OCZ Summit 120GB SSD Review

Manufacturer Page: OCZ Summit Series SATA II 2.5" SSD
Part Number: OCZSSD2-1SUM120G
TechWiki Info: OCZ Summit Features, Specs, Images
Price: Click Here to Check Prices
Warranty: 3 years



In the past months of SSD reviewing, we have come across quite a few great products, a fair share of good units and some that fell far below our expectations. While we have reviewed quite a few OCZ drives in the past, it seems that every time we turn around, they have a new product coming onto the market. If anything, this proves that among all manufacturers there are only a few that are blessed with such an extensive lineup. Today we look at another one of their contenders: the OCZ Summit 120GB drive.

Unlike the other OCZ drives we have reviewed in the past this unit is not powered by JMicron, nor Indilinx but by the granddaddy of them all: Samsung. In fact, this drive bears a startling resemblance to the recently reviewed Corsair P series SSD that received some high praise from us. Corsair's drive proved to be quite good albeit with some flusteringly low synthetic benchmarks numbers but OCZ has been known to tweak SSDs for increased performance so we wouldn't be surprised it happens here again.

OCZ really needs no introduction as they are a household name to everyone from enthusiasts to first-time PC builders. They also have what happens to be one of the best support forums out there when it comes to Solid State Drives. Similarly, Samsung really needs no introduction as they have been producing the SSDs for all the big brand name laptop manufacturers since SSDs were first introduced.

The OCZ Summit 128GB has been out for a while now and it is widely available from e-tailers and retailers throughout the country who stock top tier kit like OCZ drives. Since it has been out for a while, the price it can now be had for is about $349CAD which is very decent indeed.

Honestly, the biggest question is whether OCZ has done anything to the firmware of the drive to improve performance above and beyond that of Corsair's drive. Have they tweaked it’s performance envelope to be even better; or is simply a Samsung rebadged with no really outstanding reasons to choose it over the Corsair beside price differences? How does it stack up against its brethren like the Vertex? That is a bunch of questions to answer so let’s get started and see what we can find out!