OCZ Vector 128GB SSD Review

Posted by Gilgamesh on February 21st, 2013

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Testing and Benchmarks

Test Bench

ASUS Maximus V Formula Motherboard
i7 3770K CPU
G.Skill Trident 2X8GB DDR3-2400 Memory
Sapphire HD 7770 Video Card
Corsair HX1050 PSU

Comparison Samples

OCZ Vertex 2 120GB
Kingston SSDNow V220 128GB
Vertex 4 128GB
OCZ Vector 128GB

Obviously, the stiffest competition will be from the Vertex 4. The Vertex 4 sequential write specifications show a 30MB/s advantage over the Vector, and 4K random writes boast a 30,000 IOPS advantage. From all appearances, the Vertex 4 should score slightly better on most write tests. However, as you’ll see later, there is more to the story.

Each test was performed using the latest AHCI drivers from Intel, and the drive being secure erased after each test run. We’ll be using AS SSD, CrystalDiskMark, ATTO, and IOMeter to perform our testing.

Beginning with AS SSD, we see that the Vector and Vertex 4 lead the way in all the tests. The Vertex 4 manages to beat out the Vector in the 4K-Thrd by a slim margin in the read test. The write test show a reversal of that pattern with the Vector winning out on the 4K-Thrd test. Access times show the Vector better at read, but slightly slower than the Vertex 4′s write access time. The total score AS SSD assigns was a slight victory for the Vertex 4.

CrystalDiskMark read/write testing shows the same pattern we saw with AS SSD. The Vector continues to dominate in all the read tests, but as expected falls just short of the Vetex 4 in most write tests.

Not much changes in the ATTO Disk Benchmark either. It’s a complete sweep for the Vector in the read testing, but again it falls just slightly behind the Vertex 4 in the write testing.

The IOMeter 4K and 2MB read/write tests have the Vector coming out ahead on a write speed test for the first time (2MB Test).

Other than the excellent write speeds and dramatic read speeds we see in the above testing, there is another thing that separates the Vector SSDs from others on the market. The other part of the story I eluded to earlier has to do with OCZ’s proprietary garbage collection engine, which promises “Superior Sustained Performance” over a longer period of time. This was tested in house by OCZ, and the results are represented in the graph below. As you can see by the illustration, the Vector’s 4KRW QD32 testing shows the IOPS actually edging upwards through most of the 15 minute test. Furthermore, OCZ states the results of this test should alter very little as the drive is filled with data. The image below depicts the 256MB version of the Vector, but you get the idea.

OCZ provided the configuration file needed to run the exact same test as above. We’ll use those same parameters to run our own testing. We ran the test twice, once with the Vector empty and again just over half full of data. As you can see by the graph below the IOPS stayed very consistent throughout both 15 minute tests. When the Vector was half full of data, there was an expected very minor drop in IOPS, but certainly nothing to be concerned over.

Just because I was curious, I ran AS SSD, ATTO, and CrystalDiskMark after the Vector was loaded with data. The ATTO and AS SSD scores were almost identical to what was seen when the drive was empty. CDM showed a drop in 512K write and 4K QD32 scores, but again nothing alarming.