Vertex 4 - mini review

mikeo

mikeo

mikeo

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Hi folks.

Not too many posts re -Vertex 4's. So thought I'd take the time to pass on my thoughts and results.

Originally bought a Vertex 4 128GB to replace my 18 month old Vertex 2E 120GB (it's been 100% reliable). Not expecting a great difference in day to day use, but on the principle of "no pockets in a shroud"... Also allowed me to relegate the Vertex 2E to a life as a data drive. This then made me decided to go mad and replace my Games HD with a Vertex 4 256GB. Now totally SSD in my case. 2 x Samsung F3 1TB's in external enclosures for backup and bulk storage.

Both drives came with firmware 1.3, so a quick hop over to OCZ to get their latest Toolbox. Latest firmware is 1.5 and it's a two stage process to move up to 1.5. The first flash being destructive. No issues if it's a new drive and attached as a secondary (as it was for me). Just remember to shut-down between flashes (as warned by OCZ) and not to just re-start your PC! On both drives on initial re-boot (after first flash to v1.4), the drive was not recognised in Windows (moment of panic :eek::eek::eek:), it took another re-start and then all was well.

All testing was done with Intel RST 10.8, Intel speedstep and C-state disabled in BIOS (to get the best 4K write results in benchmarks). And a Secure Erase done between each test.

First off ATTO:

SSDATTObenchmarkVertex4256gbrst108.jpg


Absolutely bang on. I think it's fair to say that ATTO must be where OCZ gets the figures for it's promotional material.

Now AS SSD:

SSDASbenchmarkvertex4256gbrst108speedstepoff.jpg


Looking good to me.

Though I have seen higher 4k read/writes in some reviews.

And finally CDM:

SSDCDMbenchmarkvertex4256gbrst108.jpg


Again I don't think you can fault the results.

All told I'm a happy camper.

As to reliability.... only time will tell I suppose. At least you have the backing of a 5 year warranty.

Worth more than a Sammy 830, or Crucial M3 (both excellent drives)??? only you as an individual purchaser can decide that ;) Though the prices of the Vertex 4 drives are starting to come down now, so wait a bit longer and I doubt there will be much price wise between them.

Got to admit that I'm currently wondering how anyone can squeeze much more out of the SATA3 6Gbit/s interface!?
 
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Glad you're happy with the drive.


mikeo said:
Got to admit that I'm currently wondering how anyone can squeeze much more out of the SATA3 6Gbit/s interface!?
Click to expand...

They'd struggle as the maximum operating bandwidth is ~550-560MB/s.

That's why it's the maximum stated speed for a lot of SSDs.


mikeo said:
Absolutely bang on. I think it's fair to say that ATTO must be where OCZ gets the figures for it's promotional material.
Click to expand...

OCZ state that in the product specifications.
 
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Surveyor said:
They'd struggle as the maximum operating bandwidth is ~550-560MB/s.

That's why it's the maximum stated speed for a lot of SSDs.
Click to expand...

Re max operating bandwidth.

Question.. does this mean that SSD's could in theory run even faster? If so, when do we get SATA4? :):):)
 
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Question.. does this mean that SSD's could in theory run even faster?
Click to expand...

Quite possibly.

SATA drives are limited by the interface at the moment.


If so, when do we get SATA4? :):):)
Click to expand...

No idea.


In normal use you'd be unlikely to notice the difference if SSDs were faster.

People struggle to see the difference between SATA 2 and SATA 3 SSDs without a benchmark.
 
Sata3 is already saturated in terms of seq speeds but only a serious video editor, transfering enormous amount of video would mind for faster speeds than a sata3-ssd@raid0 can deliver.
 
Neo130 said:
Sata3 is already saturated in terms of seq speeds but only a serious video editor, transfering enormous amount of video would mind for faster speeds than a sata3-ssd@raid0 can deliver.
Click to expand...

but saying that...roll on sata4
and some faster home networking :(

mikeo said:
Worth more than a Sammy 830, or Crucial M3 (both excellent drives)??? only you as an individual purchaser can decide that ;) Though the prices of the Vertex 4 drives are starting to come down now, so wait a bit longer and I doubt there will be much price wise between them.
Click to expand...

i was hoping the corsair pro would come down too, but they not playing nice

*thx for the review looks like a great drive*
 
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As mentioned sequential is limited by sata 3, however, the biggest real performance limit for 99% of users is the 4kb limits. Honestly the increase in ssd/hdd speed now will come from windows, file systems and software. Look at 32-64 queue depth 4kb reads, fantastic, problem being in most situations windows simply won't get above a 2-3 queue depth.

