OCZ Summit 120GB SSD Review

Interior Impressions

Before we continue: Please remember that opening any SSD will effectively void your warranty.


While we have gotten used to the layout of Indilinx’s drives, this Samsung one isn't much different. In grand total you have: 16 flash chips, one RAM chip and one Samsung controller chip.

Except for the fact that the NAND chip layout may not be exactly the same as an Indilinx, the overall appearance is still dictated by logic for both companies. At the top of the PCB you have the controller and ram chips and then rows of NAND chips. In fact, the only real difference is unlike Indilinx SSDs which have two rows of four chips on each side of the PCB, the Summit has two rows of three on the “top” side and then on the backside a small row of two more chips in between the larger double row of 4 chips each. It is interesting to see the differing layouts and the different way both companies arrive at the same conclusion (or total number of parts), but to be honest we prefer the cleaner look of the Indilinx drives as this one looks slightly more cluttered.


The I/O controller chip is of course none other than the Samsung S3C29RBB01-YK40. As expected, this is the exact same controller which graces the Corsair P series of SSDs. As noted in that previous review, the S3C29RBB01-YK40 is a 32bit ARM 9 microcontroller and is rated for speeds of 220MB/Sec read and 200MB/s writes. On paper this makes it SLIGHTLY slower in reads but slightly faster in writes than the Indilinx Barefoot controller with its 230 / 190 rating. While Samsung is not exactly open about the architecture used, it is our understanding this controller has 8 channels (compared to the 4 channel Indilinx Barefoot controller).


The RAM which graces this board is also made by Samsung. To be specific this is a single 128MB Mobile DDR SDRAM model number K4X1G323P0-8GC6. This 90-FBGA ram chip is rated to run at 1.8v CL3 and is rated for an operating temperature range of -25°C to 85°C (or what Samsung calls Extended, Low, PASR & TCSR. Or as is becoming a regular theme…it’s a more robust as well as bigger chip than is found in Indilinx SSDs.


Unlike the usual K9HCG08U1M we find in Indlinx-based drives the MLC NAND chips used in the Summit are Samsung K9HCGZ8U5M-SCK0 units. Using the online Samsung model decoder we can see these chips are 48 pin MLC Quad Die Package, 1st generation lead free & Halogen Free (ROHS compliant), 2.7V ~ 3.6V, chips which operate with Quad nCE (Quad Chip Enable control) & Quad R/nB (QuadReady/Busy Output) and customer bad block special handling. This model is rated at a density of 64Gbits or 8GB per chip and an operating temperature range of 0° to 70°C.

Above the model number we can see these were made in the 7th week of 2009 for the front 6 chips but it was 10th week 2009 for the back 10 chips. In a nut shell the only difference between these chips and the K9HCG08U1Ms is that the “Z” in the model name means they have specifically designed for SSD and do not come with the typical “Normal (x8)” designation. The other difference is the QUAD (the “5” in the model number) vs. DUAL NCE & R/nb (the “1” in their model) capabilities of the Indilinx SSD chips. When you think about it, it is not surprising that that Samsung uses enhanced (or at the very least custom model) chips for their drives as that is one of the perks of being the supplier of NAND chips to darn near ALL SSD builders!