Big on size but low on price. The OCZ Vertex 460 240GB model looks to offer a sizeable, fast and reliable drive but with value in mind…
Product on Review: Vertex 460
Manufacturer & Sponsor: OCZ Storage Solutions
Street Price: £132inc. VAT (GBP)
OCZ were renowned for producing very high quality, reliable memory components to the enthusiast market. In the latter years we saw OCZ branch out into supplying power supply units and most recently Solid State Drives (SSD). It was a sad day then when we learned the California based company had filed for bankruptcy. Thankfully the company was saved by Toshiba and OCZ is now still a standalone department of the much bigger Japanese multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate corporation.
We recently put the Vector 150 SSD to the test which impressed us but our main criticism was the price. Today, we look at the opposite end of the scale with the Vertex 460. The Vertex 460 is much more budget conscious but that isn’t to say the drive compromises on either speed or quality because with up to 545MB/s Sequential Read and up to 525MB/s Sequential Write performance and a 3 year warranty you would be foolish to write off (excuse the pun) this very rapid storage solution.
About OCZ
San Jose, California-based OCZ Storage Solutions – A Toshiba Group Company, is a global leader in the design and manufacturing of industry-leading solid state drives (SSDs), a disruptive, game-changing technology that is replacing traditional rotating magnetic hard disk drives (HDDs). OCZ develops best-in-class solid state drive solutions for professionals, enthusiasts, and gamers, and is committed to driving storage innovation. With a rich portfolio of consumer SSD offerings for laptop, desktop, and workstation applications covering a range of popular interfaces and media formats, our SSDs utilize proprietary in-house controllers and firmware to deliver exceptional I/O performance, differentiated features, lower power consumption and superior reliability, all of which translate into faster file transfers, instant system boot-ups, and an enhanced computing or gaming experience.
Specification
PERFORMANCE 120GB 240GB 480GB
Sequential Reads 530MB/s 540MB/s 545MB/s
Sequential Writes 420MB/s 525MB/s 525MB/s
Random Read Speed
(4K, QD32)2 80,000 IOPS 85,000 IOPS 95,000 IOPS
Random Write Speed
(4K, QD32)2 90,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS
Steady-State Random Write Speed
(4K, QD32)3 12,000 IOPS 21,000 IOPS 23,000 IOPS
Usable Capacities (IDEMA) 120GB, 240GB, 480GB
NAND Components 19nm Toshiba Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash
NAND Controller OCZ Barefoot 3 M10
Interface SATA 3 6Gb/s (Backwards compatible with SATA II 3Gb/s)
Form Factor 2.5-inch, ultra-slim 7mm
Dimension (L x W x H) 99.7 x 69.75 x 7mm
Weight 113g
Data Path Protection BCH ECC corrects up to 44 random bits/1KB
Endurance Rated for 20GB/day of host writes for 3 years under typical client workloads
Product Health Monitoring Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) Support
Encryption AES-256
MTBF 2 million hours
Power Consumption Idle: 0.6W, Active: 2.70W
Operating Temperature 0°C ~ 70°C
Storage Temperature -45°C ~ 85°C
Shock Resistance 1500G/0.5ms
Vibration (Operational) 2.17Grms (7-800Hz)
Vibration (Non-operational) 16.3Grms (20-2000Hz)
Certifications UL C/US, FCC, CE, C-Tick, KCC, BSMI, VCCI, WEEE
Serial ATA (SATA) Fully compliant with SATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. Fully compliant with ATA/ATAPI-8 Standard Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Power Requirements Standard SATA Power Connector
Operating System Windows / Mac / Linux
Targeted Applications Client workstations and laptops
Performance Optimization TRIM (requires OS support), Idle Time Garbage Collection
Included Accessories Acronis True Image HD cloning software registration key; 3.5″ desktop adapter
Service & Support 3-Year Warranty, Toll-Free Tech Support, 24 Hour Forum Support, Firmware Updates
Sequential Reads 530MB/s 540MB/s 545MB/s
Sequential Writes 420MB/s 525MB/s 525MB/s
Random Read Speed
(4K, QD32)2 80,000 IOPS 85,000 IOPS 95,000 IOPS
Random Write Speed
(4K, QD32)2 90,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS 90,000 IOPS
Steady-State Random Write Speed
(4K, QD32)3 12,000 IOPS 21,000 IOPS 23,000 IOPS
Usable Capacities (IDEMA) 120GB, 240GB, 480GB
NAND Components 19nm Toshiba Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash
NAND Controller OCZ Barefoot 3 M10
Interface SATA 3 6Gb/s (Backwards compatible with SATA II 3Gb/s)
Form Factor 2.5-inch, ultra-slim 7mm
Dimension (L x W x H) 99.7 x 69.75 x 7mm
Weight 113g
Data Path Protection BCH ECC corrects up to 44 random bits/1KB
Endurance Rated for 20GB/day of host writes for 3 years under typical client workloads
Product Health Monitoring Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) Support
Encryption AES-256
MTBF 2 million hours
Power Consumption Idle: 0.6W, Active: 2.70W
Operating Temperature 0°C ~ 70°C
Storage Temperature -45°C ~ 85°C
Shock Resistance 1500G/0.5ms
Vibration (Operational) 2.17Grms (7-800Hz)
Vibration (Non-operational) 16.3Grms (20-2000Hz)
Certifications UL C/US, FCC, CE, C-Tick, KCC, BSMI, VCCI, WEEE
Serial ATA (SATA) Fully compliant with SATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. Fully compliant with ATA/ATAPI-8 Standard Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Power Requirements Standard SATA Power Connector
Operating System Windows / Mac / Linux
Targeted Applications Client workstations and laptops
Performance Optimization TRIM (requires OS support), Idle Time Garbage Collection
Included Accessories Acronis True Image HD cloning software registration key; 3.5″ desktop adapter
Service & Support 3-Year Warranty, Toll-Free Tech Support, 24 Hour Forum Support, Firmware Updates
Features
Next Generation 19nm MLC NAND flash
Latest 19nm process geometry NAND for exceptional performance on consumer workstations, desktops, and laptops
Proprietary
Proprietary Barefoot 3 controller technology delivers superior sustained speeds over the long term
Lasting Performance
Advanced suite of NAND flash management to analyze and dynamically adapt as flash cells wear
