OCZ Octane Indilinx Everest SSD Review

Manufacturer: OCZ Technology Group, Inc.
Product Name: Octane Solid State Drive
Model Number: OCT1-25SAT3-512G (512GB)
Prices: 128GB $199 (Newegg / Amazon), 256GB $370 (Newegg / Amazon), 512GB $900 (Newegg / Amazon)

Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by OCZ.

Nearly one year since acquiring well-known flash controller manufacturer Indilinx, OCZ has debuted their first storage product based on the Indilinx infused Everest platform with NDurance technology: welcome OCZ's Octane SSD. Offered in 1-terabyte capacities, the OCT1-25SAT3 series is designed to deliver optimized performance for mainstream users wanting to capitalize on near-instant solid state response times. OCZ Octane SSDs are good for up to 480MB/s read speeds over the latest SATA 6 Gb/s interface, and yield up to 35,000 Random Read IOPS. In this article Benchmark Reviews tests these specifications, and compares the OCZ Octane solid state drive to the leading competition.

For those keeping up with the Indilinx Everest platform SSD controller, OCZ's announcement back in July (2011) listed one particular stand-out feature: a 275 MHz dual-core CPU with 128KB on-chip SRAM for programs and another 64KB for data. Up to that point (and since), there hadn't been another dual-core SSD on the market. Even the 512MB DDR2/DDR3 cache buffer operating at 400 MHz raised expectations. It was anybody's guess as to how much a dual-core SSD controller would impact performance, but the potential was at least there on paper. Since the OCZ Octane series features this very same Everest technology, we'll soon see what these features amount to for end-users.

Solid State vs Hard Disk

Despite decades of design improvements, the hard disk drive (HDD) is still the slowest component of any personal computer system. Consider that modern desktop processors have a 1 ns response time (nanosecond = one billionth of one second), while system memory responds between 30-90 ns. Traditional hard drive technology utilizes magnetic spinning media, and even the fastest spinning mechanical storage products still exhibit a 9,000,000 ns / 9 ms initial response time (millisecond = one thousandth of one second). In more relevant terms, the processor receives the command and must then wait for system memory to fetch related data from the storage drive. This is why any computer system is only as fast as the slowest component in the data chain; usually the hard drive.

In a perfect world all of the components operate at the same speed. Until that day comes, the real-world goal for achieving optimal performance is for system memory to operate as quickly as the central processor and then for the storage drive to operate as fast as memory. With present-day technology this is an impossible task, so enthusiasts try to close the speed gaps between components as much as possible. Although system memory is up to 90x (9000%) slower than most processors, consider then that the hard drive is an added 1000x (100,000%) slower than that same memory. Essentially, these three components are as different in speed as walking is to driving and flying.

Solid State Drive technology bridges the largest gap in these response times. The difference a SSD makes to operational response times and program speeds is dramatic, and takes the storage drive from a slow 'walking' speed to a much faster 'driving' speed. Solid State Drive technology improves initial response times by more than 450x (45,000%) for applications and Operating System software, when compared to their mechanical HDD counterparts. The biggest mistake PC hardware enthusiasts make with regard to SSD technology is grading them based on bandwidth speed. File transfer speeds are important, but only so long as the operational IOPS performance can sustain that bandwidth under load.

Bandwidth Speed vs Operational Performance

As we've explained in our SSD Benchmark Tests: SATA IDE vs AHCI Mode guide, Solid State Drive performance revolves around two dynamics: bandwidth speed (MB/s) and operational performance (IOPS). These two metrics work together, but one is more important than the other. Consider this analogy: bandwidth determines how much cargo a ship can transport in one voyage, and operational IOPS performance is how fast the ship moves. By understanding this and applying it to SSD storage, there is a clear importance set on each variable depending on the task at hand.

For casual users, especially those with laptop or desktop computers that have been upgraded to use an SSD, the naturally quick response time is enough to automatically improve the user experience. Bandwidth speed is important, but only to the extent that operational performance meets the minimum needs of the system. If an SSD has a very high bandwidth speed but a low operational performance, it will take longer to load applications and boot the computer into Windows than if the SSD offered a higher IOPS performance.

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