AMD Radeon R7 SSD (240GB) Review
by Kristian Vättö on August 28, 2014 6:00 AM ESTFinal Words
To be frank, the R7 does not bring anything new to the table. Performance and feature wise it provides something in between the ARC 100 and Vector 150, but there's nothing earthshaking that would separate it from the masses. Sure, a four-year warranty is unique but with Samsung and SanDisk offering 10-year warranties in their high-end SSDs, the buyers who value a long warranty will likely choose something other than the R7.
| NewEgg Price Comparison (8/24/2014) | ||||
| 120/128GB | 240/256GB | 480/512GB | ||
| AMD Radeon R7 | $100 | $160 | $290 | |
| OCZ Vector 150 | $85 | $140 | $280 | |
| OCZ Vertex 460 | $90 | $140 | $245 | |
| OCZ ARC 100 | $75 | $120 | $240 | |
| Samsung SSD 850 Pro | $130 | $200 | $400 | |
| Samsung SSD 840 EVO | $90 | $140 | $250 | |
| SanDisk Extreme Pro | - | $200 | $380 | |
| SanDisk Extreme II | $70 | $140 | $295 | |
| Crucial MX100 | $80 | $123 | $220 | |
| Plextor M6S | $80 | $135 | $280 | |
| Intel SSD 730 | - | $190 | $340 | |
| Intel SSD 530 | $90 | $140 | $250 | |
The pricing does not make the R7 any better. Right now it is more expensive than the Vector 150, which provides higher performance and a longer warranty along with a higher endurance rating. The R7 must come down in price to make any sense, although even then the R7 will fall into the infamous middle-class. As I have said before, I only see two segments in the client market: the mainstream/value and the high-end market. In other words, the average Joe should just buy the SSD that provides the best value and frankly the MX100 has been dominating that market for the past couple of months. The high-end market, on the other hand, values absolute performance and features, and the R7 cannot compete with the 850 Pro and Extreme Pro there.
It is quite obvious that AMD is going after novice users with the R7 SSD. For someone with very little or no understanding of computers, the AMD branding can provide a peace of mind since AMD is fairly large and visible brand in the industry, but anyone who understands what they are buying should look elsewhere. To put it simply, there are better SSDs available for less money.
Ultimately AMD's biggest opportunity with the R7 SSD is bundles. I would not mind seeing the R7 as a part of an AMD component bundle because there is nothing wrong with the drive, but the pricing must be much more competitive than what the standalone drive currently is. If the total bundle price can put the cost of the SSD roughly in line with other value drives like the MX100, it provides good performance overall; it's just not worth the current price premium when purchased on its own.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
54 Comments
View All Comments
formulav8 - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
Was that not mainly their Sandforce drives?haukionkannel - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
OCZ Vertex was better than for example Samsun 840 evo in the last test that I read about (the Extreme II was the winner though...) But in any way OCZ quality has gone up big steps!Samus - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
You won't find somebody that's had worse luck than myself with OCZ SSD's (having purchased many of their first SSD products including the RevoDrive in 2010) but although most of their older products failed on me (some in days, some in years) the second RevoDrive I'm on has been reliable for 3 years and amazingly my Agility 2 still hasn't failed (quite an anomaly when you Google the results of this drives inherent unreliability across the internet.)However, my personal Vector 150 and Vertex 460 haven't done anything weird at all, and I've been so happy with them from a price/performance standpoint I've begun, for the first time even, putting OCZ products (with the exception of PC Power & Cooling PSU's) in corporate PC's for clients and at work. No failures so far. The Vertex 460, cheaper than most Samsung SSD's - my usual go-to performance SSD's, is noticeably more responsive.
Still if you're looking for a cheap reliable SSD based on facts, a used Intel SSD320 on eBay or a Crucial MX100 are sure bets. But for performance Barefoot is very, very good, while still appearing to be very reliable.
AnnihilatorX - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
I thought OCZ is now owned by Toshiba, you can't imagine Toshiba would keep the bad quality control in OCZ uncheckedsnuuggles - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
Really? Triple negative? :)mapesdhs - Saturday, August 30, 2014 - link
Stop posting FUD that's thoroughly outdated by later tech.I have more than 40 OCZ SSDs, never had a problem with any of them, everything
from lots of V2Es/V3s to V4, Vector and Vector 150. I also have various Samsung,
Crucial, Corsair and other models.
OCZ's later products were really good, especially the Vertex4 and Vector range.
Their mistake was allowing the 1st gen Vertex, Octane and Solid models to be
just too much on the budget side. Ditto the old Agility, though the Agility3 and
especially the Agility4 are ok (I have a few).
Ian.
kyuu - Tuesday, September 2, 2014 - link
Your opinion of OCZ is a few years out of date.Laststop311 - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
You are leaving out the best ssd put there. Samsung has 100% vertical integration on the ssd. From the nand, to the controller, to the firmware, to the dram, Samsung makes it all. Why do you think samsung was first to market with TLC and 3d nand? All their teams can work together and get new products to market super fast.errorr - Friday, August 29, 2014 - link
Well the process tech is a completely separate issue from their integration. If you look at Toshiba's new fabs and tech their shrink will allow them to hit similar price points with much better nand dies that are faster and last longer.willis936 - Thursday, August 28, 2014 - link
Good to see honest journalism. Things like an amd button on the front page had me nervous.