OCZ’s latest solid state drive featuring Barefoot 3, Toshiba NAND Flash, Power Failure Management Plus and a whopping 5-years warranty. Is this the best SATA-SSD money can buy?
Product on Review: Vector 180 SSD (240GB)
Manufacturer & Sponsor: OCZ Storage Solutions
Street Price: £110 GBP / $150 USD
One of the early powerhouses of the consumer SSD market, California-based OCZ was acquired by Japanese giant Toshiba Group in 2014. Since then the company has gone from strength-to-strength, capitalising on technological improvements and economies of scale in the NAND market to create a range of consumer and enterprise SSD products which match any in scope. We’ve seen some solid designs since the takeover and this comes as no surprise since there is now direct access to premium, cutting-edge components and technologies courtesy of the Japanese multinational.
Today we’re looking at OCZ’s most recent release: the Vector 180 solid state drive. Vector 180 is designed primarily for the enthusiast, a segment of the market which is one of the most high-profile in their SSD portfolio. Our drive is also driven by a Barefoot 3 M00 controller and utilises 19nm MLC NAND flash, both of which promise to deliver consistent performance in a range of scenarios. OCZ are also keen to press a new feature called Power Failure Management Plus – presenting a new level of reliability!
OCZ on their Vector 180
Developed by the most awarded SSD brand of all time, OCZ Vector 180 SSDs offer the be-all and end-all of feature-sets for the most demanding users who won’t settle for anything but the best. Featuring enhanced performance, reliability, and endurance, the Vector 180 series provides a flash storage solution second to none.
Technical Specifications
PHYSICAL
Usable Capacities (IDEMA): 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, 960GB
NAND Components: 19nm Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash
NAND Controller: OCZ Barefoot 3 M00
Interface: Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s (SATA III)
Form Factor: 2.5 inch, 7mm height (fits ultra-thin notebooks)
Dimension (L x W x H): 99.7 x 69.75 x 7mm
Drive Weight: 115g
ENVIRONMENTAL
Power Consumption: Idle: 0.85W, Active: 3.7W
Operating Temperature: 0°C ~ 70°C
Storage Temperature: -45°C ~ 85°C
Shock Resistance: 1000G/0.5ms
Vibration (Operational): 2.17Grms (7-800Hz)
Vibration (Non-operational): 3.13Grms (5-800Hz)
Altitude (Operational): -1,000 ft. to 10,000 ft.
Altitude (Non-operational): -1,000 ft. to 40,000 ft.
Certifications: UL C/US, FCC, CE, C-Tick, KCC, BSMI, VCCI, WEEE
RELIABILITY / SECURITY
MTBF: 2.3 million hours
Data Path Protection: BCH ECC corrects up to 44 random bits/1KB
Encryption: 256-bit AES-compliant
Product Health Monitoring: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) Support
Endurance: Rated for 50GB/day of host writes for 5 years under typical client workloads
Additional Reliability Protection Power Failure Management Plus (PFM+) helps prevent ‘brick drive syndrome’ that can occur during sudden power losses
Usable Capacities (IDEMA): 120GB, 240GB, 480GB, 960GB
NAND Components: 19nm Multi-Level Cell (MLC) Flash
NAND Controller: OCZ Barefoot 3 M00
Interface: Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s (SATA III)
Form Factor: 2.5 inch, 7mm height (fits ultra-thin notebooks)
Dimension (L x W x H): 99.7 x 69.75 x 7mm
Drive Weight: 115g
ENVIRONMENTAL
Power Consumption: Idle: 0.85W, Active: 3.7W
Operating Temperature: 0°C ~ 70°C
Storage Temperature: -45°C ~ 85°C
Shock Resistance: 1000G/0.5ms
Vibration (Operational): 2.17Grms (7-800Hz)
Vibration (Non-operational): 3.13Grms (5-800Hz)
Altitude (Operational): -1,000 ft. to 10,000 ft.
Altitude (Non-operational): -1,000 ft. to 40,000 ft.
Certifications: UL C/US, FCC, CE, C-Tick, KCC, BSMI, VCCI, WEEE
RELIABILITY / SECURITY
MTBF: 2.3 million hours
Data Path Protection: BCH ECC corrects up to 44 random bits/1KB
Encryption: 256-bit AES-compliant
Product Health Monitoring: Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) Support
Endurance: Rated for 50GB/day of host writes for 5 years under typical client workloads
Additional Reliability Protection Power Failure Management Plus (PFM+) helps prevent ‘brick drive syndrome’ that can occur during sudden power losses
Packaging & Closer Look
Vector 180 arrives in a small box which has depiction of the drive on the front and the capacity printed in the corner. Over on the rear of the box there is a listing of the fundamental features and some other details such as serial number should you need to get in contact with OCZ.
