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OCZ Core Series 64GB SSD Review

4,484 2,952 August 21, 2008 at 09:25 AM in Review
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Last Edited by nimaim August 31, 2008 at 05:14 AM
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The rapid advancement of technology has lead the way to breakthrough innovations in the design of processors, memory, video cards, and more. Not only are these components now significantly faster and more efficient, but they are easily affordable and becoming mainstream. However, one component still relatively untouched is the hard drive; though different configurations and platter sizes exist and continue to develop, the underlying magnetic recording techniques remain the same. This presents a serious bottleneck in today's systems; with very fast processors and memory, conventional hard drives are limiting data transfers, especially in notebooks. As a result, manufacturers have recently released a new class of drives, known as solid state drives (SSDs).

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nimaim
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Joined Jul 2007
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Qaid
08-22-2008 at 11:32 AM.
08-22-2008 at 11:32 AM.
$240? really? Something doesn't seem right, it seems too......inexpensive
Say I purchased the Lenovo S10 that hit frontpage, could I take out the HD and upgrade to SSD easily? or how does that work, I dunno

thanks for the review
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Joined May 2006
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Original Poster
nimaim
08-22-2008 at 12:25 PM.
08-22-2008 at 12:25 PM.
Quote from Qaid :
$240? really? Something doesn't seem right, it seems too......inexpensive
Say I purchased the Lenovo S10 that hit frontpage, could I take out the HD and upgrade to SSD easily? or how does that work, I dunno

thanks for the review
Believe it or not, it's even slightly less at Newegg [newegg.com] now: about $227 shipped. It is definitely quite inexpensive compared to other SSDs, but it is also one of the poor performers. Most likely, it's because it uses MLC (multi-level cell) flash memory, which is cheaper, but slower. The faster and more efficient ones you see likely use SLC (single level cell) flash memory, but are much more expensive. Super Talent has a great article on the differences between the two here [supertalent.com]. Regardless, in most instances, the most important thing is read speeds since you won't be writing much to the SSD with its very limited capacity, and the OCZ really shines there.

About upgradability, most ultra-portables, including the S10, do not use conventional 2.5" SATA hard drives, but rather 1.8" drives so no, this would not work. It is definitely worth it if you need the speed and have a 2.5" SATA compatible notebook though.
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Last edited by nimaim August 22, 2008 at 12:36 PM.
Joined Jul 2006
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> bubble2 51,186 Posts
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dzap
08-22-2008 at 05:18 PM.
08-22-2008 at 05:18 PM.
Oh wow..you guys are starting to do tech reviews too on your blog?!?! bounce Soon enough I won't need engadget anymore Smilie Looks like a good review Thumbup
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elbowglue
08-22-2008 at 10:08 PM.
08-22-2008 at 10:08 PM.
OMG thumbs down. Wait for OCZ v2 when they fix the farkin bugs

Read the support forums for some of the pain associated with the OCZ core:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com...y.php?f=88

This post says it right: OCZ core version 1 was a beta test. Version 2 might be the real deal:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com...hp?t=41476

Dont touch this CRAP WARE (OCZ CORE Version 1)

I would be very angry if anyone bought a OCZ core version 1 from the OP's review! =( I am very very scared of this product. OCZ support also seems to blame it on the end user not the product!!
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Last edited by elbowglue August 22, 2008 at 11:04 PM.
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AN4THEMA
08-22-2008 at 10:42 PM.
08-22-2008 at 10:42 PM.
woo thanks ive been interested in these guess i will wait a bit
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nimaim
08-23-2008 at 06:59 AM.
08-23-2008 at 06:59 AM.
Quote from elbowglue :
OMG thumbs down. Wait for OCZ v2 when they fix the farkin bugs

Read the support forums for some of the pain associated with the OCZ core:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com...y.php?f=88

This post says it right: OCZ core version 1 was a beta test. Version 2 might be the real deal:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com...hp?t=41476

Dont touch this CRAP WARE (OCZ CORE Version 1)

I would be very angry if anyone bought a OCZ core version 1 from the OP's review! =( I am very very scared of this product. OCZ support also seems to blame it on the end user not the product!!
I wouldn't call it crapware by any means. Sure it is buggy, but I'm sure other SSDs are as well. They will continue to improve and play better with Vista down the road. It's not the fastest drive on the market, but it should be a heavy upgrade over a large majority of standard 2.5" SATA drives and cost significantly less than other SSDs. I'm sure OCZ is not the only manufacturer with future revisions / versions planned but yes, I would probably wait for it to release before purchasing an SSD.
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sandman9601
08-24-2008 at 12:19 PM.
08-24-2008 at 12:19 PM.
At IDF, intel announced new SSD's that I'm keeping my eye on. They include both SLC and MLC units. No conclusive benchmarks were shown, but qualitative graphs showed that theirs will be a lot faster than "the competitors" (whomever they happened to be).

