Manufacture Page: Vertex
Part Number: 120GB- OCZSSD2-1VTXEX120G
TechWiki Info: Vertex - Features, Specs, Images, Videos, and Reviews - TechWiki
Price: Click Here to Check Prices
Warranty: 3 years


Recently we had the pleasure to review the G.Skill Falcon SSD and walked away pretty impressed. By what some would call a cruel twist of fate, we reviewed the last generation of drives by G.Skill (the Titan) and its OCZ counterpart (the OCZ Apex) in a one-two fashion. As with most things in life, the truth is stranger than fiction as less than a week after receiving the Falcon SSD, OCZ approached us to review their Vertex. Since we so thoroughly enjoyed testing and using the Falcon, we decided that the fates had preordained this and gladly accepted the offer.

In the last go around, we found both the Titan and Apex drives to be vastly improved upon the previous generation but still hobbled by J-Micron controllers. In this generation neither the Falcon nor Vertex drive suffer from that hobbled controller and are supposed to make for a very persuasive argument against an Intel X-25M. As we mentioned in the Falcon review the original Vertex series did ship with an earlier version of Indilinx DX110 controller in this particular drive, this may be the same as saying an i7 920 D0 is the same as a i7 920 C0/C1 stepping. Honestly, it may just be a big enough a difference to differentiate them come crunch time. Of course, we also mused that OCZ probably had also moved over to the newer revision of the Indilinx controller and we will be paying close attention to this and any other developments which pop up.

To keep things as up to date as possible, the very first thing we will do is make sure this Vertex is running the newer 1.3 firmware and not an earlier version. By the same token we will not be running any later beta firmware and will stick to “official firmware”. The Vertex goes for about $393 and is available in retailers and e-tailers alike, though we have seen it on sale for less recently. As with the last OCZ drive we reviewed, the biggest question does concern Value. We already know how good the Indilinx controller is and we know that in theory the Vertex 120 should perform a lot like the Falcon as the 1.3 firmware revision is more about bug fixes rather than performance enhancements. Will this OCZ Vertex meet and exceed our expectations or will it be hard to justify going with the original when other competition’s versions of basically the same SSD are a better value? We will endeavor to do our best to answer these and many other questions in this review.