OCZ Apex Drive

[coolVariable]

OCZ's new Apex drives are finally available in the US (2 months late).
I personally am very sceptical about OCZ SSDs, given their history, but the intel SSD is down another $15 to $385, so call me excited.

Who dares to buy one of these?
What are they actually like?
Are they exactly the same as the G.Skill SSD (which has exhibited stuttering)?


OCZ Apex 120GB for $319

OCZ Apex 250GB for $789

OCZ Apex 60GB for $199


Probably the same underlying chips/technology but simply a rebrand:
G.Skill 120GB for $349

G.Skill Titan 256GB for $529 (before $494)


Please run benchmarks with IOMeter, CrystalDiskMark and ATTO.
Doing the tests Anandtech did for their big SSD review are also not bad.
(E.g. zip 5GB of small files and open Photoshop)

AND PLEASE AT ... DO ANOTHER SSD REVIEW!


Edited to reflect the price drop for the Apex drives. Probably because their performance lags behind the Titan drives. I guess Apex is another typical OCZ drive ... "all hat, no cattle"

 

[aka1nas]

Holy crap, I bought my 128GB titan at just the right time (jumped when newegg had it down to $279 for a few hours). I doubt the Apex will perform much better(though I don't have any complaints with his drive).

 

[ItsAlive]

Im not sure if this drive is old or new, but judging by the read/write speeds (220mb/s) it looks to be a new one. Filemate 256gb SSD

 

[coolVariable]

I cannot find any information anywhere whether the filemate has a jmicron controller, an internal (jmicron) RAID setup (like the OCZ Apex or the the G.Skill Titan) or is based on a new/different controller (Samsung? OCZ Vertex?)

 

[ItsAlive]

I'd like to know also, the website says its made by Wintec. I was unable to find any info other than the typical advertisement stuff.

+1 for a new SSD roundup from AT, hopefully including this drive along with the Apex and Vertex drives and the new Samsungs when they are finally released.

 

[VaultDweller]

Anand does have an SSD roundup planned for February. I don't know how well they stick to their plans, but that's the plan.

 

[datwater]

MWave has the 60gb for $199 - $20 MIR = $179. Probly pick up a pair tomorrow.

Mwave 60GB Apex for $199

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: datwater
MWave has the 60gb for $199 - $20 MIR = $179. Probly pick up a pair tomorrow.

Mwave 60GB Apex for $199

Let us know how they perform.

 

[datwater]

I did not take the plunge. Picked up some other stuff instead.

 

[Sentry2]

Bah, I'd at least wait for Vertex...and some reviews. I could be wrong but I don't have very high expectations for the Apex ssd's.

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: Sentry2
Bah, I'd at least wait for Vertex...and some reviews. I could be wrong but I don't have very high expectations for the Apex ssd's.

I concur. The Apex seems like a (more expensive) rebadge of the g.skill Titan. And we already saw there that internal RAID does not resolve the stuttering issue, although it might not be as bad as it was before.

I personally am still hoping that the release of the Vertex will put even more price pressure on the intel and Samsung MLC drives.

 

[badlogic]

I have two of these in raid 0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227372

I dont have any stuttering issues

 

[Idontcare]

Originally posted by: badlogic
I have two of these in raid 0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227372

I dont have any stuttering issues

Jesus :shocked: <$4/GB

I had no idea these things were getting so cheap. I already have a quality raid-card so stuttering for me isn't an issue (2GB onboard cache) but to be able to get a 120GB 4x raid-0 SSD array for <$400 is an amazing opportunity. I thought it would be a couple years before we crossed this threshold.

 

[taltamir]

mmm... they still have stuttering on the titan... but how MUCH stuttering compared to before?

 

[badlogic]

Originally posted by: Idontcare

Originally posted by: badlogic
I have two of these in raid 0 http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16820227372

I dont have any stuttering issues

Jesus :shocked: <$4/GB

I had no idea these things were getting so cheap. I already have a quality raid-card so stuttering for me isn't an issue (2GB onboard cache) but to be able to get a 120GB 4x raid-0 SSD array for <$400 is an amazing opportunity. I thought it would be a couple years before we crossed this threshold.

when I got them they were $20 cheaper each. I dont know whats up with newegg raising the price.

 

[taltamir]

whee, thus spurred another intel price cut!

 

[coolVariable]

Originally posted by: taltamir
whee, thus spurred another intel price cut!

too bad, Amazon has not followed yet.
No tax, no shipping and better RMA policy.

 

[FireChicken]

So what make the vertex the "performance" drive and the apex the "mainstream" drive? When I look at the specs, at least at the 120gb apex, the apex seems to be a tid bit faster in read and equal in write.

 

[ItsAlive]

The Apex series drives are used with jmicron controllers that have very small or no cache at all, this was the reason for stuttering issues that plagued the non-intel MLC SSDs. However, the Apex drive uses 2 controllers and a raid controller for internal raid 0 to circumvent some of the stuttering.

The Vertex series drives are rumored to have 32 or 64mb of onboard cache, like the intel drives which exhibit no stuttering issues.

 

[FireChicken]

Thanks. Maybe it will be best to wait for the vertex series to come out or for some one to review them both.

 

[jedisolo]

I haven't experienced any stuttering on the G.skill Titan 256 GB that I have running in my Thinkpad T400.

 

[Chriz]

According to the Bit-tech review it performs about the same or worse at times than the G.skill Titan, but it costs a lot more. So the Titan seems to be the better option. Guess we'll have to see how the Vertex does when that comes out.

 

[FireChicken]

Bit tech review
for your convience

 

[kY]

Originally posted by: jedisolo
I haven't experienced any stuttering on the G.skill Titan 256 GB that I have running in my Thinkpad T400.

Did you need to tweak the OS settings at all? Or did it pretty much "just work"?

 

[FireChicken]

benchmark reviews take on the apex

their hd tach benchmark looks....different