Review: OCZ Octane SSD (128GB)

Final thoughts and rating

OCZ's Octane solid-state drive arrived with one major question mark; can it make the Indilinx Everest controller a viable alternative to the established solutions from the likes of Marvell and SandForce?

The answer's yes, but it isn't quite as clear cut as that. SandForce drives still have the edge in terms of raw throughput, Marvell-driven SSDs have proven to be strong all rounders, and the Octane - albeit equally potent in certain scenarios - isn't any cheaper and needs to undercut the competition to truly stand out.

As a home-user upgrade, the 128GB, SATA 6Gbps model will deliver an instant jolt of speed that's consistent irrespective of the data type in use, and it's well worthy of consideration for that purpose alone. But less-than-stellar write speeds - particularly at high queue depths - prevent the drive from being a great all-rounder.

And then there's the issue of tried-and-trusted reliability. Drives based on Marvell and SandForce controllers have been available for some time, and both have benefited from firmware updates that introduced greater performance and stability. The relatively-new Octane, and its underlying Indilinx Everest controller, remains something of an unknown entity.

Bottom line: the Octane is the latest in a long line of high-performance OCZ SSDs and it's one to watch for the future. But right now, quicker alternatives are available at the same price.

The Good

Excellent read speeds
Consistent performance across data types
Ultra-low latency

The Bad

Limited write speeds
Performance drops off at high queue depths
Faster drives are available at around the same price

HEXUS Rating

OCZ Octane (128GB)

HEXUS Where2Buy

The 128GB OCZ Octane SSD is available to purchase from scan.co.uk*.

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