OCZ unveiled Onyx series SSD

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SAN JOSE, CA—March 10, 2010—OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (OTCBB:OCZT), a worldwide leader in innovative, ultra-high performance and high reliability memory and flash-based storage as an alternative to hard disk drives (HDDs), today unveiled the OCZ Onyx SATA II 2.5” Solid State Drive (SSD) Series, an ultra-affordable MultiLevel Cell (MLC)-based solid state storage solution designed for consumers looking to take advantage of flash-based storage technology. Offering a faster and more durable alternative to traditional hard drives in a cost-efficient SSD, the Onyx delivers reliable performance without the high price normally associated with SSD drives.

“As new technologies become available, OCZ continues to expand both our enterprise and consumer SSD lines, and one of our goals is to make SSDs more affordable to end-users. Our new Onyx series SSD does exactly that and is a perfect solution for netbooks, laptops, or home desktop PCs,” commented Ryan Petersen, CEO of the OCZ Technology Group. “Designed to offer the best of both worlds, the new OCZ Onyx SSD delivers the speed and reliability of solid state storage to mainstream consumers at an aggressive price point that makes the technology more accessible to customers who want to take advantage of all the benefits of the SSDs without incurring the high cost normally associated with the solution.”

With a sub 100 dollar MRSP the aggressively priced Onyx 32GB SSD delivers an enhanced computing experience with faster application loading, snappier data access, shorter boot-ups, and longer battery life. Onyx SSDs feature HDD-dominating access times, up to 125MB/s read and 70MB/s write speeds, 64MB of onboard cache, and unique performance optimization to keep the drives at peak performance over the long term.......

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http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2010/366

I have no idea why they're releasing another... I guess it's good for us but I think it forces their own prices down more than the competitors. AND NO SATA III!?!?

it has the specs similar to the throttle , as of now they dont have to many diffrent drives they have what 6mlc indi drives, 3mlc sandforce and 1 mlc samsung for sata2, this one looks like its got only a few nand parts from the speed and that would cut the price way down and make it accessible to the general laptop market. at under $100 msrp that makes it the same price as a 250GB 7200rpm so if u are going to upgrade a laptop drive this is in a vary good spot.

there is also a huge mindset change with a $99.99product v a $200

125MB read is pretty sad imo

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Originally Posted by Levish

125MB read is pretty sad imo

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Still as good as most mechanical drives :confused: and noticably faster than one with access times less than 1ms compared to 13ms :/

I wouldnt mind two of these in a RAID 0 array.

ultra affordable better be a worthy description, it sickens me that we just see 5% more perf and a price that dosnt change

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Originally Posted by BeepBeep2

Still as good as most mechanical drives :confused: and noticably faster than one with access times less than 1ms compared to 13ms :/

I wouldnt mind two of these in a RAID 0 array.

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Two of them in a RAID 0 array at $200 (assuming a $99 price point) is not even worth it. I have a Kingston 64gb SSD (Generation 2) that reads at over 220 MB/s and writes at 110 MB/s. It can be bought for $179. I picked it up on sale for $130. :) Probably great drives, but should be sold for $80 or so. Just my opinion of course.

Well, good alternative for intel x25-v witch is 40gb and only 35 mb write..
Onyx only in 32gb flavor for now ?

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Originally Posted by freeloader

Two of them in a RAID 0 array at $200 (assuming a $99 price point) is not even worth it. I have a Kingston 64gb SSD (Generation 2) that reads at over 220 MB/s and writes at 110 MB/s. It can be bought for $179. I picked it up on sale for $130. :) Probably great drives, but should be sold for $80 or so. Just my opinion of course.

