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OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid review roundup: a speedy and spacious storage solution
Ever since we spent some time with OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid back at Computex, we eagerly awaited its arrival so that it could be put through its paces. Well, the time has come for the $500 storage mongrel to face the music and for us to find out if it adds up to more than the sum of its SSD and HDD parts. Hot Hardware found the RevoDrive Hybrid delivered on its promise of mind-blowing peak transfer speeds of almost 1GBps, with performance that could only be matched by dual SATA III SSDs in a RAID 0 setup. Everyone spoke well of the Dataplex software that manages the RevoDrive's caching, as it dutifully maxed out performance once it learned usage patterns. TRIM support was a welcome feature, but all noted the niggle that it must be used as the system boot device, so it can't pull duty as secondary storage. All in all, the consensus is that while the RevoDrive Hybrid may be too pricey for some, it's a darn good deal for the performance it provides. Of course, you don't have to take our word for it, so dig into the full reviews at the sources below.
OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid merges 100GB SSD with 1TB HDD for $499
We heard about OCZ's clever crossbreed a few months ago, but couldn't be sure about pricing for this premium model. Turns out, it's significantly less than we'd guessed: $499 for a 100GB SSD and 1TB HDD happily united on a single PCI Express card. Yup, that's still a heck of a lot more than the $300 or so it'd cost to pick up a SandForce-controlled 120GB solid state beauty along with a separate 1TB SATA 6GB/s hard drive. The comparison isn't entirely fair, though, because OCZ claims its combo boosts overall performance by caching both "hot" and "cold" data, which is automatically organized between the SSD and HDD, on a single card with up to 910MB/s bandwidth and 120,000 IOPS. Nevertheless, it'll take some real-world benchmarking to determine whether the promised speed gain is worth our wages. More details in the PR after the break.
OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 and RevoDrive Hybrid hands-on (video)
We got a chance to spend some time with the lovely folks from OCZ here at Computex for a tour of their latest and greatest SSD products, the RevoDrive 3 X2 and RevoDrive Hybrid. Both are PCIe x4 cards featuring up to 4 SandForce SF-2200 controllers and RAID 0 (striping) for blazing performance. The RevoDrive 3 X2 is available in capacities from 240GB ($699) to 960GB and improves upon the RevoDrive X2 with TRIM support and double the performance. We were treated to a demo that achieved truly ludicrous speeds -- 1.5GBps reads and 1.2GBps writes -- the kind of numbers that'll perk up even the most jaded PC enthusiast. The RevoDrive Hybrid builds upon the same SSD technology as the RevoDrive 3 X2 to cache the contents of a 2.5-inch hard drive, with capacities starting at 500GB with a 60GB cache ($350). OCZ's demo showed a 20 times performance improvement going from a regular hard drive to the RevoDrive Hybrid. Both products are expected to ship in July, but we suggest you ogle them right now in the gallery below and in our hands-on video after the break. %Gallery-125104%
RevoDrive Hybrid pairs HDD with SSD on PCIe
Popping up in everything from tablets to servers, plain old solid-state drives are becoming as mundane as floppy disks were in the '90s, so it's about time someone got a little creative with the soldering iron. OCZ's RevoDrive Hybrid takes a HDD and puts it where it doesn't belong -- on top of an SSD. But unlike that deep fried Oreo you really shouldn't have "tasted" at the state fair, this pairing has potential to keep the juices flowing, caching reads and writes for both drives on a single PCIe card. Shipping in July, the $350 base Hybrid is expected to include a 500GB HDD and 60GB SSD, with a premium model doubling both capacities (and we assume price). With OCZ out of the memory game, we hope to see the now strictly SSD company bring innovative, affordable flash-based goodies to market, and it looks like we're off to a decent start.
OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCIe SSD reviewed: blisteringly fast in every conceivable way
Hard to say why OCZ Technology pushed out revision two of its RevoDrive so soon after the original launched, but it's hard to complain with numbers like this. Just in time to shock the performance hound in your life with an outlandish Christmas gift comes the RevoDrive X2, and this here PCIe SSD solution has now been benchmarked to the hilt. The bottom line? It's fast. Really fast. In fact, Hot Hardware calls it "simply one of the fastest PCI Express based SSD solutions" that they have tested, noting that it went toe-to-toe with Fusion-io's ioXtreme while costing a good bit less. Critics over at Tweak Town echoed those thoughts, and while both teams felt the $680 asking price for a 240GB model was a touch pricey, neither felt that it wasn't worth it if you've got the coin laying around. Hit the links below for more charts than you'd ever want to see as an eight grader.
OCZ amps up performance on RevoDrive X2 PCIe SSD: 740MB/sec, up to 120k IOPS
Blink, and you've probably missed it. Just four short months after we saw OCZ Technology's original RevoDrive reviewed (and subsequently adored), along comes revision two. The RevoDrive X2 PCI-Express SSD looks, feels and smells the same as the first, but the performance is obviously looking north. The unit we saw introduced at Computex was capable of hitting 540MB/sec, while the X2 pushes that to 740MB/sec and up to 120,000 IOPS -- "nearly triple the throughput of other high-end SATA-based solutions." Furthermore, this guy packs double the SandForce SF-1200 controllers (four versus two in the original), and it retains the onboard RAID 0 design that you've come to know and love. It's available as we speak in 100GB to 960GB capacities, but there's nary a mention of price; something tells us that you're probably not the target market if you have to ask. %Gallery-106194%
RevoDrive PCIe SSD reviewed, deemed awesome, cheap, and awesome because it's cheap
Just the thought of an almost affordable PCIe SSD inspires some serious gadget lust, so we're glad to see reviews of the OCZ RevoDrive starting to pop up 'round the net. The gang at PC Perpective got their hands on a model, and they're clearly smitten, calling it "an absolute breath of fresh air." Although it ain't the fastest when compared to FusionIO's offering, "it is less demanding on system resources and remains an outstanding performer for its price point" (in the $400-$600 range, depending on configuration). And it employs a simple RAID controller, so you can use it for your boot drive. The reviewer at AnandTech was a little less enthusiastic, pointing out that "application launch times and most conventional desktop uses won't be affected" by the drive. But that's not to say it isn't a well-thought out piece of kit: "As far as the architecture of the drive goes," it continues, "there doesn't appear to be any downside to OCZ's PCI-X to PCIe solution." But that ain't the half of it! Check out the source links to get the nitty-gritty details.
OCZ reveals consumer-level RevoDrive PCIe SSD, blazing fast HSDL data interface
OCZ has a penchant for doling out new kit at trade shows, and this year's Computex is no different. The star of the new-release show was the RevoDrive, a PCIe card with between 128GB and 480GB of SSD onboard. The unit we saw here in Taipei was near-final, with a pair of SandForce SF-1200 controllers, a daughter board expansion slot (for possibly combining two in a RAID scenario) and a promised starting price of around $400 to $600 (not to mention read / write times of nearly 540MB/sec). Obviously, this hits well below the multi-thousand dollar PCIe SSD options from Fusion-io and company, and it's the first time we've seen PCIe SSD become even remotely affordable. If all goes well, the RevoDrive will start shipping within a few months. In related news, the company also announced that the Vertex 2 line of solid state solutions will be slimmed down for the 1.8-inch form factor (like you'd find in an iPod classic), but details on pricing or availability were nowhere to be found. Lastly, and potentially most importantly, the company revealed a fresh-out-of-the-lab prototype that could significantly enhance transfer rates from PCIe devices. Codenamed HSDL (high speed data link; shown above), the solution combines an industry standard SAS connector with an OCZ-built PCIe board in order to enable transfer rates as high as 20Gbit/sec. The company said a final product is at least six months out, but it's already toying with the idea of selling a single and quad-slot card in due time. Peek the gallery below for more of what's to come.%Gallery-94243%