Added Value
Bundled with 3.5” desktop adapter and Acronis® True Image™ cloning software to easily transfer data from your old hard drive
Bang for the Buck
Designed for value-minded users who want a performance SSD with no tricks up its sleeve
Superior Mixed Workload Performance
Excels in both incompressible and compressible data types such as multimedia, encrypted data, .ZIP files and software
Ultra Slim
Sleek alloy housing offers slim 7mm z-height for compatibility with the latest thinner form factor notebooks
Secure
Superior reliability with in-house technology and high quality components based on the latest technology
Latest 19nm process geometry NAND for exceptional performance on consumer workstations, desktops, and laptops
Proprietary
Proprietary Barefoot 3 controller technology delivers superior sustained speeds over the long term
Lasting Performance
Advanced suite of NAND flash management to analyze and dynamically adapt as flash cells wear
Added Value
Bundled with 3.5” desktop adapter and Acronis® True Image™ cloning software to easily transfer data from your old hard drive
Bang for the Buck
Designed for value-minded users who want a performance SSD with no tricks up its sleeve
Superior Mixed Workload Performance
Excels in both incompressible and compressible data types such as multimedia, encrypted data, .ZIP files and software
Ultra Slim
Sleek alloy housing offers slim 7mm z-height for compatibility with the latest thinner form factor notebooks
Secure
Superior reliability with in-house technology and high quality components based on the latest technology
Packaging & First Look
The exterior packaging is typical SSD size and while minimalist it is attractive to the eye.
The SSD arrives foam packed and also included are a 3.5″ drive bay adaptor, product literature and a serial number for a downloadable copy of Acronis True Image disk cloning software, a very useful piece of software which is rare to see bundled with a drive at this price point.
The drive itself is similar in appearance to the out packaging design. You will find that this drive will fit most any notebooks and ultra books thanks to its 7mm height and while the casing is metal, it is not overly heavy like we saw with the Intel 730 SSD.
Nothing much to tell you about the rear of the drive except that should you wish to take a peek at the internals you will have to invalidate the 3 yr warranty by breaking an OCZ seal.
The guts of the drive feature an Indelinx Barefoot 3 M10 controller which runs ever so slightly slower (352MHz vs. 397MHz) than the M00 found in the Vector 150. Those astute among you will notice that both the Vector 150 and Vertex 460 share the same PCB layout.
The Vertex 460 makes use of twin 256GB DDR3-1333 Micron RAM modules for explosive DRAM cache performance and pairing this with Toshiba’s own 19nm NAND chips, of which there are 8, should make this a very fast SSD.
Test Setup & Methodology
Our test system is formatted and a fresh version of Windows is installed with just drives in place – no additional applications. Windows is then updated to the latest release and the drivers are installed. Included in the list of benchmarks are the following applications:Benchmarks
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
AS SSD
CrystalDiskMark 3.0
Iometer
SiSoftware SANDRA 2012
HDTune Pro 5.5
AS SSD
CrystalDiskMark 3.0
Iometer
SiSoftware SANDRA 2012
HDTune Pro 5.5
Test system
CPU Intel Core-i7 4770K
Motherboard GIGABYTE Z87X-OC
Graphics MSI R7970 Black Edition
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2400MHz) CL10
HDD
– OCZ Vertex 460 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Intel 730 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vector 150 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 500GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 250GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 3K Na’Vi 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vertex 450 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO 750GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Toshiba 256GB THNSNH256GCST (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vector 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Force GS 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vertex 4 128GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– ADATA S510 120GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Intel 520 480GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 830 Series 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung HD103SJ 1TB (Sata 3Gbps)
PSU Corsair HX1050 Gold
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Motherboard GIGABYTE Z87X-OC
Graphics MSI R7970 Black Edition
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2400MHz) CL10
HDD
– OCZ Vertex 460 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Intel 730 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vector 150 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 500GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO mSATA 250GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 3K Na’Vi 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vertex 450 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 EVO 750GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 Pro 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 840 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Toshiba 256GB THNSNH256GCST (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vector 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Force GS 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– OCZ Vertex 4 128GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– ADATA S510 120GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Intel 520 480GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung 830 Series 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Samsung HD103SJ 1TB (Sata 3Gbps)
PSU Corsair HX1050 Gold
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Benchmarks: ATTO
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
Benchmarks: AS SSD
AS SSD Benchmark is a straightforward tool for measuring the speed of your SSD drive.
