OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 PCIe SSD Performance Preview

If you've been reading the pages of HotHardware for any length of time, you've probably noticed that we have an affinity for just about anything SSD related.  As performance enthusiasts at heart, it's no wonder why we're keenly focused on the market segment, but even so, there are standout products that tend to pique our interest more than others.  And in the burgeoning SSD market, there's nothing more interesting than PCI Express based SSDs.

In recent months we've covered PCI Express-based SSDs from virtually all the major players, from Fusion-io to, OCZ and LSI. The last time we took a look at OCZ's offering, the RevoDrive X2 took to the test bench and with its MLC-based design, offered much of the performance of significantly more expensive SLC-based PCI Express SSDs, but at a fraction of the cost. Today the third coming of the RevoDrive from OCZ is upon us, with all new technology on board, from its Flash controllers to the RAID processor.  With read/write specs that will make you drool, the RevoDrive 3 X2 is here and if it lives up to its specifications on paper, we think you're going to want to stick around for the intimate details on the pages that follow.

OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 480GB PCI Express SSD Specifications & Features

Max Read: up to 1500MB/s Max Write: up to 1250MB/s Random Write 4KB: (4K Align,QD64,8GB LBA): 200,000 IOPS Seek Time: 0.1ms Interface:  PCIe 2.0 x4 Power Consumption:  Idle 3W, Active 8W Operating Temp: 0°C ~ 70°C

Storage Temp: -45°C ~ +85°C Shock Resistant up to 1500G SuperScale Processor with VCA 2.0 Included 3.5" Desktop adapter bracket Compatible with XP, Vista, 7, and Linux (32 and 64-bit) MTBF: 2 million hours 3-Year Warranty

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OCZ's RevoDrive 3 X2 will be available at the following capacities and price points:

RevoDrive 3 240G @ $699.99
RevoDrive 3 X2 480G @ $1699.99
RevoDrive 3 X2 960G @ $3199.99

OCZ's RevoDrive series is their "prosumer" targeted product-line, based on MLC NAND Flash, and with price points that are much more in line with traditional high-end SATA-based solid state drives.  At $699 for the 240GB variant, the RevoDrive 3 X2 drops in at under $3 per GB of storage. 

Update, 6/28 6:05PM - Bear in mind that the 240GB variant of the RevoDrive 3 is not actually an "X2" model but rather a single PCB with two SandForce controllers on board, versus four on the X2 version.  This will leave you with theoretically half of the available read/write bandwidth. 

The higher densities are a bit more expensive, with the 480GB and 960GB versions weighing in at $3.53 and $3.33 per GB, respectively.  On average, that's about a $1 per GB premium over the average SATA III (6Gbps) SSD.  However, with max read throughput of 1.5GB/sec and max writes at 1.2GB/sec, OCZ is claiming to offer a theoretical 3X performance boost over the fastest standard SATA products on the market right now.