OCZ unveiled Onyx series SSD

[onethreehill]

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.......

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

[ideate]

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!?!?

[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

[Levish]

125MB read is pretty sad imo

[BeepBeep2]

125MB read is pretty sad imo

Still as good as most mechanical drives 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.

[Manicdan]

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

[freeloader]

Still as good as most mechanical drives 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.

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.

[n!Cola]

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

[zanzabar]

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.

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

[freeloader]

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

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.

[Russian]

Still as good as most mechanical drives 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.

My Seagate Barracuda XT does 138 AFAIK...

[zanzabar]

My Seagate Barracuda XT does 138 AFAIK...

what about on medium and small operations

[cegras]

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

[Russian]

what about on medium and small operations

I only have CrystalMark figures for RAID not single drive.

But i do have HDTune.



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

[DragoonXX]

I only have CrystalMark figures for RAID not single drive.

But i do have HDTune.



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

honestly russian...those numbers disappoint me, this is a WD 640GB (would be classed as a WD blue now)

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

[situman]

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

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.

[situman]

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

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.

[labs23]

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.

Exactly...

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

[Manicdan]

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.

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

[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.

[trans am]

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

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

[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.

[[XC] Oj101]

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

[trans am]

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.

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.

[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?