Rather than sending a request for a 4kb file, reading it sending it back then requesting another, etc, etc. We need a computer to store files in a way that you load 8mb of data likely to be the next data needing to be loaded, so the next request just goes to memory rather than ssd. It's quicker to load 500mb of data into memory and need 50mb of it than load 50mb of data one file at a time at 25mb/s.

Ultimately the 25-30mb limit for 4kb random read is down purely to access latency, the cycle of request data, read 4kb data, then send another request. Till access latency can go from 0.2ms to 0.00000001, then we're stuck at around 30mb/s.

Anyway, if windows designs a file system, and starts to access data in a different way(in blocks of likely data rather than individual files) and software makers design reading of data for usage to follow similar patterns then we can probably see dramatic gains in the way 4kb data is retrieved.

SSD performance has gone miles past hdd's, but we need computers designed to use drives capable of sustained 500mb/s read/writes which we absolutely do not have now.

File system can make a big difference, iirc mac's benchmark with noticeably better 4kb read performance but much worse sequential performance, with the vast majority of the difference being a different file system.


Anyway, Vertex 4's seem good, few teething issues but nothing major(yet) and its based on the Marvell controller which has been the most reliable so far by a mile(I keep reading of Intel sandforce drives starting to drop like flies, while other sandforce drives have been, problematic for everyone). But getting cheaper? £140 for a 256 gb Samsung 830, £200 for a Vertex 4, or almost 50% more for higher write speeds(in benchmarks) with an almost imperceptible real world difference. I'd buy a V4 if they were also available at £140-150 for a 256gb, at £200, not a chance.
 
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drunkmaster

Thanks for that. Very interesting read.

As to price of the V4's, I tend to agree. they are definitely not the best bang-for-buck (performance/price wise). I just bought the V4's myself because I've had good experiences with other OCZ SSD's (though quite aware that's far from the case with all folks), know my way round their tools/utilities and to a certain extent, cost was not a deciding factor.
 
i agree but its not too much extra for something you dont want to change often
ive only got a little ocz 60gb which i got a long time ago, so im jealous i wnt bigger! :o
 
Mei said:
i agree but its not too much extra for something you dont want to change often
ive only got a little ocz 60gb which i got a long time ago, so im jealous i wnt bigger! :o
Click to expand...

Sorry.... can't resist it... you know what they say (;)) size counts.
 
I'd like to get a Vertex 4 being a user of the original vertex (120GB) which has served me fine for years and still works really well.

It's just I could do with a little bit more space and with prices of drives for 256GB good now I will be getting a upgrade soon enough. I just wish the Vertex 4's were better value for money.

Very tempted to go for Samsung next as performance/price is very hard to beat.
 
Yes me too, id love a vertex 4 but that means i cant get a phanteks cooler so i think im going for the sammy for the price.
 
Yep... can't beat the Sammy 830 for bang-for-buck (I was very tempted myself). Give it another couple of months and I suspect the Vertex 4 will be around the same price point. You can't beat market forces / competition etc. Certainly good for all us PC enthusiasts. We live in interesting times, as the Chinese are want to say. But for now...

Go to be honest, I didn't start this thread to knock any other drive, or to do a price comparison. Just to pass on some info regarding my own personal experience/s.

I doubt if anyone would disappointed in any of the current crop of SSD's :):):)
 
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dave beast

Indeed.

Think you missed this bit on my original post:

"All testing was done with Intel RST 10.8, Intel speedstep and C-state disabled in BIOS (to get the best 4K write results in benchmarks). And a Secure Erase done between each test."

Which is why I was a little surprised that the 4k results were not a little higher than they were. Not like I'm loosing any sleep over it.

Out of interest. What version of the Intel RST drivers (assuming you are running these) are you using? As I've read that the version 11 give a fair boost in the 4k tests.
 
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