OCZ boosts Vertex SSD series speeds

Another month, another new, faster solid-state drive from OCZ. This time its a "Turbo" version of its Vertex SSD series.

Like the Summit SSDs announced in May, the Vertex Turbo drives contain a memory cache - 64MB of DRam running at 180MHz - to hold random-write operations until they can be more efficiently. The previous Vertex series had a 166MHz cache.

The upshot, OCZ claimed, are sustained write speeds of 100MB/s (30GB, 60GB Vertex Turbos) and 120MB/s (120GB and 250GB drives), and peak write speeds of 145MB/s and 200MB/s, respectively.

Read speeds max out out 240MB/s (30GB, 60GB) and 270MB/s (120GB, 250GB), OCZ said.

All four drives in the series follow the 2.5in form-factor and operate on a 3Gb/s Sata bus.

Prices in the US range from $172 (£106/€123) for the 30GB Vertex Turbo to a whopping $828 (£510/€592) for the 250GB model. ®