Specifications and Features
Direct from OCZ’s product page for the Vertex 3.20:
Built to Provide the Best Bang for Your Buck
OCZ Vertex 3 Solid State Drives are designed and built to significantly improve your gaming, multimedia, and overall computing experience over traditional mechanical hard drives. In addition to maximized productivity, a Vertex 3 upgrade makes a hard drive-equipped notebook more portable than ever with superior durability and reduced power consumption. Using proven controller and next generation MLC flash memory technology, Vertex 3.20 SSDs deliver the performance and responsiveness your hard drive-ridden Mac or PC has been begging for.
Features
- Based on the award-winning Vertex 3 Series, built with leading-edge NAND flash to deliver a superior user experience and improved application performance compared to hard drives
- Includes SandForce’s robust DuraClass™ features that work in tandem to deliver world-class SSD reliability, performance, and power efficiency
- DuraWrite™ architecture optimizes the number of program cycles to the flash, effectively extending flash rated endurance by 20x or more when compared to standard SSDs
- Advanced wear leveling and monitoring – optimized algorithms further extend flash endurance
- Advanced read/program disturb management – safeguards against errant re-programming of cells during read and program cycles
- Recycler – intelligently performs garbage collection with the least impact on flash endurance
This is good stuff, there’s TRIM support as well just like the previous Vertex 3 drives. It is, after all, the same Sandforce controller.
OCZ SSD Features
 |
Less Lag OCZ SSDs offer industry-leading low latency, enabling faster access to data and a more responsive computer. Optimize an old notebook or maximize a modern PC. |
|
 |
Proprietary Technology It’s through cutting-edge technology that OCZ has set itself apart from the rest. Our secret sauce is in our advanced suite of flash management. |
|
 |
Award-Winning Innovation With innovative storage features, OCZ promises to change your computing expectations and live up to the hype of using an SSD. |
|
 |
Advanced Endurance Worried about the lifespan of flash memory? OCZ increases durability and maximizes the life expectancy of the flash in each SSD. |
|
 |
Beyond the Box OCZ SSDs deliver lasting performance and reliably long after the initial ‘fresh-out-of-the-box’ experience. |
While the above reads like the marketing it is, it’s not untrue. They really do keep their speeds for a very long time, and they really are amazingly fast. If you don’t have a SSD in your computer you’re missing out. I’ll never go back if I can help it.
The SSD Advantage
 |
Faster Performance SSD technology enables 100x greater througput, quicker boot ups, faster file transfers, and overall snappier performance than hard drives. |
|
 |
More Bang for the Buck When considering performance per dollar, SSDs are more cost-effective than their mechanical counterparts. |
|
 |
Greater Durability The non-mechanical design of NAND flash mounted to circuit boards is extremely durable, unlike HHDs and their rotating disks and seeking spindles. |
|
 |
Energy Efficient SSDs use significantly less power than hard drives, promoting a longer battery life in notebooks, less power consumption, and a greener computing environment. |
|
 |
Silent Operation With no moving parts, SSDs run virtually silent in your notebook or PC to eliminate distracting noise during gaming or entertainment. |
The 100x claim is a bit vague, peak HDD speeds are typically in the 100MB/s range for large files, SSDs cap at around 550MB/s (SATA3 6Gbps caps there). Smaller files it’s a more reasonable claim. Other than that, it’s all true. They really are physically far more durable, far faster (bang for buck ignores capacity, it just looks at performance), much more energy efficiency, and definitely silent.
It sounds almost too good to be true, but the difference really is amazing.