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your missing the target, its not for speed its for low power consumption, and seek time while maintaining performance in long operations when compared to a laptop drive.

think of all of the low end desktops or laptops or netbook/top this would max it out speed wise and its cheaper

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

your missing the target, its not for speed its for low power consumption, and seek time while maintaining performance in long operations when compared to a laptop drive.

think of all of the low end desktops or laptops or netbook/top this would max it out speed wise and its cheaper

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The point I was attempting to convey is I wouldn't buy two drives for a RAID 0 array. There's better, faster and cheaper options for the same capacity to price ratio. However as you stated, they would be perfect in netbooks and perhaps in some older laptops. :)

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Originally Posted by BeepBeep2

Still as good as most mechanical drives :confused: and noticably faster than one with access times less than 1ms compared to 13ms :/

I wouldnt mind two of these in a RAID 0 array.

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My Seagate Barracuda XT does 138 AFAIK... ;)

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Originally Posted by Russian

My Seagate Barracuda XT does 138 AFAIK... ;)

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what about on medium and small operations

60 GB really is the minimum space for a boot drive.

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

what about on medium and small operations

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I only have CrystalMark figures for RAID not single drive.

But i do have HDTune.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2000641AS2.png

Disregard CPU usage, i was doing some stuff at the time.

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Originally Posted by Russian

I only have CrystalMark figures for RAID not single drive.

But i do have HDTune.

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b3...2000641AS2.png

Disregard CPU usage, i was doing some stuff at the time.

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honestly russian...those numbers disappoint me, this is a WD 640GB (would be classed as a WD blue now)
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...oragedrive.png
storage drive on my newer computer- windows XP, just finished having like 200GB of data written to it and half of that removed (duplicate files >.<)
I'm still looking at getting SSDs this summer/winter- more drives means more competition, and possibly better prices

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

it has the specs similar to the throttle , as of now they dont have to many diffrent drives they have what 6mlc indi drives, 3mlc sandforce and 1 mlc samsung for sata2, this one looks like its got only a few nand parts from the speed and that would cut the price way down and make it accessible to the general laptop market. at under $100 msrp that makes it the same price as a 250GB 7200rpm so if u are going to upgrade a laptop drive this is in a vary good spot.

there is also a huge mindset change with a $99.99product v a $200

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It's a 32bg part...for a 100 bucks. Assuming there's a 64gb version, its going to be around $150, which is right around where most 64gb drives are these days. Besides 32gb on a laptop? My Win7 Home Premium with basic software consumes almost 20gb already. I don't know how this would be a desirable product. Even if you raid two or three of these together, it would come out to be the same price as a similar sized ssd with better performance.

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Originally Posted by onethreehill

http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2010/366

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Its funny how manufacturers claim OMG its the best value drive out there for UNDER a $100@ a whopping deal of $99.99 for a whopping 32gb capacity!! Let's see a 128gb drive for around $200 then they can make a fuss about it.:down:

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Originally Posted by situman

Its funny how manufacturers claim OMG its the best value drive out there for UNDER a $100@ a whopping deal of $99.99 for a whopping 32gb capacity!! Let's see a 128gb drive for around $200 then they can make a fuss about it.:down:

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Exactly...

I guess I was one of those who believed this year is gonna be great for SSD prices.:shrug:
At least, there's SandForce;), and Intel's will-be new offerings, for this year to talk about.

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Originally Posted by situman

Its funny how manufacturers claim OMG its the best value drive out there for UNDER a $100@ a whopping deal of $99.99 for a whopping 32gb capacity!! Let's see a 128gb drive for around $200 then they can make a fuss about it.:down:

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im with you. its a hair cheaper that other OCZ SSDs, where does the "ultra affordable" part come in

So... a netbook SSD? I'm all for aggressive pricing, but 32GB is just a bit too small to be the only drive in most people's systems right now and there are better options for people who would double them up. I would be interested to see sales figures for this niche product in a years time.

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For users looking to upgrade their laptops or configure a cost effective RAID array in their home or office desktop PC, the OCZ Onyx Series is an excellent starting point into the world of SSDs. This line provides the best of both worlds —- the performance and advantages of solid-state technology at an incredible value. Based on the proven Indilinx controller, the Onyx delivers an enhanced computing experience with faster application loading, snappier data access, shorter boot-ups, and longer battery life. Onyx SSDs feature HDD-dominating access times, 64MB of onboard cache, and TRIM support to keep the drives at peak performance.

