Introduction and Specifications
Another week, and another Vertex 3 release from OCZ! This time we take a look at the consumer oriented model, with more usable space and a promise of comparable performance. How will this new model really stack up against the enterprise-grade workhorse?
Introduction:
Today we get a look at the *second* SATA 6Gb/sec offering from OCZ – and we do so only 1-week after their initial release of the Vertex 3 Pro. Our test unit came to us just like the last model, in unlabeled monolith form, and sharing a similar pre-release firmware:
The shell was identical to that of the engineering sample Vertex 3 Pro we tested last week, complete with the missing product label.
The shell was identical to that of the engineering sample Vertex 3 Pro we tested last week, complete with the missing product label.
The New SandForce SF-2000 Controller (from the Vertex 3 Pro article last week)
Click to Enlarge
This new controller is significantly improved over the SF-1xxx line, offering much more than just a faster SATA interface.
New features include the SATA 6Gb/sec interface with a corresponding 2x gain in data throughput, along with improved IOPS performance. Also new is SAS support for differing sector sizes (used for enterprise-specific applications). To assist with the lower erase cycle count of 2x nm flash, ECC has been bumped up to 55 bits/sector and uses the more advanced BCH coding for error correction.
Security features are very interesting with this new controller. To achieve NIST certification, SandForce added an *additional* encryption engine, meaning all data is encrypted at both ends of the pipeline.
These are the projected figures from back when we were briefed on the SF-2xxx.
(per OCZ)
- Max read: 550 MB/sec
- Max write: 500 MB/sec
- 4KB Random Write (4K aligned): Up to 60,000 IOPS
