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OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD Review

Author	Edward Chester
Published	12th Jun 2009
Manufacturer	OCZ
Price	£294.86 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed	£339.09 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price	Click here

Features
Performance
Value
Overall

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Next we ran our game loading test in which we manually time how long it takes to run through our Crysis time demo. We turn all the graphical settings down to ensure the demo runs as fast as possible, and only perform one run through so as much time as possible is spent loading and unloading the game - the bit that really tests the hard drive.

Here we find something of an anomalous result as this drive takes longer than even the Apex series to complete the demo and despite repeated tests we couldn't get the Vertex to deliver a better performance. Frankly, we're at a loss as to why this would be except to assume this particular test is a worse case scenario for this drive.

Our penultimate test is our Windows boot up and shutdown test. Here we simply manually time how long it takes for the computer to bootup, reboot, and shutdown. As with the Crysis test, the shutdown time for the Vertex drive is slower than all the other drives on test so once again we can only assume there is something about the flow of data that taxes this drive in such a way as to impact performance. An assumption we make because the startup and restart times are both markedly quicker than the other drives so there's evidently plenty of performance on tap when circumstances are in the Vertex's favour.

Finally, we used the system for a while; browsing the web, editing images, and gaming in order to get an idea of how the drive feels in everyday use. We can confirm that we saw no evidence of the performance dips shown in our earlier tests. Indeed, the system felt consistently snappy and responsive with programs loading quickly and no random pauses like we experienced with the Apex drives.

Verdict

All told, this is a seriously fast drive that will be perfectly suited for use as the main system drive for a fast gaming PC or workstation and its price is competitive with other similarly performing solutions on the market. However, its speed and price is overkill if you just want an SSD for a simple, low-cost media center or laptop where you still want to reduce heat, noise, power consumption but don't necessarily need all out speed.

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Simon J said on 12th June 2009

Interesting review. It seems OCZ have finally got a drive that puts the frighteners on Intel's excellent Intel's X25-M, especially when you consider the 160GB is about &p... more

Kanu said on 12th June 2009

This comment in the review is somewhat bizzare:
"However, its speed and price is overkill if you're thinking of getting an SSD for a simple, low-cost media cente... more

Frederik said on 12th June 2009

Let's hope then that the new Agility series will get a recommendation from this site, they should be the 'price-breaker series'. Have a look here, http://www.ocztech... more

Jay Werfalli said on 12th June 2009

@Kanu - what Ed is saying is that this SDD's price and speed is overkill when you can get an SSD for less which still does the same job of reducing heat, noise and power consu... more

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