The Toshiba OCZ VX500 (256GB, 512GB, 1024GB) SSD Review
by Billy Tallis on September 13, 2016 9:00 AM ESTMixed Random Read/Write Performance
The mixed random I/O benchmark starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. The queue depth is 3 for the entire test and each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. As with the pure random write test, this test is restricted to a 16GB span of the drive, which is empty save for the 16GB test file.
The OCZ VX500 delivers slightly better mixed random I/O performance than the Vector 180, but both are still about average for mainstream drives and significantly behind the top performers.
As usual, the VX500 uses very little power and thus has great efficiency, competitive with the much higher-performing Samsung 850 EVOs.
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The VX500 starts out at a bit of a disadvantage with a low random read speed, but it never drops in performance as more writes are added to the mix. It does not benefit from the significant spike in performance some drives achieve once the workload shifts to pure writes.
Mixed Sequential Read/Write Performance
The mixed sequential access test covers the entire span of the drive and uses a queue depth of one. It starts with a pure read test and gradually increases the proportion of writes, finishing with pure writes. Each subtest lasts for 3 minutes, for a total test duration of 18 minutes. The drive is filled before the test starts.
The 1TB OCZ VX500 lands near the top of the chart on this test, but the smaller two capacities are slightly slower than the Vector 180 they are replacing.
Power consumption is good, but only the 256GB VX500 uses significantly less than any of the competition. Efficiency is still very good for all three capacities and competitive with the best drives with planar or 3D NAND.
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Once again, due to the drive being filled before the test the smaller two VX500s do not handle the write-heavy portions of the test well. The 1TB model is able to deliver peak write performance during parts of the test, allowing its average transfer rate to recover some in the second half.
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zodiacsoulmate - Monday, September 19, 2016 - link
I like their RMA... but their Vector series is such a disaster i have to RMA my drive 3 times, and they finally give me a Vector150 which has been solid... SMART reading is getting a lot worse these days, i'm using it sololy for caching now... I have their Vertex 3 and Vertex 4, those drives are quite better than the first gen Vector drives...shabby - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Will you be reviewing the intel 600p and samsung pm961(960 evo) any time soon?Ryan Smith - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Yes, we have the 600p in-house. So you will be seeing it soon.bug77 - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Looks like a pretty pointless product to me. Then again, maybe it's only meant to tick a few checkboxes so that it can be sold to OEMs.ocztaec - Thursday, September 15, 2016 - link
Hi bug77,Thank you for your feedback. We believe that there is still a market for mainstream SATA with MLC. For users that are not quite ready for NVMe VX500 will provide the long term reliability/endurance they need. Our 5 year Advanced Warranty service helps ensure mainstream users have peace of mind should there be any issues. Thank you again for your input.
Arbie - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
For at least six months we've had the Mushkin Reactor 1TB drive for $230. How is this OCZ worth $340 today?BrokenCrayons - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
It's nice to see MLC SSDs still out there, but I'm not sure the VX500 is really worth the MSRP. They're asking a lot for their 1TB model. I think the price increase isn't worth the benefits MLC offers over the plethora of much cheaper TLC drives.kfleszar - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
I wish Intel 540s was included among the compared SSDs.DanNeely - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
Am I missing it, or are these not in Bench yet?Billy Tallis - Tuesday, September 13, 2016 - link
They're in Bench, I just forgot to uncheck to box that keeps them hidden. We can't set the to automatically go public when the review embargo expires.