What's interesting is that someone took a sample apart and found a 16MB dram chip. I've heard that OCZ SSD's don't have a cache. Assuming the intel unit was using this as cache, that could be a major plus for their unit. A cache should effectively hide the write latencies of these things. So no more stuttering.
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chikycin
08-24-2008 at 02:40 PM.
08-24-2008 at 02:40 PM.
Quote from nimaim :
<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://blog.slickdeals.net/index.php/2008/08/21/ocz-core-series-64gb-ssd-review/"><img class="attachment wp-att-410 centered aligncenter" src="http://blog.slickdeals.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/core_ssd_64gb.jpg" alt="" width="430" height="350" /></a></p>
The rapid advancement of technology has lead the way to breakthrough innovations in the design of processors, memory, video cards, and more. Not only are these components now significantly faster and more efficient, but they are easily affordable and becoming mainstream. However, one component still relatively untouched is the hard drive; though different configurations and platter sizes exist and continue to develop, the underlying magnetic recording techniques remain the same. This presents a serious bottleneck in today's systems; with very fast processors and memory, conventional hard drives are limiting data transfers, especially in notebooks. As a result, manufacturers have recently released a new class of drives, known as solid state drives (SSDs).

(more...)
thas crazy...240$ is ALOT!!!
anyways i'm happy with my current system..no need for a new one.
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hornygoatweed
08-29-2008 at 09:14 AM.
08-29-2008 at 09:14 AM.
Quote from sandman9601 :
At IDF, intel announced new SSD's that I'm keeping my eye on. They include both SLC and MLC units. No conclusive benchmarks were shown, but qualitative graphs showed that theirs will be a lot faster than "the competitors" (whomever they happened to be).

What's interesting is that someone took a sample apart and found a 16MB dram chip. I've heard that OCZ SSD's don't have a cache. Assuming the intel unit was using this as cache, that could be a major plus for their unit. A cache should effectively hide the write latencies of these things. So no more stuttering.
Did they also find a battery in there? What happend when the power goes out and there is still stuff to write in the cache? Or is it for read operations only, but that wouldn't make any sense as SSDs are pretty decent at read as it is.
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aceDevil
08-29-2008 at 10:36 AM.
08-29-2008 at 10:36 AM.
Pretty good review, although I would have liked to see a comparison with the Velociraptor, since they are in the same price range.
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Original Poster
nimaim
08-29-2008 at 11:01 AM.
08-29-2008 at 11:01 AM.
Quote from aceDevil :
Pretty good review, although I would have liked to see a comparison with the Velociraptor, since they are in the same price range.
Yep, it's unfortunate we could not get our hands on a Velociraptor but if you look around the web, you can find many benchmarks and compare them to that of the SSD.
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Last edited by nimaim August 29, 2008 at 12:42 PM.
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webwidejosh
08-29-2008 at 01:50 PM.
08-29-2008 at 01:50 PM.
Quote from nimaim :
The drive comes in the standard 2.5″ form factor and has standard SATA connectors. Like standard 2.5″ SATA hard drives, just plug in the SATA power and data connector and it is ready to go. Compared to a standard 2.5″ SATA hard drive, it is a few centimeters thicker, but much lighter and should still fit in any notebook that supports SATA drives without any problems. The same goes for PCs, but as mentioned above, a 2.5″ to 3.5″ bracket is needed, and must be purchased separately.
Who has a notebook that can contain another few centimeter thicker drive?
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Original Poster
nimaim
08-29-2008 at 03:28 PM.
08-29-2008 at 03:28 PM.
Quote from webwidejosh :
Who has a notebook that can contain another few centimeter thicker drive?
It fits perfectly fine ... I recently tried it with an XPS M1330. It is a very tiny bit thicker and unnoticeable unless it is finely measured.
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jskudera
08-30-2008 at 05:58 AM.
08-30-2008 at 05:58 AM.
I hate to change the subject on this thread, but since the velociraptor is being talked about - I keep seeing 2.5" in a 3.5" mounting frame. Am I able to remove the mounting frame and then install the 2.5" into my notebook?
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