OCZ Apex Series 120GB SATA II SSD
PCMark Vantage Testing (Cont.)
Our next series of Vantage tests will stress the current weakness of most SSDs, that being write performance. Applications like video editing, streaming and recording are not what we would call a strong suit for the average SSD, due to their high mix of random write transactions. We should also note that it's not so much a weakness of the memory itself, but rather the interface and control algorithms that deal with inherent erase block latency of MLC NAND flash. SSD manufacturers are getting better at this, but still today, especially with consumer grade SSDs, spinning drives have the edge with respect to some write intensive applications over MLC-based Flash drives, but not as much over SLC-type SSDs.
Or so it would seem if you look at the current offerings from other manufacturers. However, it appears Intel has found a way around this bottleneck.
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The Apex Series SSD can't quite keep pace with OCZ's older SLC-based offering here, nor can it come close to Intel's X25-M. However, it does do well against the other MLC-based drives and the 10,000 RPM Velociraptor.
