TRIM, Conclusion, Pricing, and Final Thoughts
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TRIM

TRIM and fragmentation over time performance was identical to that in our last SandForce Roundup.

Short Burst Write IOPS

As also tested in our SandForce Roundup piece, when hitting the varying SandForce units with heavy 4k random writes, we can watch IOPS fall over time.  Here are the results for both versions of the Agility 2:

Time (sec) OCZ Agility 2 (120GB) OCZ Agility 2 (100GB)
0 32000 32000
5 26000 26000
10 10500 10500
30 10500 10500
60 10500 10500

This was where I was expecting to see a difference, but even with less spare flash area to work with, the prototype behaved exactly like the 100GB unit.  So with that it appears this new label-less SSD will do quite well once it reaches the market.  You know now that I think about it, this thing looks a bit like the monolith from 2001 – A Space Odyssey:

OCZ tweaks SandForce firmware, gains 20% storage capacity! - Storage 26 

(The OCZ prototype responded similarly to my hospitality)

Conclusion:

PROS:
  • 20% free capacity!
CONS:
  • Possible reduction in usable life, due to less spare flash area.
Pricing:

Current cheapest available pricing snapshot (as of this writing):
(all 100GB models)
  • OCZ Vertex 2: $403 ($4.03/GB)
  • OCZ Agility 2: $390 ($3.90/GB)
  • Corsair Force: $409 ($4.09/GB)
  • Vertex LE: $360 ($3.60/GB)

  • OCZ Agility 2 with less overprovisioning: $390 ($3.25/GB)
For comparison:
  • Intel X25-M G2 160GB: $2.59/GB 
  • WD Velociraptor 600GB: $0.46/GB
As you can see above, the 20% gain in capacity translates to a nice drop in cost/GB!

Final Thoughts:

It’s great to see the SandForce can join the normal capacity increments of the competition without suffering from the compromise.  OCZ is still working out exactly how they plan to push this unit out to the masses.  A few extra models with slightly tweaked product names might appear, but the cost is expected to match that of the current 100GB models, meaning the added capacity will come for free.  Those who already purchased any of the previous 100GB SSD’s won’t be left out in the cold, as OCZ is working on a way to make the new firmware available for the older models.  I love the idea of a free 20% capacity upgrade, and I’m sure others will agree.

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