OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid PCI Express SSD Review

Over the last few months, we have taken a look at a couple of OCZ-built products that leverage the company’s SuperScale Storage Accelerator with VCA (Virtualized Controller Architecture) 2.0. The first product to arrive was the RevoDrive 3 X2, which is a high-end, PCI Express SSD targeted at ultra-enthusiasts and workstation customers. Then came the extreme OCZ Z-Drive R4 PCIe SSD, which caters to the enterprise. If you’d like to learn more about the technology behind VCA 2.0 and OCZ’s Superscale Storage Accelerator, we strongly suggest perusing those two articles.

While they’re designed for completely different target markets, the OCZ RevoDrive 3 X2 and Z-Drive R4 have a number of things in common. As we’ve mentioned, they both leverage OCZ’s SuperScale Storage Accelerator with VCA 2.0, they both interface with a system through PCI Express, and they both feature SandForce SF-2200 series storage controllers paired to various amounts of MLC NAND flash memory. The latest OCZ product to hit the lab, the RevoDrive Hybrid also shares these traits, but its flash memory is paired to a 1TB traditional hard drive. With the RevoDrive Hybrid, the device’s flash memory is meant to be used as cache for the most frequently accessed data on the hard drive, speeding up access times and transfer speeds dramatically, while the hard drive is there for bulk storage.

Pairing a small to mid-sized SSD to a standard hard drive has been the preferred configuration of enthusiasts for a while now. But the RevoDrive is more akin to other hybrid solutions, like Seagate’s Momentus XT or Intel’s Rapid Storage Technology where the SSD is virtually invisible to end user and is used transparently for caching purposes only. OCZ simply uses a much speedier array of solid state storage than a standard SSD and links it to an HD on a PCI Express expansion card. Take a look at the specs and then we’ll dig in a little deeper before taking the RevoDrive Hybrid for a spin.

The OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid

OCZ RevoDrive Hybrid Specifications & Features

Available in 1TB Capacity 100GB Dedicated Cache PCI-Express Gen. 2 x4 Interface Full height form factor OCZ SuperScale Storage Controller Virtualized Controller Architecture 2.0 Included Caching Software Key ECC, Encryption SMART monitoring 167.64 (L) x 98.42 (W) x 22.15mm (H) Weight: 289g Compatible with Windows 7 32 and 64-bit

Operating Temp: 5°C ~ 50°C Storage Temp: 0°C ~ 60°C Power Consumption: 8.1W idle, 10W active MTBF: 600,000 hours 3-Year Warranty Max Performance Read: Up to 910 MB/s Write: Up to 810 MB/s Max Random Write 4KB: 120,000 IOPS Average Write: 65,000 IOPS

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