AkG
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 24, 2007
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Conclusion
OCZ’s RevoDrive series has a long and storied history, one which we have come to both appreciate and respect. Over the years these drives consistently burst onto the scene like a thunderclap on a bright clear day, offering cutting-edge performance which was head and shoulders above alternatives. Now under the tutelage of Toshiba, OCZ has evolved both the RevoDrive’s name and its target market. While we’re mostly ambivalent to the new RD-series branding, there’s a certain duality to this new RD400 which longtime RevoDrive fans will need time to digest.
The RevoDrives of yesteryear were known for four things: a large footprint, stupidly fast performance, guzzling power and a spectacularly high price point. While most enthusiasts would look at those elements and scream “hell yeah!” regardless of any negative consequences, some of them just aren’t realistic in today’s market. High power consumption is a definite no-no and the constant miniaturization of components has led to ultra powerful systems fitting into increasingly limited spaces.
With all of that in mind, Toshiba / OCZ have designed the RD400 for today’s expectations rather than yesterday’s perceived needs. It isn’t the fastest drive on the market but it is efficient, priced within the realm of sanity and, due to a condensed M.2 form factor it is infinitely more compact than previous iterations. Interestingly, every one of those design decisions has a cascading effect upon the next and that’s perhaps the most important aspect of the RD400; it redefines our expectations in both positive and negative ways.
There’s absolutely no denying the fact that the Toshiba / OCZ collaboration is starting to bear some high performance fruit. The RD400 is among the fastest SSD’s we’ve tested to date. Much of that bandwidth has been granted by NVMe which is doing an extremely good job in convincing us that SATA’s days may just be numbered. There’s certainly nothing to complain about for many enthusiasts since the RD400 can achieve face-warping performance in nearly every one of their most-used tasks. Game boot times, transfers of larger files and generalized storage system access are delivered at a light speed pace from a drive that offers more capacity at a lower price than any of its closest competitors.
Unfortunately there’s a cost to a smaller form factor, a cost which strikes at the very heart of OCZ’s RevoDrive heritage. While the RD400 costs hundreds less than its predecessor, in some workstation-style situations or when copying large amounts of smaller files it can’t muster the strength to beat it, or Intel’s 750 series or G.Skill’s Phoenix Blade for that matter. We won’t mince words and state simply that given this series’ past, the results came as something of an unwelcome shock.
This situation forces us into a tough question: is the RD400 a RevoDrive as we’ve come to know it or something else entirely? The answer to that is a simple “no, it’s something else”. Whereas previous models could pull double duty in both workstation and gaming environments, this permutation feels more at home in the latter situation. In many ways the RD400 is representative of the “new RevoDrive” and it could also be a stepping stone towards a broader product offering that will include options more suitable for workstation environments.
While the RD400 does not carry on every RevoDrive tradition, this particular drive may actually end up being stronger by narrowing its focus. Instead of trying to engineer the ultimate high performance solution in every situation, Toshiba / OCZ have delivered an extremely fast yet relatively affordable M.2 and PCI-E SSD that has its metrics well tuned for gamers and enthusiasts.
<div align="center">
<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/RD400/dam_good.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
Conclusion
OCZ’s RevoDrive series has a long and storied history, one which we have come to both appreciate and respect. Over the years these drives consistently burst onto the scene like a thunderclap on a bright clear day, offering cutting-edge performance which was head and shoulders above alternatives. Now under the tutelage of Toshiba, OCZ has evolved both the RevoDrive’s name and its target market. While we’re mostly ambivalent to the new RD-series branding, there’s a certain duality to this new RD400 which longtime RevoDrive fans will need time to digest.
The RevoDrives of yesteryear were known for four things: a large footprint, stupidly fast performance, guzzling power and a spectacularly high price point. While most enthusiasts would look at those elements and scream “hell yeah!” regardless of any negative consequences, some of them just aren’t realistic in today’s market. High power consumption is a definite no-no and the constant miniaturization of components has led to ultra powerful systems fitting into increasingly limited spaces.
With all of that in mind, Toshiba / OCZ have designed the RD400 for today’s expectations rather than yesterday’s perceived needs. It isn’t the fastest drive on the market but it is efficient, priced within the realm of sanity and, due to a condensed M.2 form factor it is infinitely more compact than previous iterations. Interestingly, every one of those design decisions has a cascading effect upon the next and that’s perhaps the most important aspect of the RD400; it redefines our expectations in both positive and negative ways.
There’s absolutely no denying the fact that the Toshiba / OCZ collaboration is starting to bear some high performance fruit. The RD400 is among the fastest SSD’s we’ve tested to date. Much of that bandwidth has been granted by NVMe which is doing an extremely good job in convincing us that SATA’s days may just be numbered. There’s certainly nothing to complain about for many enthusiasts since the RD400 can achieve face-warping performance in nearly every one of their most-used tasks. Game boot times, transfers of larger files and generalized storage system access are delivered at a light speed pace from a drive that offers more capacity at a lower price than any of its closest competitors.
Unfortunately there’s a cost to a smaller form factor, a cost which strikes at the very heart of OCZ’s RevoDrive heritage. While the RD400 costs hundreds less than its predecessor, in some workstation-style situations or when copying large amounts of smaller files it can’t muster the strength to beat it, or Intel’s 750 series or G.Skill’s Phoenix Blade for that matter. We won’t mince words and state simply that given this series’ past, the results came as something of an unwelcome shock.
This situation forces us into a tough question: is the RD400 a RevoDrive as we’ve come to know it or something else entirely? The answer to that is a simple “no, it’s something else”. Whereas previous models could pull double duty in both workstation and gaming environments, this permutation feels more at home in the latter situation. In many ways the RD400 is representative of the “new RevoDrive” and it could also be a stepping stone towards a broader product offering that will include options more suitable for workstation environments.
While the RD400 does not carry on every RevoDrive tradition, this particular drive may actually end up being stronger by narrowing its focus. Instead of trying to engineer the ultimate high performance solution in every situation, Toshiba / OCZ have delivered an extremely fast yet relatively affordable M.2 and PCI-E SSD that has its metrics well tuned for gamers and enthusiasts.
<div align="center">
<img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/RD400/dam_good.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>
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