OCZ Vertex 4 128GB 2.5" SATA III Solid State Drive (SSD) $127.99 at newegg $119.99 at Tigerdirect

Quote from ima49311 : ok.. so i see that.. what does that mean? im not all that familiar with ssd tech but i know sync is better than async... so where does MLC Toggle NAND fit into that? thanks in advance!

From tomshardware.com
>>
At a given capacity, performance breaks down based on memory type, and this is their order of performance, from highest to lowest.

1. SandForce controller with Toggle DDR NAND (Mushkin Chronos Deluxe, Patriot Wildfire, OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS, Kingston HyperX 3K, OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G)

2. SandForce controller with Synchronous ONFi NAND (OCZ Vertex 3, Corsair Force GT, Kingston HyperX, Intel SSD 520)

3. SandForce controller with Asynchronous ONFi NAND (OCZ Agility 3, Corsair Force 3, Mushkin Chronos, Patriot Pyro, OWC Mercury Electra 6G)

<<

Good,thanks !OP

hmm why would anyone want to buy this one when the Crucial M4 is also available for a cheap price?

Some have theorized that OCZ drives fail more often due to poor quality control or using lower binned NAND. OCZ was caught swapping out their drives with different less expensive NAND, so it wouldn't surprise me -- Anandtech eventually exposed this practice. The mistrust remains for me even after OCZ's promise to keep more true to their original specs.

Therefore, when Sandforce started producing buggy controllers, OCZ got the brunt of the ire simply due to the amount of mistrust already out there. Currently all the Sandforce bugs have been rectified, though you can still BSOD your Sandforce SSD by sleeping or hibernating. I wouldn't touch a Sandforce drive even if given out for free.

As for the Vertex 4, I currently don't trust OCZ for quietly rebranding a major piece of silicon from Marvell with their own Indilinx name brand. In my opinion, OCZ way crossed the line of OEM name branding into entirely new shaky territory.

I would rather buy a Marvell controller that doesn't use tricks like pre-fetch caching to make their drive appear faster than their competitors, either the Corsair Performance Pro or Plextor M3 or even Crucial M4 is a better bet. Who knows what type of problems OCZ's "Indilinx Infused" drives will bring. Competition is a wonderful thing, and Corsair and Plextor and Crucial are more trustworthy for my hard-earned dollars.

Quote from 575rider : Have fun with that OCZ customer service.

I had to RMA an Agility 2 drive, and the customer service was fine. Emailed them, they sent me an RMA number, mailed the drive, got another back in like a week. I keep hearing horror stories, maybe I got lucky?

Quote from jdkcc : MLC Toggle NAND see wiki "file1120128ssdc.jpg" file Look for vertex 4 column and above "5 years warranty"

That looks to be incorrect. Multiple sources say it is 25nm Intel Sync MLC, not toggle.

http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_...ssd_review
http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz...d-review/2

Quote from Visualize : That looks to be incorrect. Multiple sources say it is 25nm Intel Sync MLC, not toggle. http://www.storagereview.com/ocz_...ssd_review http://www.guru3d.com/article/ocz...d-review/2

you are right.

At their web site, it showed "2Xnm Synchronous Multi-Level Cell (MLC)"

Quote from magicfame : Quote from dealmeister3000 : It's not a question of "failing." It's a question of the device not working out of the box and causing BSOD. My OCZ Solid 3 that I jumped on on another deal still causes problems for my computer when it is woken up from sleep. As long as my computer never sleeps... no problems. controller related... update firmware will usually solve the problem for sandforce

I've done three SSD firmware updates and one motherboard firmware update... I and numerous other people still have a problem.

Quote from The_Doug : Actually, it is a question of "failing" like Sandforce drives.

Failing to me indicates the item in question worked as advertised when purchased and then over time started having problems. The OCZ drives have problems straight from the manufacturer. RMAs won't save you either. If the OCZ drive is incompatible with your motherboard you're screwed.

Quote from croushore : Currently all the Sandforce bugs have been rectified, though you can still BSOD your Sandforce SSD by sleeping or hibernating. I wouldn't touch a Sandforce drive even if given out for free.

I wouldn't consider that "rectified." But I hear ya'. No OCZ for me ever again.

Quote from dealmeister3000 : Failing to me indicates... [firmware updates fixed it unless you hibernate so it's recitified] ...I wouldn't consider that "rectified." But I hear ya'. No OCZ for me ever again.

Back to OCZ and "failing". I feel that "failing" is that if the drive causes crashing or data loss in the first 3 years or so, so in that respect we can all agree that OCZ's first SATA III line using Sandforce Gen 2 had high failure rates/low reliability.

That's a result of OCZ firmware AND Sandforce controllers. Now OCZ is using a similar Marvell controller to the very reliable Crucial M4. So you still have to trust OCZ's firmware and what you can take from the Vertex 4 is that they have completely abandoned the unreliable Vertex 3/Agility 3, etc., line of firmware. So what they have no is something completely different so it might be very reliable...or unreliable.

Anyhow, I can't say, "No OCZ for me ever again." Not when it's clear they're trying very hard to improve their products. That's like saying, "No Fords for me ever again" back in 2000. Now I won't be the first to go out and buy an OCZ product. But if the reliability data, performance, and price are right, I'll get one down the line sometime.

Sadface, wish it had YMMV in the title, this code is tied to certain email addresses so it won't work for everyone.

Quote : tigerdirect Price: $149.99 Less Rebate: - $20.00 Ends 05/08/2012. Final Price: $129.99*After Rebate

---
update
Price:
$139.99
Less Rebate:
- $20.00Ends 05/08/2012. See Terms. Restrictions Apply. NOTICE: Limit (1) ONE rebate per person, billing address, company, or household
Final Price:
$119.99*After Rebate