OCZ Agility 2 News

Win an OCZ Agility 3 120GB SSD !

By TechwareLabs, published 20-02-2012

Deal of the week: A 60GB super-fast SSD for $64.99—and more

By TechReport, published 11-12-2011

Solid-state prices are going down, down, down, and the deals are getting hotter. This week, Newegg is selling OCZ's Agility 3 drive for $89.99 with free shipping and before a $25 mail-in rebate. In other words, you can nab the drive for a scant $64.99, provided you eventually get that rebate check in the mail. That's awfully close to a dollar a gigabyte for an SSD with such high read and write speed ratings—525MB/s and 475MB/s, respectively.If you're not a fan of OCZ for whatever reason, Newegg sells a similar drive from Corsair: the 60GB Force Series 3, which is on sale for $99.99 shipped , or ...Read more...

Deal of the week: Games, memory, and solid-state storage

By TechReport, published 11-04-2011

As hard drive prices continue to ramp up, solid-state drives are about as cheap as they've ever been. The price war among vendors of SandForce-based drives certainly hasn't hurt. Right now, Newegg sells a 60GB OCZ Agility 3 solid-state drive for $106.99 with free shipping—and you can slice $20 off of that with a mail-in rebate. That could leave you with a blazing-fast SSD boot drive for just $86.99, which is a steal. Our recent look at the new firmware for these SandForce SF-2281-based offerings proved encouraging, as well.Memory is still awfully affordable, too. One of today's Shell Shocker deals at Newegg involves a 16GB kit of DDR3-1600 memory from GeIL, which is on sale for ...Read more...

A quick look at OCZ's 2.15 SSD firmware

By TechReport, published 11-02-2011

For months, we've heard reports of folks experiencing blue-screen-of-death errors when running solid-state drives based on SandForce's latest SF-2281 controller. This so-called BSOD bug appears to affect all drives based on the controller, although SandForce claims that only "isolated" hardware configurations pose problems. We discussed the issue in the 120-128GB SSD round-up we published back in September, and at the time, SandForce was optimistic about a new firmware revision undergoing testing in its labs.About a month later, that revision materialized in an OCZ 2.15 firmware update released to the general public. Tailored for OCZ's Vertex 3, Agility 3, ...Read more...

Deal of the week: Graphics, games, and solid-state storage

By TechReport, published 22-10-2011

We've got a nice mix of game and hardware deals for you all this week, starting with a juicy discount on OCZ's 60GB Agility 3 solid-state drive. Formerly priced at $169.99, the drive is now on sale for $94.99 with free shipping, and you can get it down to $69.99 with a mail-in rebate.I'm guessing the drive's vertiginous price drop has to do with that SandForce SF-2200-series blue screen of death issue. However, OCZ released a firmware fix for the problem earlier this week, which makes this discounted SSD a ...Read more...

OCZ firmware update battles SandForce BSOD bug

By TechReport, published 19-10-2011

When we concluded our recent SSD round-up, we ended up recommending a handful of SandForce-based drives based on their pack-leading performance and strong value proposition. However, we had to temper those recommendations with a word of caution about the so-called BSOD bug that strikes some systems seemingly at random. Now, OCZ has released a 2.15 firmware update for its Vertex 3, Agility 3, and Solid 3 SSDs that purportedly banishes the BSOD bug.According to the official release notes (PDF), the 2.15 firmware addresses BSOD errors associated with running the SSDs as OS drives. The firmware also deals with problems related to various sleep modes, and it purportedly eliminates stuttering that could have occurred after an error reading ...Read more...

OCZ Agility 3 120GB Review @ HardwareLOOK

By TechwareLabs, published 09-06-2011

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

By TechRadar, published 20-08-2011

We may be in the middle of summer (not that you'd know it, looking outside) but we've still got some great kit reviewed this week. First up is Sony's new Alpha 35 SLT camera which has plenty of innovative features for those who want a bit more from an upgrade.We've also got a review of the monstrous EVGA GeForce GTX 560 2Win - two full-spec Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 GPUs together on the same card - as well as the excellent new Xperia Mini. It's a new Android-toting miniature smartphone from Sony Ericsson. Read on to see what we thought of it as well as tens of other products reviewed this week on TechRadar. Sony Alpha 35 reviewThe Sony Alpha A35 is the latest launch to join the manufacturer's innovative Single Lens Translucent (SLT) camera line-up, debuting a number of new technologies that l...

