OCZ Vector 256GB Solid State Drive Review

The Vector comes with an edge-to-edge label on the top with a simple yet stylish design with purely the manufacturer, model name and reference to the Indilinx controller thats inside.

On the underside of the drive a sticker holds all information relating to the drive with model and serial numbers and other compulsory regulatory info.

Lowering the profile of drives is becoming a common trend that we have seen a lot more recently. The Vector is another drive to follow this trend with the slimmer build at only 7mm thick. Whilst this means the the drive can fit into slimmer spaces such as ultra-books, it also means that less material is needed to manufacture the case , thus reducing overall costs in the long run.

Taking a look the PCB, we find the upper half populated with eight NAND ICs, the drive controller and one of two 256Mb DDR3 chip.

On the lower half of the board we find eight more NAND ICs along with the second 256MB DDR3 memory IC and to the lower left of the PCB, the circuits for power delivery and control.

Looking a little closer at the flash ICs, we can see that OCZ have used their own branded NAND flash, although the part number does refer to an identical IC made by Intel/Micron Flash Technologies (IMFT). Each of the 25nm chips pack 16GB of storage, totalling 256GB with the 16 chips on this board.

At the heart of the drive is the all new IDZ500M00-BC Barefoot 3 Indilinx controller which is totally designed and built by OCZ meaning that the performance of this drive is completely tailored and optimised to OCZ’s specifications.