OCZ Core SATA 64GB Solid State Drive review

OCZ Core Series SATA II 2.5" SSD - 64GB

The product we received from OCZ technology, is the 64 GB Core Series SATA II 2.5" SSD. OCZ's Core series SSD drives are available in capacities of 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB and deliver 120-143 MB/s 80-93 MB/s read/write speeds and seek times of less than 0.35ms. And that's very important, the speed will increase your overall PC experience as the vertebrae of overall system speed and performance is your boot drive.

Let's be honest, how many of you have a faster read/write boot drive with your OS on it and then other (slower) HD's for pure storage ? Some advantages of this product are:

• Compatible with SATA-I and SATA-II interface
• Fully compatible with notebooks, personal computers, and servers
• High reliability assured based on the internal ECC
• ROHS Compliant - no lead used
• Low power consumption to extend battery life
• High performance and reliability
• Shock resistance increases data protection

OCZ cites reliability as one of the key driving points for the new series of drives, but as discussed earlier; it uses Multi-Level-Cell NAND Flash, which traditionally has a somewhat lower speed, reliability, and longevity than Single-Level-Cell Flash. OCZ informed us that MLC is evolving and concerns about reliability have been obviated by new manufacturing advances and firmware developments, presumably including advanced wear-leveling algorithms which we explained in the previous chapter. OCZ gives the product a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of 1.5 million hours, which is a highly statistical figure. But in reality, if that MTBF even was a tenth of the claimed value (150,000 hours) then the drive would still last 8760hrs (365 days x 24 hours) / 150,000 = 17 years.

Specifications

• Available in 32GB,64GB,128GB capacities
• Read: up to 120-143 MB/sec*
• Write: up to 80-93 MB/sec*
• Slim 2.5" Design
• 100.2 x 70 x 9.3mm
• Lightweight 77g
• Operating Temp: -10C ~ +70C
• Storage Temp: -55C ~ +140C
• Low Power Consumption
• Shock Resistant 1500G
• RAID Support
• MTBF 1.5 million hours
• 2 year warranty

Installation and experiences

Installation of a SSD drive is no different than installing any other driver. Connect the SATA and power cable, and you are good to go. Once you power on that PC of yours .. thirst thing you'll notice, no more noises .. It is just downright weird. But my system boot drives are all WD Raptors and when that HD is crunching ... you know the HDD is alive alright. So no more purring and weird noises. Completely silent. I love it. Secondly heat ... modern day HDDs tend to get hot. When not cooled they can reach 40-50 Degrees C pretty easily. No worries though as the HDD can have it, yet the SSD remains completely cool.

Then there's that first boot up on the SSD .. weird .. it's fast ..real fast. That's where you'll get the first smile to your face. But let's have a look at some photo's and then do some tests