OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD Review Comment Thread

[AkG]

After recently testing the Falcon we knew what to expect from this wonderful piece of kit...or at least we thought we did! What really separates this from other Indilinx SSDs out there is not the parts (which are same) but the customer support OCZ gives. As you will see, it is this massive amount of support which separates the best of the best from the "merely" exceptional. In the end the OCZ Vertex makes one hell of an argument for buying it over the others.

To read our review of the Vertex Click here: OCZ Vertex

After you have read our review of the Vertex come back here and tell us if you agree or disagree with our thinking... and why!

Hope you enjoy it!
AkG

[Jackquelegs]

Nicely reviewed AkG.
Personally I would buy Vertex over the Falcon just for the sheer support of OCZforums. Most of the tweaks for my last Falcon were found on OCZ

IIRC, the Vertex's firmware flash wipes everything on the drive, is it true?

[AkG]

With most firmware updates yes it does wipe it clean. BUT going from 1.1 to 1.3 does not do this w/ the vertex. Its not a major update (takes about 2 seconds for it to complete) and as such doesn't do a full erase first, it just updates / patches a few sectors of the firmware area. Of course data corruption can occur like on any drive but it is unlikely.

[JMCD]

Originally Posted by AkG

With most firmware updates yes it does wipe it clean. BUT going from 1.1 to 1.3 does not do this w/ the vertex. Its not a major update (takes about 2 seconds for it to complete) and as such doesn't do a full erase first, it just updates / patches a few sectors of the firmware area. Of course data corruption can occur like on any drive but it is unlikely.

Yeah, I did this and nothing happened. It is a good idea to back up though.

[bojangles]

After reading that the firmware updatae could take a while I guess I would suggest a UPS be used just to make sure. Bricked drives are soon-to-be paper weights.

The debate of whether to pick a OCZ over a G.Skill is very questionable (meaning I'm with AkG here). It's all dependant on the person. I for one like extra service than cost, hence why I'll usually choose XFX or EVGA for GPUs.

That was a great review AkG. Very detailed and had a lot of answers that I had questions to. Thanks!

[JimboToronto]

Originally Posted by AkG

With most firmware updates yes it does wipe it clean. BUT going from 1.1 to 1.3 does not do this w/ the vertex. Its not a major update (takes about 2 seconds for it to complete) and as such doesn't do a full erase first, it just updates / patches a few sectors of the firmware area. Of course data corruption can occur like on any drive but it is unlikely.

I for one like the fact that a reflash does a full erase and starts the SSD off in brand new condition.

I was about to reflash my 120GB Vertex SSDs from v1.1 to v1.3 after extensive testing and benchmarking. I guess I'd better head over to the OCZ forums to learn more. Do I have to go all the way back to 1275 or can I simply reflash v1.1 to clear the NAND and then do the incremental upgrade to v1.3?