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Benchmarks: CrystalDiskMark 3.0
CrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software that analyses different types of hard drive. Giving sequential benchmark write and read statistics in MB/s. A simple program that is very useful.
Benchmarks: Iometer
Iometer is based on a client–server model, where one instance of the Iometer graphical user interface is managing multiple ‘workers’ (each one representing a separate Dynamo.exe process) which are doing the I/O. Iometer performs Asynchronous I/O – accessing files or block devices (later one allowing to bypass the file system buffers).
Iometer allows the configuration of disk parameters such as the ‘Maximum Disk Size’, ‘Starting Disk Sector’ and ‘# of Outstanding I/Os’. This allows a user to configure a test file upon which the ‘Access Specifications’ configure the I/O types to the file.
Iometer allows the configuration of disk parameters such as the ‘Maximum Disk Size’, ‘Starting Disk Sector’ and ‘# of Outstanding I/Os’. This allows a user to configure a test file upon which the ‘Access Specifications’ configure the I/O types to the file.
For the purpose of this test. The 4K 50%/50% read/write file will be under the examination with 100% Random Distribution – reporting back on IOPS and MBs per Second.
Benchmarks: Iometer (Sustained Test)
This is a new test for us but we have found that over a period of time, performance of SSDs slows down dramatically. For many of us this won’t be such a problem as it is unlikely we will be dedicating our PCs to small write over such a long period of time on a sustained basis however, it is a very valuable test which shows the sustainable performance of the drives with continuous small (4K)random writes in mind.For this test we again run IOmeter only this time we set it to 4K Random Write but over a 12 hour period. IOP readings are taken at 15 minute intervals throughout the 12 hour test to see how durable and sustainable the performance of the drives on test really are.
*Note* as this is a new test we have not had time to add all of the drives on test however more drives will be added when time allows.
Benchmarks: SiSoftware SANDRA
SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.
Sandra is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.
It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.
Sandra is a (girl) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.
It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.
Benchmarks: HDTune Pro
A new utility we have added to our line-up of benchmarks is the ever popular HDTune Pro. HD Tune Pro is a hard disk / SSD utility with many functions. It can be used to measure the drive’s performance, scan for errors, check the health status (S.M.A.R.T.), securely erase all data and much more.
Conclusion
The OCZ Vertex 460 offers quite a lot for not a lot. Performance across the range of tests was good to very good with the SSD coming mid-top table throughout our benchmarking suite. Particular attention should be paid to the sustained 12 hour runs which show the OCZ drives in an even better light as after 12 hours, the IOPs were double that of the Intel 730 drive. Clearly, it is all good and well being fast out of the blocks but after a long period of writing, some drives can begin to tire while others can continue the fast pace they set.
For the price, we really have no complaints at all. At £130 you are getting almost 1GB of storage per 54p which is a far cry from some drives currently on the market. When this is cross referenced to the performance attributes of the drive and when compared to some ‘enthusiast’ drives available then the OCZ Vertex 460 equates to something of a bargain. While it isn’t at the very top of the pile in terms of performance, it is certainly ‘Champions League’ material and when you consider you also get a 3.5″ drive bay adaptor and a copy of Acronis thrown in to the deal you would be crazy not to consider this SSD.
There is little to complain about with this drive and it is good to see OCZ making some very good progress which will no doubt see them reclaim the high regard they once held amongst PC enthusiasts. Those who purchased the Vector 150 may well be kicking themselves because this drive is very nearly up there in terms of performance and leagues ahead in terms of value. Value however is still not quite as good as the Samsung 840 Evo but the included copy of Acronis goes some way to buffer that fact. We very nearly gave this SSD our Gold award and had the drive been cheaper than the Samsung 840 or slightly faster in some of our benchmarks then it would have easily earned it.
Overall then, the OCZ Vertex impressed us both in terms of price and performance. If this is the sign of things to come from the rebirth of OCZ under the stewardship of Toshiba then the future looks bright for both performance enthusiasts and value minded home users alike.
Fast and furious. The OCZ Vertex 460 races onto the SSD scene with excellent performance for the value minded consumer.
Pros
+ Sustained Performance
+ 3 Year Warranty
+ Good Performance
Cons
– Nothing major to note
+ Sustained Performance
+ 3 Year Warranty
+ Good Performance
Cons
– Nothing major to note
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
