We’ve covered the OCZ Octane and more recently the new OCZ Vertex 4. We’ve also seen how they behave under wildly differing firmware revisions. What have we not yet seen? Turns out the hardware powering both the Octane and Vertex 3 controllers was actually from Marvell.
Judging from the performance we saw from the Octane, it’s clear that Indilinx is cranking out some great firmware for this hardware, but it’s a bit of a surprise to us that the Indilinx arm of OCZ chose to go this route as opposed to spinning their own next gen controller, especially in light of how well the original Indilinx Barefoot was received back in the day.
It turns out that ‘Indilinx Infused’ is more than just a catch phrase.
As evidenced by some commenters over at the source, some feel cheated that this news did not come to light earlier. My take on it is that an SSD is a package deal – controller hardware *and firmware* make up that package. If a company can deliver both in a reliable and well performing manner, then it’s that companies product you are buying, not just the controller.
Allyn,
Please revise your
Allyn,
Please revise your vertex 4 review to include other ssd’s with marvel 6Gbps controllers. Only then will we know the added value, if any, of the OCZ firmware.
Appending the Vertex 4
Appending the Vertex 4 article would be an injustice. Seeing how “previews” on this site are sometimes longer than full reviews at other – just a nice little article I believe would be great. Seeing how only OCZ have Indilinx Everest/E2 at the moment once more vendors start to use IE2 or Crucial M4 type Marvell controllers (aside from the Intel 510), firmware will start to play a big part. Sandforce controller no matter the vendor (this time aside from the Intel 520) are pretty much the same. NAND choice then becomes more crucial to longevity followed by performance IMO.