OCZ Vector 150 SSD Review (240GB) – OCZ Refines Their Enthusiast SSD With An Enterprise Flavor

STEADY STATE 4K RANDOM WRITE IOPS TESTING

Looking through the literature before analysing this SSD, it wasn’t hard to see that the bread and butter of the OCZ Vector 150 would be its sustained write IOPS performance.  With sustained random 4K IOPS as high as 26K for the 480GB capacity, 21K for the 240GB capacity that we are testing today and 12K for the 120GB version, OCZ claims that these are superior to many, if not all similarly configured consumer/enthusiast SSD available, most of whom don’t even advertise these IOPS numbers.  Quite frankly, this isn’t a far stretch as most consumer drives just aren’t built to industry enterprise standards.

For our testing, we decided on matching the OCZ Vector 150 with an upper tier consumer drive, as well as what most might consider to be an enterprise class SSD.  On the consumer side we have the Plextor M5M Pro Xtreme SSD that we reviewed previously, and on the enterprise side we threw in the Seagate  600 Pro that was reviewed here as well.  All three SSDs were hit with 12 hours of 4K random write disk access, which not only shows the colors of any SSD, but also, pushed all three to a sustained level of performance.

Sustained Performance Chart

In examining these results, most might think that there is something wrong with the Plextor M5M Pro Xtreme as its steady state IOPS leveled off at just over 7000IOPS, but there isn’t.  This is representative of a typical consumer SSD, many of which might not even last this test pattern for 12 hours.  From there, the OCZ Vector 150 comes in at just over three times higher with over 21000 IOPS at steady state, and the Seagate 600 at around the 31500K IOPS mark.

Both the consumer and enterprise SSD are representative of their respective classes, and OCZ has pulled off quite an impressive performance run with a steady state more than three times that of a typical consumer SSD.

MIXED WORKLOAD PERFORMANCE

Up next in our test file we decided to put OCZ’ claims to the test with a bit of mixed workload testing. Once again using IOMeter, we tested all three SSDs with data samples typically seen in a Database (67%R/33%W), File Server (80%R/20%W), WorkStation (20%R/80%W), and a Web Server (100%R). These tests were conducted part and parcel to steady state testing above.

Vector Sustained Mixed WorkLoad performance Chart

It’s easy to see why OCZ is raving about their steady state and mixed workload performance with the vector sitting necak and neck with the Seagate 600 Pro enterprise SSD.  We expected the Plextor to show performance improvement in Web Server testing, however, the rest is indicative of a typical consumer SSD.

OCZ Vector 150 SSD SSD Front

MIXED LOAD PERFORMANCE – SECURE ERASE

We were a bit curious as to what the mixed load comparisons would look like after we did a secure erase on the three SSDs. We were very confident that a performance increase would be seen, however, wanted to se if the comparisons deviated at all, especially since the configuration file accounted for a ramp up period before conducting the test.

Vector Sustained Mixed WorkLoad After Secure Erase

Let’s take a look at the OCZ Vector 150 promotional video before detailing our report analysis and final thoughts:

 

14 comments

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    Nice, I LOVE OCZ! (since I have 2 x Vertex3MI 120GB, and they rock! 🙂 )…

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    Hi,

    It was interesting to read ” One can easily identify the result of our 12 hour test pattern by the 7.73TB Total NAND Writes in 13 hours of use.” In fact perhaps it isn’t that easy because the Vector series come with up to 5 TB written to them in testing. As OCZ fail to mention this in the user manual it has led to a good deal of angst among users who have read the SMART data and have then assumed that they have been sold a used drive whilst paying for a new one. It also causes a lot of confusion regarding the warranty. When I questioned OCZ about the write limit I was informed that an allowance of an extra 5TB is made on top of the 20GB per day for five years. Again no mention of this in the user manual or the warranty conditions. OCZ may make top class drives (I have two) but their communications stink.

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      Hi Alan…. If I could be honest, it sounds like another typical thread coming from one who does not think much of OCZ and, IMHO, that has gotten very old. It is VERY common these days to find exactly the same burn-in and validation of new products and nobody mentions it whatsoever. With OCZ though it seems its a lose lose, they lose if they don’t burn in and something goes wrong, then again, they lose for burning in and not telling you it required up to 5TB written. Quite frankly, I believe the Barefoot 3 is the hottest controller available right now and OCZ firmware expertise is taking it in all new directions. We are long past the days of learning the hard way and my views are still the same.

      Would I rather an innovator who has learned the hard way and, as a result, pushed SSD technology forward leaps and bounds, or would I rather the safe bet who came to the show late relying on the bumps that others have suffered along the way?

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    Hi Les,
    Your assessment of me and my post couldn’t be more wrong. I own two SSD’s, a 128 GB Vector and a 256 GB Vector . I chose the drives after considering as many options as I could and over and above the Samsung Pro, which a lot of the smart money was on.I am very happy with both of the drives, with the smaller one in particular impressing me with it’s speed.
    When I fitted the 256 it had the best part of 5TB written to it and I honestly thought I had been conned because I could not find any reference to it in the manual.This led to an ugly scene with the retailer. Others have had similar issues. That is not good, don’t you agree?
    Also I was aware of the 20GB per day for 5 years limit but only via website reviews and I was not aware of the extra 5TB allowed for the test writes and so would have assumed that my warranty ran out 5TB sooner than it actually would.
    No Les , I happen to be a big fan of OCZ and I love my Vectors but I do honestly feel that some info re the test writes and the extra 5TB allowed in the warranty would be useful to us mere mortal consumers , who do not always understand all that there is to know about SSD’s. That’s why I read your reviews.
    Please Les, reassess where it is you think I am coming from because I ma not the Anti OCZ ranter that you think.

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    Hi Les,
    Thanks for your revision, it is very much appreciated.

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    Hmm, another alan here LOL, I for one, have a lot of respect for OCZ, without them bringing us many SSDs back in day when no one had SSDs, we would have struggled to get a fair price on anything SSD related, yes they had some problems in the beginning, but that was all cleared up many years ago, now they have the best Consumer Grade controller in the business, and yes they are asking a premium for it, and I am willing to pay that premium for a product I believe is worth every dime. JMHO.

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    Toshiba Q Series Pro with unknown contoller … Vector 150 with Toshiba Memory …

    Seems that something is going on there no ?? 🙂

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