Last year OCZ Technology acquired SSD controller maker Indilinx. Some months later the company launched its first post-acquisition SSD based on Indilinx silicon, the Octane series. Currently OCZ is offering the Vertex 4, an SSD based on its Indilinx Everest 2 silicon.

With the Vertex 4, OCZ is releasing an SSD without a SandForce controller inside, unveiling that the future for the company is Indilinx.

We expect to se the Vertex 4 to perform better than the OCtane. Although they both use 25nm IMFT MLC NAND, their firmware is different, with minimal shared code between the two series. We also expect the Vertex 4 to offer high random write performance regardless of the nature of the data (compressible or incompressible), as the company promises.

The Vertex 4 is available in capacities of 128GB, 256GB and 512GB. MSRP is competitive with other 6Gbps drives on the market today. You'll have to spend $130 for the 128GB version, $220 for 256GB and $580 for 512GB.

OCZ is also offering an 64GB version of the drive that can be used as a cache drive along with your HDD. This one retails online for $80.

The Vertex 4 series is backed by a 5-year warranty.

We have in our labs the Vertex 4 SSD 128GB (#VTX4-25SAT3-128G), which promises to offer sequential reading / writing speeds of up to 550MB/s / 420MB/s, along with impressive random read/write performance, as you see in the following table.

Specifications
Performance	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB
Sequential Reads1	460 MB/s	550 MB/s	550 MB/s	550 MB/s
Sequential Writes1	220 MB/s	420 MB/s	465 MB/s	475 MB/s
Random 4k Read IOPS2	70,000 IOPS	90,000 IOPS	90,000 IOPS	95,000 IOPS
Random 4k Write IOPS2	50,000 IOPS	85,000 IOPS	85,000 IOPS	85,000 IOPS
Maximum IOPS3	85,000 IOPS	120,000 IOPS	120,000 IOPS	120,000 IOPS

1. Maximum sequential speeds are determined using ATTO, 2. Small file I/O performance is measured using IOMeter 2010 3. Maximum I/O performance is measured using IOMeter 2010, 512 bytes Random Current performance specs reflect update to firmware v1.4

Physical
Usable Capacities (IDEMA)	64GB, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
NAND Components	2Xnm Synchronous Multi-Level Cell (MLC)
Interface	SATA III / 6Gbps (backwards compatible with SATA II / 3Gbps)
Form Factor	2.5 Inch
NAND Controller	Indilinx Everest 2
DRAM Cache	Up to 1GB
Dimensions (L x W x H)	99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3 mm

Reliability/Protection
MTBF	2 million hours
Data Path Protection	ECC corrects up to 128 random bits/1KB
Data Encryption	256-bit AES-compliant, ATA Security Mode Features
Product Health Monitoring	Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) Support

Environmental
Power Consumption	Idle: 1.3 W    Active: 2.5 W
Operating Temperature	0°C ~ 70°C
Ambient Temperature	0°C ~ 55°C
Storage Temperature	-45°C ~ 85°C
Shock Resistance	1500G

Compatibility
Serial ATA (SATA)	Fully compliant with Serial ATA International Organization: Serial ATA Revision 3.0. Fully compliant with ATA/ATAPI-8 Standard Native Command Queuing (NCQ)
Operating System	Windows XP 32-bit /64-bit; Windows Vista 32-bit / 64-bit; Windows 7 32-bit / 64-bit; Linux; Mac OS X

Additional Features
Performance Optimization	TRIM (requires OS support), dynamic and static wear-leveling, background garbage collection, Indilinx nDurance 2.0 Technology to extend SSD lifespan
Other Performance Features	Ndurance 2.0 Technology (Reduced Write Amplification without Compression, Advanced Multi-Level ECC, Adaptive NAND Flash Management)
Service & Support	5-Year Warranty, Toll-Free Tech Support, 24 Hour Forum Support

	64 GB	128 GB	256 GB	512 GB
Part Number	VTX4-25SAT3-64G	VTX4-25SAT3-128G	VTX4-25SAT3-256G	VTX4-25SAT3-512G