7-Way SSD Round-Up: Sandforce vs. JMicron
OCZ Vertex 2 and Agility 2
All of the drives featured in this article conform to the same 2.5" form factor with 9.5mm Z-Height and all of the drives have identical connector configurations (just SATA, no USB), so there's little to differentiate one from another from a pysical standpoint, save for their decals and the colors of their enclosures. First up is the OCZ Vertex 2...
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Note: The OCZ Vertex 2 100GB and 120GB Drives Are Physically Identical
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| Max Read: up to 285MB/s Max Write: up to 275MB/s Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 50,000 IOPS Native TRIM support Max IOPS Firmware Seek Time: .1ms Slim 2.5" Design: 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm Lightweight: 77g |
Operating Temp: 0°C ~ 70°C Storage Temp: -45°C ~ +85°C Low Power: 2W in operation, .5W in standby Shock Resistant up to 1500G RAID Support Included 3.5" Desktop adapter bracket Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, and Linux MTBF: 2 million hours 3-Year Warranty |
The 100GB OCZ Vertex 2 shown here represents the current high-end of OCZ's SandForce 1200 based solid state drives, in terms of it firmware configuration (a 200GB model is also available). The Vertex 2's firmware does not impose the the 4K random write speed limitation mentioned on the previous page, hence the higher IOPS rating in the specs above versus the Agility 2. As you can see, the drive is rated for 285MB/s reads with 275MB/s writes (sustained writes up to 250MB/s). It has TRIM support built-in and it carried a 3-Year warranty.
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| Max Read: up to 285MB/s Max Write: up to 275MB/s Sustained Write: up to 250MB/s Random Write 4KB (Aligned): 10,000 IOPS Native TRIM support Seek Time: .1ms Slim 2.5" Design 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm Lightweight: 77g |
Operating Temp: 0°C ~ 70°C Storage Temp: -45°C ~ +85°C Low Power: 2W in operation, .5W in standby Shock Resistant up to 1500G RAID Support Included 3.5" Desktop adapter bracket Compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, and Linux MTBF: 2 million hours 3-Year Warranty |
The OCZ Agility 2 and Vertex 2 are very similar products (the drive pictured here is also a 100GB model). In fact, they're virtually identical in terms of their hardware. Of course, the Agility 2 bears different branding, but other than its decals, the only major difference between it and Vertex 2 is its firmware configuration. The Agility 2's firmware limits random write performance, hence its lower IOPS rating (10,000 4K random writes versus 50,000 with the Vertex 2). As you'll see in the performance data, however, the random write limitation of the Agility 2 doesn't hinder its performance much at all in most workloads.