Inside the box there are just a few included items –
• Documentation: Acronis instructions, installation guide, warranty details
• 3.5” drive bracket with mounting screws
Conforming to the the standard size for an SSD, Vector 180 is 99.7 x 69.75 x 7mm. The front features OCZ’s new logo with the cyan and white lines. As would be expected there are screws holes in the side for mounting the drive into a bracket/computer case.
On the reverse there is a specifications label which contains the serial number, the standards and a QR code. Again, there are mounting holes on the underside for fitting the drive to different devices. Vector 180 uses SATA 3 (6GB/s) for its connectivity.
Inside and at the very heart of Vector 180 is the Barefoot 3 M00 controller and Toshiba A119 NAND flash. Vertex 180 also features enhanced reliability characteristics such as “Power Failure Management Plus”.
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
Anvil Pro
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Iometer
Futuremark PCMark 8
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Iometer
Futuremark PCMark 8
Test system
CPU Intel Core-i7 5960X
Motherboard MSI X99S – SLI
Graphics PALIT NVIDIA GTX 760
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2666MHz) CL15
HDD
[i/]- OCZ Vector 180 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Crucial MX200 1TB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX Savage 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Force LX 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Plextor M6e 256GB(PCIe)
PSU Corsair HX1050 Gold
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Motherboard MSI X99S – SLI
Graphics PALIT NVIDIA GTX 760
Memory 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro (2666MHz) CL15
HDD
[i/]- OCZ Vector 180 240GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Crucial MX200 1TB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Kingston HyperX Savage 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Corsair Force LX 256GB (Sata 6Gbps)
– Plextor M6e 256GB(PCIe)
PSU Corsair HX1050 Gold
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
Benchmarks: Anvil Pro
Anvil Pro from Anvil Storage utilities is one of the most popular storage benchmarking utilities today thanks to the large suit of tests available. You can test pretty much anything from Read/write Speed to IOPs with many variables to tweak allowing you to get either a single or host of results to compare with other likeminded enthusiasts. In our test we ran the standard suite 5 times, subtracting both the highest and lowest scores and determined the final result from the average of the remaining three results.
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: 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: PCMark 8
We use the Futuremark PCMark 8 utility to measure storage via Photoshop performance under both light and heavy loading conditions. Accelerated (open CL) is used to perform this test. The test is measured in seconds to complete.
Conclusion
Since the SATA-based SSD sector has now hit saturation, companies supplying these products are being encouraged to innovate with new technologies and techniques to gain notoriety.
OCZ’s Vector 180 diversifies itself by expanding reliability features with Power Failure Management Plus, which effectively prevents the SSD from being “bricked” and is a confident safeguarding method for your data. Furthermore, OCZ are keen to emphasize their new warranty strategy which does not require a receipt – just a serial number. OCZ also provide a shipping label for returns so the cost doesn’t hit the end-user’s pocket – and thus, speed up the process meaning reduced downtime for faulty parts replacement.
Throughout our suite of benchmarks the Vector 180 clearly demonstrated consistently high-performance. Not all drives can handle sequential read and write transfer rates, and quite often we find a drop in performance but the combination of Barefoot 3 controller and Toshiba A19 NAND allows Vector 180 to tackle these demanding tasks.
Current SATA-SSD prices are at an all-time low and there hasn’t been a better time to jump onto the solid state bandwagon. The 240GB model of this Vector 180 drive is priced at £110 GBP / $150 USD – not the cheapest 240GB model out there, but we’re reassured by the value the fail-safe features and warranty benefits really bring.
The OCZ Vector 180 is designed for the enthusiast and as such delivers the performance and features an enthusiast demands. Advanced power failure features and impressive warranty service make this drive a top-pick!
Pros
+ Consistently strong performance
+ Attractive styling
+ TRIM
+ Power Failure Plus feature
+ Hassle-free warranty service
Cons
– None!
+ Consistently strong performance
+ Attractive styling
+ TRIM
+ Power Failure Plus feature
+ Hassle-free warranty service
Cons
– None!
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
