OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SATA II SSD

Product: OCZ Vertex 2 SATA II SSD
Provided By: OCZ Technology
Price: Find Lowest Price Online

Introduction:

OCZ has been in the SSD market for a while and they are one of the companies that isn't afraid to jump on the new technology bandwagon and squeeze as much performance out of technology as they can.  They were one of the first companies to jump on the SandForce bandwagon when that started to become popular.  With the original controller firmware, the 4K performance wasn't all that great, but this has been improved and we are witnessing some pretty impressive SSD performance with the Vertex 2 on the review bench today.  This drive comes in capacities ranging from 40GB to 480GB.  It may seem odd, but the smaller drives have faster performance than the larger units so we expect some pretty decent numbers from the 60GB version.

While a 60GB drive may not be big enough for everyone it is large enough for a boot drive that allows you to install a bunch of applications in your favorite desktop system.  If you have a second drive for large amounts of data, this actually could make a great upgrade and with the price of this drive dropping to ~$100 on sale; it becomes a pretty affordable upgrade.

First Look:

Hard Drives don't typically come with a bundle unless they are part of a "drive upgrade" kit.  The OCZ Vertex 2 pulls together a micro-bundle by including a 2.5" to 3.5" bracket that allows you to install the drive in a desktop system that isn't designed for 2.5" drives.  This allows you to easily install the drive in any spare 3.5" bay and you're done.

Bundle

I do like the fact that they throw in a sticker that talks some smack.  We'll see if their SSD is really faster than other people's soon below.

SSD Profile

Connector Side

The drive really isn't really all that exciting.  It has a standard metal case that is held together by four small Philips #1 screws that can be easily removed - albeit voiding your warranty.  The bottom of the drive contains the serial number, model and all the required certification logos.

SSD Label/Bottom

Even though SATA 3.0 (6.0Gbps) has been around for a bit, OCZ uses the tried-and-true SATA II interface as the current generation of SandForce controller doesn't support SATA 3.0 anyhow.  This is still rated as a very fast drive as we'll see on the next page.