Computex 2010 Coverage

OCZ Technology

Although OCZ Technology is best known for its enthusiast-friendly memory, lately the company has been focusing its growth on the solid state drive (SSD) market. I met with OCZ's Global Marketing Manager, Jessica Luken, to discuss some of the new products in the works at OCZ, many of which will reach the market very shortly. Please note that specs are preliminary and subject to change.

The newest edition to OCZ's 2.5" SSD line will be the Vertex 2 EX, which is similar in spec to the Vertex 2 Pro, except for one key difference - it will use SLC NAND instead of MLC. SLC is typically faster than MLC and error correction is less taxing, but curiously, OCZ lists the same speeds for both. As with the Pro, the Vertex 2 EX uses the SandForce SF-1500 controller, so couple that with SLC NAND, and you're likely looking at a pretty hefty price tag.

Also on the horizon are a couple of 1.8" SSDs. Expected to arrive at the end of Q2, beginning of Q3, OCZ will cater to both ends of the spectrum - value and performance. The 1.8" Onyx is its value offering, coming in 32GB and 64GB flavors and sporting a max read of 145 MB/s and max write of 120 MB/s. It's performance offering is the 1.8" Vertex 2, sold in 60GB, 120GB and 240GB offerings and featuring a max read of 285 MB/s and max write of 275 MB/s.

As nice as the aforementioned SSDs are, the most interesting SSD in the works doesn't look like an SSD at all. Dubbed the OCZ RevoDrive, OCZ is getting around the SATA2 bottleneck by designing a drive that features a PCIe interface. By doing so, OCZ is able to achieve a max read of 540 MB/s, max write of 490 MB/s, sustained write of 470 MB/s, and 65k IOPS for the 120GB model, and a max read of 540 MB/s, max write of 530 MB/s, sustained write of 500 MB/s, and 75k IOPS for the 240GB model. Both versions use MLC NAND, consume a mere 3 watts while idle and 8 watts at load, and utilize a PCIe x4 slot.

Expected in Q3, OCZ will also be releasing a USB 3.0 portable SSD called Enyo. Enyo is expected to have a max read of 260 MB/s and max write of 200 MB/s. There will be a 64GB version, 128GB version and 256GB version, all housed in an anodized aluminum casing.

The last SSD-related product OCZ showed off was the HSDL (High Speed Data Link) Drive. Using a proprietary connection OCZ is able to attain a max read of 930 MB/s, max write of 790 MB/s, sustained write of 750 MB/s, and 75k IOPS. The first two images show a HSDL interface board for one and four drives, respectively, while the second two images are the SSD drives themselves. The drive will hold a standard 2.5" SSD and come with the cable needed to connect the drive to the interface board, yet still use the standard SATA power adapter for its power needs.

Though the main focus of my meeting was the SSD products, I can't talk about OCZ without at least showing its memory, even if there's nothing new to report on.