OCZ Vector 150 SSD Review – Rattling The 120GB Competition

When it comes to solid-state drives, OCZ needs no introduction. The manufacturer has been around long before SSDs first entered the consumer market, and helped push them towards the performance and affordability standards of today. Out of the original bunch of companies, OCZ is one of the very few remaining that still holds a sizeable share in the SSD market.

One of the main reasons for that is affordability. As a person who has owned every single Vertex series SSD, not one has failed yet. From the original Vertex to the Vertex 4, all of them are still running in prime condition. Of course this is not the case for all, especially select Vertex 2 users. OCZ has had a rough history with reliability, but over the years their SSDs have gotten better at addressing problems and is perhaps the reason why their newest offering specifically highlights this area.

As the holiday shopping season approaches we now look at the latest member in the Vector series; the 120GB OCZ Vector 150. Coming in 120GB, 240GB, and 480GB capacities respectively, the Vector 150 closely follows the trend of its predecessors by offering great performance at a reasonable price. While the Vertex line has traditionally been marketed towards budget consumers, the Vector family was created for hardcore enthusiasts. While not a massive upgrade from the original Vector, we will see if the Vector 150 has enough going for it to warrant an upgrade and if it can hold up to enthusiast standards.

FEATURES AND SPECIFICATIONS

The main area of interest lies in the different capacities. All three have varying performance values, with the smallest 120GB model being the weakest of the three, and the 240GB effectively becoming the best value as it matches the 480GB very closely.  A review of the OCZ Vector 150 240GB SSD was concurrently conducted on our other site, The SSD Review.

We can see just how far OCZ has come as the Vector 150 is rated for a five-year warranty cycle versus just the three of the Vertex 450 – effectively becoming a reasonable enterprise solid-state drive. The one constant of OCZ success that has remained in recent years is the Indy Barefoot.

Becoming more and more cost effective, Toshiba’s MLC has dropped down to a 19nm process, while the Barefoot Indilinx FPU has reached its third iteration. On first glance there is seemingly little difference between the three models, especially the Vector 150 and original Vector.