Deal of the week: Storage, enclosures, and Zotac discounts

By TechReport, published 19-08-2011

Storage devices are a staple of our weekly deals posts, and today is no exception. Newegg has a couple of intriguing discounts on mechanical hard drives, including Samsung's EcoGreen Spinpoint F4 1.5TB. The drive usually costs $65, but you can knock it down to an even $50 by applying promo code EMCKBJD32. Want to double up on the EcoGreen's storage capacity? Western Digital's Caviar Green 3TB can be had for only $119 with promo code EMCKBJB28.Perhaps the best way to complement a low-power hard drive is with an SSD to store one's OS and applications. OCZ's latest solid-state drives are on the receiving end of hefty discounts this week, with the Agility ...Read more...

Review: OCZ Agility 3 240GB

By TechRadar, published 19-08-2011

SandForce's hotly anticipated new SF-2200 controller? Check. 240GB of solid state memory? Yup. SATA 6Gbps support? Affirmative. Sequential read and write performance in the 500MB/s ball park? Oh, yes. Just what separates this OCZ Agility 3 drive from its seemingly identical Vertex 3 sibling? Not a lot, as it happens. But there is one difference. The Agility 3 makes do with asynchronous rather than synchronous NAND memory. But what, exactly, does this mean? Asynchronous NAND is cheaper and cheaper usually means slower. In this case, the reasons are rather subtle and involve the way flash memory chips sync with other parts of the SSD chipset over a given clock cycle. But the crucial upshot is that the asynchronous NAND limits the Agility 3 to 50MB/s per channel, whereas the Vertex punches ou...

Review: Crucial M4 256GB

By TechRadar, published 19-08-2011

Hand on heart, you know that drives with the latest SandForce SF-2200 series controller are probably the quickest you can buy. Is there any point in looking elsewhere? Well, yes. Price and reliability also come into the equation. Enter the Crucial M4 from one of the biggest outfits in memory. The new M4 256GB is hardly a slouch thanks to 6Gbps SATA support and 415MB/s read and 260MB/s write ratings. Not long ago, those would have been absolutely spectacular numbers. Admittedly, not so much today, but then again the M4's input-output operations per second (IOPS) performance which is around the 40 to 50K mark is far from shabby and should make for strong real-world performance. As for what makes the new M4 tick, it sports a mildly reworked version of the older Crucial C300's Marvell 9174 con...

Review: Corsair Force 3 120GB

By TechRadar, published 19-08-2011

One hundred and seventy English pounds for a 120GB SSD powered by the latest SandForce SF-2200 controller and 25nm NAND flash memory? Looks like a bit of a bargain, particularly compared to 120GB-ish drives with the Marvell 9174 controller, such as the Intel 510 and Plextor M2S. For the most part, Corsair's new Force 3 continues to look like a great deal when the stick-poking forensics kick off. You get the same SF-2281 controller found in several much more expensive drives. That means SATA 6Gbps support and clever DuraWrite data compression that reduces traffic to the flash memory cells, theoretically making for more performance and better drive longevity. In fact, to be strictly accurate, data compression is just one part of the DuraWrite feature set that contributes to reduced write amp...

Deal of the week: SSDs, PSUs, and an LCD with a VA panel

By TechReport, published 08-12-2011

We have an interesting mix of deals for you this week, starting with something you might expect: an SSD. 120GB versions of Intel's 320 Series solid-state drive can be had for just $205 at Newegg right now—a $30 discount. There are no rebates involved, and shipping is free. However, you should be aware that Intel has yet to resolve a firmware bug that causes some 320 Series SSDs to lose all but 8MB of their capacity after an unexpected power loss. A fix is in the works, but it's not ready yet, so be sure to keep your backups up to date.If the 320 Series doesn't strike your fancy, perhaps you'll find OCZ's Agility 3 120GB more attractive. This puppy should be ...Read more...

Computex 2011: OCZ Techonology announces Agility 3 and Solid 3 SATA III solid state drives

By TechwareLabs, published 31-05-2011

OCZ intros two new SSD families with SATA 6Gbps

By TechReport, published 05-10-2011

Say hello to the Agility 3 and Solid 3, the latest additions to OCZ's ever-growing line of solid-state drives. These new SSD families feature 6Gbps Serial ATA connectivity, SandForce SF-2200 controllers, and breakneck transfer speeds. OCZ says the drives "cater to speed-seeking enthusiasts in search of the best...

OCZ Technology Announces the Agility 3 and Solid 3 SATA III Solid State Drives

By Bjorn3D, published 05-10-2011

OCZ has launched Agility 3 and Solid 3 SATA III SSD today. Featuring SandForce SF-2200 SSD processor, the Agility 3 and Solid 3 are designed for enthusiasts who need high performance SSD without breaking your bank. The Agility 3 delivers up to 528 MB/s read, 500MB/s write and up to 60,000 4KB random write IOPs while the Solid 3 delivers up to 50