Because OCZ SSDs have no moving parts, the drives are more rugged than conventional hard drives. Available in the ample storage capacity of 32GB, Onyx meets the needs of users looking for a quality hard drive replacement.

Designed for ultimate reliability, Onyx Series SSDs have an excellent 1.5 million hour mean time between failure (MTBF) ensuring peace of mind over the long term. OCZ also offers a leading 3-year warranty and award-winning technical support with the Onyx Series, making SSDs a more viable upgrade for cautious users requiring ultimate levels of customer service.

Important SSD notes:

Solid State Drives DO NOT require defragmentation. It may decrease the lifespan of the drive.

Consumers may see a discrepancy between reported capacity and actual capacity; the storage industry standard is to display capacity in decimal. However, the operating system usually calculates capacity in binary format, causing traditional HDD and SSD to show a lower capacity in Windows. In the case of SSDs, some of the capacity is reserved for formatting and redundancy for wear leveling. These reserved areas on an SSD may occupy up to 5% of the drive’s storage capacity.

Rated speeds may vary slightly depending on the benchmark used, drivers, windows version, bios version and file size. We recommend using ATTO, IOMeter, and PC Mark Vantage for benchmarking SSDs.

To continually improve and optimize our SSDs, OCZ will release new firmware updates. Please visit our SSD Update section to check the latest offerings.



* Available in 32GB capacities
* 64MB Onboard Cache
* TRIM Support
* Seek Time: < .1ms
* Slim 2.5" Design
* 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm
* Lightweight: 77g
* Operating Temp: 0-70°C
* Storage Temp: -45°C ~ +85°C
* Power Consumption: Idle: 375mW Active: 1000mW
* Vibration: 20G. Peak, 10 ~ 20KHz
* Shock Resistant up to 1500G
* RAID Support
* MTBF: 1.5 million hours
* 3-Year Warranty

32GB Performance

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32GB capacity? am I missing something?
why bother?

dont get me wrong. ocz, i love you guys but we can all agree we need to start at 60gb at least. even 2 30gb in raid0 is going to fill up in no time once you install a game or 2 and win7 and usual apps.
unless these are like $70 ea. I dont see much of a future in these.btw. I just noticed its 4:20 eastern time. brb

why do u need more than 32GB for a laptop or other non gaming box, the internet can stream down any movie or music content, most people dont have a bunch of programs.

look at what u need
7GB windows 7 or vista
2-4GB page file
1.5GB MS office
500MB codecs, tools, clients, ranodm (atleast about what i have)

so whats that like 12GB that would leave u what 18-20GB for media (depending if its GB or fake GB)

u guys are forgetting a few things, 1) XS is not the target, 2) its not a storage device its a boot device. I would get something like this for my moms laptop she has an 80GB and uses about 15GB with media, or i have some friends who use less than 20GB also on the primary drive and carry everything on the PDA/USB HDD for music or movies.

If the price is right I might even get one of these for my work PC.

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

why do u need more than 32GB for a laptop or other non gaming box, the internet can stream down any movie or music content, most people dont have a bunch of programs.

look at what u need
7GB windows 7 or vista
2-4GB page file
1.5GB MS office
500MB codecs, tools, clients, ranodm (atleast about what i have)

so whats that like 12GB that would leave u what 18-20GB for media (depending if its GB or fake GB)

u guys are forgetting a few things, 1) XS is not the target, 2) its not a storage device its a boot device. I would get something like this for my moms laptop she has an 80GB and uses about 15GB with media, or i have some friends who use less than 20GB also on the primary drive and carry everything on the PDA/USB HDD for music or movies.

