OCZ ARC 100 240GB Solid State Drive Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The ARC 100 from OCZ is a budget drive aimed at upgrades and custom budget-builds. Being shipped without the adapter brackets and software that many people don’t need, it’s possible for OCZ to offer this drive at a very affordable price of just $0.50/GB in the U.S and £0.41/GB in the U.K (MSRP). Being a complete in-house product helps too. Considering the high grade flash-chips and controller, the drive is a real bargain. It might not top out with the highest speeds, but it keeps the performance in the long run.

It really won’t blow a hole in your budget to get one of these drives as Overclockers.UK offer them for just £59.99 for 120GB, £99.99 for 240GB and if you need the big 480GB model, it will set you back £184.99. Meanwhile across the pond, newegg offers the drives for $74,99, $119.99 and $239.99.

Overview

I had very high expectations for the ARC 100 from OCZ when I started this review, and I have not been let down. OCZ promises a long lasting drive that doesn’t blow your wallet, and it delivers. The combination of the brand new A19nm Toshiba MLC and the Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller make this is a long lasting performance disk.

The read and write performance of this drive has been steady through the whole process. The drive didn’t even buckle after I threw a stress test in the magnitude of a hurricane at it, it just kept on showing the same steady read and write figures no matter how full the drive was. I’ve had many SSD’s already, and most of them high-end models. None of them can deliver a steady performance over the entire field like the ARC 100 did.

The drive is rated to 20GB/s workload a day for 3 years and has a MTBT of 2.0 million hours. Those are figures many premium drives can’t reach and it goes to show that pure speed isn’t eveything.

OCZ is just as sure about the quality of this drive as the test results show and they are not afraid to back it by their ShieldPlus Warranty. With no original proof of purchase required, the users provide their ARC serial number to an OCZ customer service representative. In the event that the product is determined to be defective, a brand-new drive will be advanced shipped to the customer. When the replacement is received, the users will find a pre-paid return label. Just switch the new with the old drive and send the box back. Worst case scenarios have rarely looked so good.

I was torn whether to give this drive the Editors Choice or the Bang for the Buck award, and in a way it deserves both. This is however a drive I’d be proud to run in my own office PC, so it will get the Editor’s Choice.

Pros:

• New Toshiba A19nm MLC
• Indilinx Barefoot 3 Controller
• Heavy conditioning with years of workload barely affects the drive
• Read / Write stays constant on full drives (0,25,50,75%)
• Low price per GB
• Designed for consumer upgrades and budget builds
• ShieldPlus Warranty

Cons:

• none

Neutral:

• No adapter brackets or software

“If you want a drive with steady performance and a long life while not blowing your wallet, then get the OCZ ARC 100. Offering a steady throughput at all fill stages and barely any degradation, even over long periods of usage. With the offering of higher write speeds then most competition in this segment, the ARC 100 is a perfect drive for an office or family PC, ensuring reliability and performance that suits everyday tasks.” 

Thanks to OCZ for providing this review sample.