OCZ Debuts Vertex 3 SSDs with SF-2000 Series

OCZ's new SSDs are capable of read speeds up to 550 MB/s and write speeds up to 520 MB/s.

Thursday OCZ Technology said that its new line of Vertex 3 SSDs have shipped for the consumer sector, arriving in 120 GB, 240 GB and 480 GB capacities. The company's enterprise-class Vertex 3 Pro series won't launch until mid-Q2 2011-- otherwise sometime around next month.

We first saw the Vertex 3 series back in January during CES 2011. Taking advantage of the SandForce SF-2200 controller and a SATA 6 Gbps interface, the new line is capable of read speeds up to 550 MB/s and write speeds up to 520 MB/s, depending on the capacity. All three provide the same 60,000 IOPS (4K random write), native TRIM support and 2.5-inch form factor traits.

"The Vertex 3 series with the SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor has been eagerly anticipated in the marketplace," said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. "Our partnership with SandForce has again facilitated the introduction of a solution that sets the benchmark for industry leading performance and reliability."

According to OCZ, the SSDs offer RAID support, a MTBF of 2 million hours, and low power consumption of 2W while in operation and .5W while in standby. Other features include a seek time of .1 ms and an included adapter bracket for mounting the MLC NAND-based drive into a 3.5-inch drive bay.

Currently Newegg is listing the 120 GB model for $300, the 240 GB model for $550 and the 480 GB model for a hefty $1,900 USD. Additional online retailers include Amazon, Micro Center, Circuit City and others.