OCZ Summit 120GB SSD Review

Firmware & General Support

Unfortunately, when it comes to Firmware support, this in one area where the Summit falls a bit flat. Since it ships with the older 1801 firmware, it is now at least one revision out of date and from all reports ,Samsung branded SSDs are shipping with firmware 1901 on them….making the Summit's firmware TWO revisions old. This is a lifetime in SSDs and really does hobble this drive.

The biggest thing conspicuous by its absence is Idle Time Garbage Collection which was introduced just ONE revision later in 18C1. In the recently reviewed Corsair P64 review we discussed exactly what ITGC was and in stead of going into great detail lets make it very simple: by not having ITGC the OCZ Summit WILL get slower and slower as time goes by. It cannot clean itself up like a Vertex (via Nand Launderer or wiper.exe) nor can it even compete in the long term against the P64 which HAS ITGC. ITGC is a big deal when your product does not have it and it is very disappointing that OCZ has let this situation get as bad as it now is.


With all that being said it is NOT OCZ’s fault, rather the blame resides solely on Samsung’s shoulders. Samsung can mouth all the right words about wanting to court the enthusiast market but the truth of the matter is they have a long history of NOT allowing end user firmware flashing. This travesty has continued to the point where according to OCZ, they have a firmware flasher but have been told they CANNOT release it to the public. This right here is why OCZ is in such a tough spot.

However, OCZ have stated that anyone who wants their firmware updated just needs to send their drive in and the update will be done for free (you just pay shipping). This may not be an optimal solution but it is better than nothings AND it does show how committed OCZ is to their customers.

There is some good news in all this mess in that ALL Summit drives shipped from OCZ after July 1 2009 will come with the 18C1 firmware. However, don't expect to get one without doing your homework as even ours (which came from OCZ LONG after the supposed July 1 date) did NOT come with it and we would not be surprised if it takes months for distributors to sell off the old stock.

The other good news is that OCZ has stated they are working hard to get the end user firmware flasher released to the general public and we would not be surprised if this situation resolves itself around the same time as Windows 7 and TRIM support for Samsung drives becomes available. We say this because Corsair is in a similar boat (albeit they have a newer firmware on their shipped drives) and Samsung has made indications to both companies that they WILL release a firmware flasher. In the long run, an extra month or three is not a bad thing but by the same token I truly hope that OCZ has learned their lesson and give Samsung drives a wide berth from now on unless Samsung can prove they can back up their promises. This problem is solely Samsung's doing and with newer hungrier companies like Indilinx out there we truly hope the Samsung 800lb Gorilla either learns its lesson for future releases OR approaches their OEM business with a more pro-consumer attitude.