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and think about the people who buy laptops in the 1st place? excatly. the ones who never defrag, and download endless crap files and bloatware and the only time their disk gets wiped is when they download some maleware and need someone with a desktop to fix it. ;)

the more likely scenario is ocz knows 32gb ssd is totally useless and has no future but got a realy good deal on some 32gb flash and cant sell it under the well known vertex, agility branding so they just rebrand the same 32gb crap under a fancy name like Onyx. a cheap gemstone but just black and maybe elegant and easy to incorporate into commercial jewelry sold at a cart in the local mall, its still no F clarity vs1 3 carrot ascher cut diamond. if that was the case they would be 500read/300write sata III 120gb for $500 ea and brand it under the "OCZ SSD PRECIOUS GEM COLLECTION" you guys know im just kidding. im sure there is a market for these but give us something new to play with. its almost april.

http://diriffence.com/ftp/jennis/Pre...sscher_cut.png

most people dont download things anymore (as clicking on banner adds is no longer a passtime like it used to be), and most media is done online.

there is little to no point to download or install anything but games that they couldent play. video and music are streamed once u have flash there is no need to download casual games, then with UAC people dont like the idea of running things as admin so u cant accidentally install things anymore. and SSDs dont defrag so thats even better

what exactly would a random person download that they could clutter things up with?

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

what exactly would a random person download that they could clutter things up with?

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I think the obvious answer is :banana::banana::banana::banana:. :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Sly Fox

I think the obvious answer is :banana::banana::banana::banana:. :rofl:

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flash takes care out that, and there are plenty of clean sites now, although i wounder how much the HDD industry is driven by :banana::banana::banana::banana:

I Think OCZ has missed the mark here. Intel's 40G drive beat them to it by a few months. And costed me $85.

Yes,

Intel's 40GB $130.

OCZ's 32GB Onyx drive $100.

Both have almost the same price per GB, now the choice is, are you going with the Intel or Indilinx controller?

Indilinx: Higher write speeds and lower read speeds.

Intel: Lower write speeds and higher read speeds, also better access times and 4K random speeds.

I would go Intel.

OCZ said sub $100, maybe $99.99 :lol:

or ocz vertex 30gb for $99 at the egg...? this thing better be like $50!

Well, I see OCZ pricing these at whatever level it takes to move large numbers of them. After all, OCZ has stated they intend to get to the point that their SSD sales make up 70-80% of their revenue.

Now, if only OCZ could fix their cash flow problems and stop the quarterly losses.

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Originally Posted by zanzabar

most people dont download things anymore (as clicking on banner adds is no longer a passtime like it used to be), and most media is done online.

there is little to no point to download or install anything but games that they couldent play. video and music are streamed once u have flash there is no need to download casual games, then with UAC people dont like the idea of running things as admin so u cant accidentally install things anymore. and SSDs dont defrag so thats even better

what exactly would a random person download that they could clutter things up with?

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actually, i watch quiet a bit of anime and whole series easily take up 6-8GB (usually about 250-330Mb per episode at an average of 24 episodes per series).

now you see, i cant just stream it because many groups sub certain series and some do much better jobs at subbing, encoding and translating. so just because i can find that particular series streaming, its usually by a crappy group or just sub par quality and thats IF i can find it a site streaming it.

lastly, i know a bit of people who only have laptops as main, so that means photos, videos, music, etc... all on one machine, of course they should have it backed up on external drive, but many dont. so a 30gb laptop drive would easily fill up.

overrall, this would be a good drive if the price is right and for someone who has access to a bigger drive, ie external or another pc; so most likely a netbook as mentioned. or else, i cry for you if your ONLY pc is a netbook.

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Originally Posted by Serra

So... a netbook SSD? I'm all for aggressive pricing, but 32GB is just a bit too small to be the only drive in most people's systems right now and there are better options for people who would double them up. I would be interested to see sales figures for this niche product in a years time.

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Yeah, same.
It probably has a subpar controller as well, so 4k random speeds and garbage collection isn't as good as more expensive drives have...

