OCZ Vertex 3.20 240GB SSD Review

When we took a look at the original Vertex 3 a couple of years back, it set the bar quite high for all competing products that followed and OCZ then continued this through with the Vertex 4, then most recently with the Vector which has pushed the bar right up setting a whole new standard in SSD expectations. Whilst the Vertex3.20 these days is not classed as a high performance drive, it’s still not a slouch when it comes to performance and with the new 20nm NAND inside, its got a bit more to give over its older siblings.

As I’ve mentioned before, OCZ have every market sector covered both in terms of performance and also price – the latter being the more important focus on this particular revision of the Vertex 3. With drives like the Vector and the Vertex 4 aiming for the higher performance brackets within the market, the Vertex 3.20 is OCZ’s weapon in the price for performance sector and even though we see newer technology being applied to the drive, it still has the edge on giving a lot for its money.

With a price of just under £200 for the 240GB model and just over 100£ for the 120GB model, the price is well below the £1/GB barrier making both versions a competitive edge in the budget markets. It has to be said though that with this part of the market saturated with similarly specified drives and the performance margins so closely fought  – not surprising since the vast majority of these drives all play host to the SF-2281 controller, its hard to say what sets this drive apart from the rest in the current scheme of things. What I will say the Vertex 3.20 has got going for it is a known heritage of trusted and proven reliability and performance that is equally great on both the read and write side of things.

Users who are long standing OCZ customers and wish to stay with one of the most well know brands out there will see the Vertex 3.20 as a worthy replacement to the Agility 3 and 4 models as part of the compression of OCZ’s drive lineup and it will give them an improved level of performance for a competitive price.

Bottom line: Whilst the Vertex 3.20 is not the cheapest ‘budget’ drive on the market, it follows a path of reliability, trustworthy performance and for those who are in a legion to OCZ, this is a worthy upgrade option short of stepping in to the high performance categories with the likes of the current yard-stick for SSD performance OCZ’s own Vector.