OCZ ARC 100 – New Series SSD for the consumer market value
New range of ” value ” for OCZ, who signed with the models ARC 100 goes in search of users with fewer disposable income and at the same time filling a gap in its price list, until now, populated only by units from the midrange up. An important innovation in home OCZ, with the presentation of a whole new range of Solid-State Drive that goes under the name of OCZ ARC 100 following the acquisition by Toshiba, many have found to reflect on what was the fate.
It was facing the company; after some time, it can be said that the agreement was beneficial to both parties, since the OCZ brand is alive and well and Toshiba can now count on a complete lineup of SSD covering virtually all areas of use.
This assertion is reflected today with the presentation of the series ARC 100 allocated to the area ” value “, the one where great importance is given to the cost per GB and in which OCZ was not present. Staying in the consumer sector the list OCZ has offered to date models and Vector Vertex, the latter also suitable to a professional sector. Just missing an economic line, and it is that which is presented today.
OCZ keen to point out that belong to an economic line certainly does not mean to encounter some kind of waiver, these being limited to a few specific. The first good news is that ARC 100 follows in the footsteps of constructive series of major lineages: the controller is always made in a house, the Barefoot 3 in M10 we have already had to occasion to appreciate in our tests, as well as has not been lowered the guard on the stability of performance over time.
Why then is cheaper? The answer lies in the adoption of chip Toshiba A19nm toggle MLC 2, where ” A ” stands for advanced, which is an improved version also in terms of performance compared to the ” old ” chip 19nm simple, but obviously cheaper to implement thanks to a series production decidedly optimized.
That the new chip should be strong while costing less can be deduced from the performance declared in writing of the model with minor cut, OCZ 120GB: read 475MB/s and write 395MB/s , a value significantly higher than that of many units of the same capacity that do not fully exploit the potential of the controller.
The other two cuts available, 240GB and 480GB, respectively, are credited to read 480MB/s and 490MB/s – write 430MB/s and 450MB/s, values lower than those of the models Vertex and Vector, but hardly noticeable in normal use.
The interface used is obviously the SATA 6Gbps, it lacks compatibility with AES 256bit encryption, while the form factor is the classic 2.5-inch thickness of 7mm.
OCZ claims to have another important string to its bow, which is the full and continuous availability of NAND Flash chips, while other manufacturers are much more subject to market fluctuations.
Toshiba is one of the few manufacturers that produces millions of NAND Flash chips for other brands, which is why the statement from OCZ it seems credible and even logical: in the case of low availability of chips in general, Toshiba will have their own self-interest in making them available to OCZ than others.