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Originally Posted by trans am

the more likely scenario is ocz knows 32gb ssd is totally useless and has no future but got a realy good deal on some 32gb flash and cant sell it under the well known vertex, agility branding so they just rebrand the same 32gb crap under a fancy name like Onyx.

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If NAND pricing doesn't drop massively there will be low capacity SSDs avalaible for quite a long time to come.
And if Intel and Kingston think there is enough of a market for slightly price reduced but performance crippled SSD then why should OCZ not follow?
Besides, its not like OCZ stopped selling its other SSDs.

its got to be priced around 75$ or less for this drive to make any sense (no BS rebates either), otherwise the 30% higher read speeds of the Intel/Kingston V drive make it more attractive.

i wonder how much of an effect the nand prices really have. last summer they were down to 25c per GB, then up to 50c, but priced only fluctuated 10-20% not 40%+. its as if the nand only makes up 1/4th of the total cost, or there is really massive markup from both the nand provider, and ssd manufactures, resulting in technology that has gone up in price in the last year, instead of down. i almost wonder if they are milking the market worse than blizzard

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Originally Posted by naokaji

if Intel and Kingston think there is enough of a market for slightly price reduced but performance crippled SSD then why should OCZ not follow?

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Because most hardware enthusiasts expect MORE from OCZ as a leader not some follower doing what everyone else does. look around and go to the other ssd mfgr sites and none of their support comes close to their level of support. Ive learned so much about ssd tweaking just by the guides on the ocz ssd forums. And the guy that said you can't defrag ssds is either on intel ssds or just hasnt been to the ocz ssd forums.
with indilinx you can set perfect disk to free up space and run AS cleaner and you will see huge benefits especially with raid0. I was only joking to get them to see what we want. the ocz guys are good dudes at the end of the day I just wanna see them keep pushing the limits and keeping the costs in reason. call it tough love. ;)

$99.99 or 99.90 Euros = :lol:

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/18081/1/

What's the point of a SSD this small at such poor performance at such pricetag? You get a 1TB Samsung F3 for like 70 EUR today that's got like 115~120MB/s avg read. OK it hasn't got the access time of a SSD but still... For me it's worth 50€ not 100€.

Even 50€ is ridiculous, write speed of 70 MB/s burst but only 20 MB/s sustained, read speed 125 MB/s burst, sustained 50 MB/s. Even for a boot drive this is horrible. It is just like you said, we are better off with 1TB Samsung F3 or WD black editions. The access times of this must be higher too.

Edit: It's closer competitor,

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Kingston has also told us that these will be shipping today, and the desktop bundle will debut for a special promotional price of $79.99 after rebate (for a limited time only)

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http://www.legitreviews.com/images/r...242/as-ssd.jpg

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1242/3/

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Originally Posted by trans am

Because most hardware enthusiasts expect MORE from OCZ as a leader not some follower doing what everyone else does.

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Of course we expect from OCZ to push the limits at the top and they are doing so with the new Sandforce drives, but the enthusiast market is rather small and they need to make money and obviously there is a market for slow and low capacity ssds, even if we can't understand why.
Otherwise there would not be so many companies over it, its probably a fashion thing to have a ssd like with the ipod, there are tons of better mp3 players out there at a fairer price but the ipod still sells and so do crappy ssds.
But then of course you can get a 64GB Kingston SSD for ~150$, I bet the Onyx will drop below its MSRP relatively quick though.

a crappy ssd has like no purpose. for less than 2x the price, i can get more than double the performance and double the size from the same company. why not offer a crappier speed but on larger drives, so they end up with some of the best $/GB, this drive has one of the worst as long as you can find another 50$ you can get a much better drive.

I agree. Why not make a 128gb or even 256gb drive for $200 to $250 for people to use for programs and short term storage with low performance while still outperforming platter drives. Encourage other people to buy a 64gb vertex or agility for the OS (assuming peeps wont go for the Intels).