OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS & Patriot Wildfire SSDs Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi on June 23, 2011 4:35 AM ESTFinal Words
This new batch of 32nm Toshiba based SF-2281 drives fixes my issue with the 120GB Vertex 3. These drives 120GB are now competitive with both Intel's SSD 510 and the 240GB Vertex 3. For desktop users looking for the best absolute performance at the 120GB price point, these are the SF-2281 drives you've been looking for. How much more are they worth than the regular 25nm IMFT versions however? Currently on Newegg you can get a 25nm 120GB Vertex 3 for $254.99 vs. $309.99 for the MAX IOPS drive. Personally I'd rather save the $55 and put it towards a future, higher capacity drive in another year or so than take the performance benefit. In the real world you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference between these two, it's only in very specific, demanding IO situations where the MAX IOPS/Wildfire drives will show a tangible benefit.
Between OCZ and Patriot the performance is virtually identical. Kudos for Patriot on not only being aggressive on MSRP out of the gate, but also picking the best possible NAND configuration for performance on day one. The Wildfire is Patriot's MAX IOPS equivalent, an excellent first entry into the SF-2281 market.
It remains to be seen how aggressively Patriot pursues firmware updates on the Wildfire. Historically no company has really been as aggressive there as OCZ so it'll be interesting to see how Patriot handles the BSOD issue going forward. According to Patriot the latest 3.19 firmware it's shipping on the drives resolved the limited number of BSOD issues it saw in its testing, however it's my understanding that this is not the same firmware that OCZ just pushed out (v2.09) so the BSOD issue could still be present.
I must reiterate that I do believe the SandForce BSOD issue is fairly limited. I run a Vertex 3 in my own system and have yet to see these BSOD issues first hand. However I definitely share the hesitation to jump on board here until the root cause is completely understood and problems definitely solved. If we look outside of the SandForce world, I still believe the Intel SSD 510 is a great balance of performance and reliability. If you want something with an even lower failure rate, there's always the Intel SSD 320 although you do give up performance and 6Gbps support to get that. Note that all of these drives (excluding if you do have a platform that exhibits BSOD issues with SF-2281 drives) should be more reliable than a hard drive so it really boils down to which makes you feel most comfortable.
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TrackSmart - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
My problem is not the failure rate of OCZ (or Corsair or Patriot) SSDs. Ordinary hard disks that we've been using forever have a 1-3% failure rate (or worse for some models). The problem is customer support for drives that aren't merely failing, but are *failing to be compatible* with particular hardware configurations.How a company deals with such problems is what determines if they deserve customer loyalty. And let me tell you that sending customers another of the same drive, that they know won't work with their system, is not a way to win customer loyalty. Just issue a refund and let the customer buy a different model. With that kind of treatment, the customer might buy another OCZ drive, but from one of the other product lines - instead of leaving angry.
The customer support issue is the one I want OCZ to address. And if Anandtech has personal communications with them, that is something worth passing on.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
The issue is that, apparently, the majority of customers don't have a problem. There isn't a day that goes by where I'm not testing an SF-2281 drive in some fashion. Now it's possible that my usage model and test scenarios aren't enough to cause the problem, but I suspect that it's more complicated than that.My recommendation continues to be the Intel SSD 510 if you want the best balance of performance/predictable reliability. However if I simply recommend Intel's drive without mentioning a cheaper/faster drive I think I'll get accused of a different sort of bias :-P
Take care,
Anand
techinsidr - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
Good point Anand... I'm personally not a fan of OCZ products, but I give you props all the hard work you do on this site. Even if I don't agree with your recommendations 100% of the time, you still have the best hardware review site out there.I hope OCZ and Sandforce gets this problem figured out sooner than later. Performance is definitely important, but at the end of the day I think reliability is even more critical.
TrackSmart - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
I agree that it's a small percent, but is it okay to tell 10,000 customers "sorry, use it in a different computer" when they've spent $240 on a storage device? Just because it represents *only* 0.5% of their customers?Thanks for taking the time for a personal reply. And thanks for the superb articles and reporting. We'll just have to agree to disagree on what it means for a company to stand by a product.
Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
No I agree that's not ok, but to the best of my knowledge OCZ has always facilitated a refund if you ask for one with situations like this. OCZ has apparently even offered to send engineers to your house and loan you a notebook to help diagnose the issue back when they had trouble tracking it down.My preference would be a stop shipment order until the problem is corrected. But in terms of customer service, I believe OCZ typically does take care of its customers.
Take care,
Anand
TrackSmart - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
Thanks Anand. I've had good experience with other OCZ products and associated support in the past. And it's possible that the 25nm debacle has caused them to shift their policies. At the time, when I purchased a Vertex 2, I was told replacement with a like item was the only option. Newegg came to my rescue and took the drive back, despite their clearly stated policy that SSD returns have to go to the manufacturer. Good on Newegg for understanding my situation. And hopefully good on OCZ if their policies have improved.A google search turns up people from the past who were turned down for Vertex 2/Agility 2 refunds (responses: firmware is on the way or use it in a compatible system - only exchanges for like models). But shows that Vertex 3 owners have been getting refunds.
So maybe I'm behind the times. And if so, my apologies to OCZ. These changes of policy must be within very recent past. A bit of bad press seems to go a long way to changing corporate policy.
jonup - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
Why is this review questionable? His recommendation is based on his personal experience with the drives. He has not experienced any BSODs but he disclosed that there are certain drives sold in retail that have the issue. He recommended OCZs drive as much as he recommended the Patriot's.I wouldn't be supprise if majority of the BSOD result from user tweaks and maybe if it is even a Windows problem.
semo - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
I wouldn't be as harsh and say that Anand has had underhand dealings with OCZ but there are bridges there. He gets new OCZ SSDs well before release dates so that he can prepare for in-depth articles. These articles bring a boat load of traffic to his domain.So indirectly, Anand does benefit from being on good terms with OCZ because if he didn't, he wouldn't have those golden samples and those spikes in traffic at launch.
Then again, timing is not the only thing that keeps us techies coming back. The quality of the articles plays a big part as well. I am however starting to question the Integrity of his work given the outcry in the community which is not proportionally reflected in Anand's official articles (this article touches on a few of the issues but the huge outcry from the last article must have played a big part). Also, I'm not just a techie, I'm also a consumer and I totally disagree with OCZ's handling of the 25nm fiasco and their customer relations in general.
Needless to say, I still enjoy Anand's articles but I will never touch an OCZ product again. Other companies provide just as much value and performance as them.
techinsidr - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
I couldn't agree more semo... I did a blog article covering this whole fiasco at my website techinsidr.com . The way OCZ has handled this fiasco leaves a lot to be desired..Anand Lal Shimpi - Thursday, June 23, 2011 - link
Access to hardware is never a reason to treat a manufacturer favorably. That may win you some short term gains but long term you lose credibility, which will ultimately and drives away the sort of quality readers you need to have a site truly survive.Also note that while exclusives do bring in more traffic, you actually build more traffic by being consistent and delivering quality over time. The former doesn't guarantee lasting traffic.
I don't believe OCZ is getting favorable treatment here, just the treatment that is representative of my experience with the drives. Now the response from the readership is clear that despite my experience, there's definite unease with actually jumping on the OCZ bandwagon until these sorts of complaints go away entirely. I can completely understand that sentiment and I will make sure it's reflected as we continue to cover this space.
Take care,
Anand