Conclusion

Although the drive we received from OCZ was an engineering sample it still featured their usual level of build quality. A robust casing was present and inside we get a PCB unique to OCZ with the latest SATA 6GB/s drive controller and quality Micron NAND MLC flash chips. In terms of design there isn't a lot that can be said of an SSD for the external appearance but we did note that OCZ have some internal LEDs beside the SATA connectors that light up when the drive is in use. Overall there were no issues to report on the internal design.

So that brings us to performance and in this area the Vertex 3 doesn't disappoint. Whether we are running it through a selection of synthetic tests or using it in real world scenarios the drive performs exceptionally well. It far exceeds the performance of the older SandForce controller and blazes right past Crucials SATA 6GB/s based C300 drive. Essentially the Vertex 3 is currently in a class of its own for SATA based SSD performance.

On the value front OCZ have the Vertex 3 RRP set just about right. The Vertex 2 240GB currently retails on Newegg for $449 so for $50 we get a significant leap in performance and retain the same level of excellent support and 3-year warranty.

Summary
OCZ don't make bad SSDs and the Vertex 3 is the latest in a long line of exceptional products from the San Jose based manufacturer. Priced at a competitive level the Vertex 3 is the fastest SATA based SSD that we have tested to date.