor to the original consumer-oriented Vertex would be arriving just a few months down the road.
Then last March we got a taste of what the Vertex 2 would be all about with the OCZ Vertex Limited Edition. This was part of a limited run and somewhat obscure deal that had OCZ producing 5,000 units of speedy solid-state drives armed with a hybrid SandForce SF-1200/1500 controller. The Vertex LE delivered performance that was comparable to the unreleased Vertex 2 Pro, which used the high-end SF-1500 controller.
Hard to say if OCZ overestimated demand but it's been almost two months and you can still buy the Limited Edition drives that come in 100GB and 200GB flavors. Yet, we were still left waiting for the true successor of the highly popular Vertex, and here it is, in our lab ready for testing and expected to be hitting shelves pretty soon.
The OCZ Vertex 2 is based on the more affordable SandForce SF-1200 controller and it's actually expected to outperform the Vertex LE. This is not a mainstream part, though. OCZ will be targeting performance oriented users with the Vertex 2 while dropping down the price of the original Vertex to service the mainstream segment.
Completing OCZ's new SSD line-up is the Agility 2 that will also use the SF-1200 controller and should offer a slightly less agressive and more affordable option to the Vertex 2. The original Agility SSDs will target the lower end of the spectrum, along with the Solid 2 and the upcoming Onyx drives that will be based on a new Indilinx Amigos controller.
Currently, the original Vertex is selling for around $350 for the 120GB version, which is considered to be an ok value considering that Intel drives have been dropping in price. The Vertex 2 will be priced at $399 for the 100GB model, while the 50GB and 200GB drives will cost $219 and $769, respectively. The question remains what kind of performance improvements we can expect and whether it justifies the price premium.
Vertex 2 Features
Similarly to the Vertex 2 Pro and Vertex LE drives that used SandForce controllers, our 100GB Vertex 2 sample actually carried 128GB worth of flash memory.
The difference in available memory comes not only from the ~7% spare area you get from the GB to GiB conversion for moving data around, but also because SandForce specifies an additional 20% flash be set aside for its DuraWrite technology, which is designed to reduce write amplification and extend endurance.
Once formatted, the drive only has 93.1GB of usable space. SandForce claims the loss is unavoidable and that this method will eventually have to be adopted by all future solid state drives. The lost capacity increases as the drives become larger. The 200GB model for instance, which has 256GB of flash memory on the PCB, only has 185.5GB of usable storage space.
Something else we have found interesting about the Vertex 2 series and the SandForce controllers is that there is no DRAM cache. SandForce is able to do away with the cache by writing less to the flash, meaning there is less data to account for and smaller tables to manage on the fly. Because less data is being written, SandForce claims that manufacturers can use cheaper memory to save on costs.
The SF-1200 controller carries a small cache onboard, which is thought to be a few megabytes in size, though the exact figure hasn't been disclosed. Inside the controller there is also a Tensilica DC_570T CPU core. When we questioned the use of this CPU core, SandForce said it has little to do with the performance of the controller and stated that it is everything else around the CPU that matters.
The Vertex 2 features Intel 29F64G08CAMDB flash memory. In total there are 16 chips with 8GB capacity each. OCZ claims maximum read and write performance of 285 and 275 MB/s, respectively, which translates to 14% faster reads than the original Vertex drive and an astonishing 53% faster writes.
The drive uses a slim 2.5" design measuring 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm and weighing under 100 grams. OCZ is shipping these new Vertex 2 drives with a 3.5" bay adapter for easier installation in a desktop computer.
The drive is said to use 2 watts of power when in use and 0.5 watts in standby. You can set these up to work in RAID if you were to purchase more than one. Finally, OCZ backs the Vertex 2 with a 3-year warranty.
