OCZ Agility EX news

Hot Deals of the Day: Dell Vostro, a Trio of SSDs, and More

By HotHardware, published 27-04-2012

It’s time to close out another week, but not before serving up a nice, healthy batch of HOT deals, by way of our friends at LogicBuy. On the menu this Friday afternoon, we have deals on a Dell Vostro 260 mini-tower w/20" Dell E2011H LED LCD monitor, 240GB OCZ Agility and SanDisk Extreme, and a 120GB Corsair Force Series, SATA III Internal...

Review: OCZ Octane 512GB

By TechRadar, published 14-12-2011

OverviewThe OCZ Octane 512GB offers high capacity, SATA 6Gbps performance, but at what price?So you want a high performance solid state drive? For goodness sake get something with a SandForce SSD controller. That's the prevailing wisdom the new OCZ Octane 512GB must dismantle if it's to succeed.SandForce's second generation SF-2000 family of controllers has been a big hit despite early concerns over stability issues. In fact, OCZ has itself used the SF-2281 in a number of drives including the OCZ Vertex 3 240GB and OCZ Agility 3 240GB. Plenty of other popular drives, including the Corsair Force 3 120GB, also pack SandForce technology.But choice is a fine thing, so we're pleased and impressed in equal measure to find OCZ has come up with something unique for the new OCZ Octane 512GB and ind...

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...

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 Stomps Out SandForce BSOD Bug with Firmware Update

By HotHardware, published 18-10-2011

OCZ just made available new firmware that's supposed to fix a handful of stability issues with certain SandForce-based solid state drives (SSDs). Affected SSDs include the Vertex 3 series, Vertex 3 Max IOPS series, Agility 3 series, and Solid 3 series. According to the release notes, the firmware addresses the following: Fixed a rare condition...

In Depth: How to build the best PC for your needs

By TechRadar, published 25-09-2011

How to build a PCSystem builders are great and everything, but unless you emit static electricity or are terminally lazy, you should be thinking about building your own PC. Why? Because not only do you get the satisfaction of having crafted your machine from the ground up, growing and harvesting each component from the soil… or something like that. You also get full control over what goes in the chassis. And what the case will look like. System builders do a great job of delivering sensible packages of components at attractive price points, but building your own rig gives you full control. All the parts you need, none that you don't. And no extra expense to you. And that level of control's important. It's what being a PC enthusiast is all about. It's what elevates us above the hunched si...

Corsair Force GT 120GB SSD

By MaximumPC, published 09-08-2011

Corsair’s Force GT comes in a bright red chassis, which by Ork logic (in the Warhammer 40K universe) would make it the fastest SSD ever. So is it? The Force GT consists of a 6Gb/s SATA bus, SF-2281 controller, and 16 64Gb Micron 25nm synchronous NAND modules (as opposed to the eight 128Gb modules on the Patriot Wildfire). This is the same Micron NAND found in the 240GB OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G, except that drive had 128Gb modules instead of 64Gb. (Corsair is also shipping the Force 3, which bears the same relationship to the Force GT as OCZ’s Agility 3 bears to the Vertex 3—the Force 3 uses asynchronous NAND and is slightly slower and cheaper than the Force GT.) The Corsair Force GT uses Ork logic—the red ones go faster. In CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD’s sustained read tests, the...

Review Roundup: This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

By TechRadar, published 27-08-2011

This week's hottest reviews on TechRadarThis week has been a bumper week for kit on TechRadar - it's hardly been a slow week for news, either.We've got the pocket 3D camcorder, the Sony Bloggie 3D, the Panasonic DMC-FZ48 with a super 24x lens. Also from Panasonic is the 65-inch Panasonic's TX-P65VT30.And then there's the updated Sony Xperia Mini - a diminutive Android handset, HTC Evo 3D plus much more besides.Sony Bloggie 3D reviewThe Sony Bloggie 3D MHS-FS3 certainly isn't cheap, but then this is a distinctly premium point-and-shoot video recorder. The obvious draw is simple, hassle-free 3D recording and playback, with an easy way to trim and upload the footage. But it's not just a one-trick, three-dimensional pony; there's a good range of 2D recording options too, including 1080p, so So...

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...

OCZ Agility 3 240GB Review

By MaximumPC, published 08-10-2011

OCZ already ships two drives with the blazing-fast SF-2281 controller—the Vertex 3 and the firmware-tweaked Max IOPS Vertex 3. So, why a third? Like its predecessors the Agility and Agility 2, the Agility 3 is OCZ’s “mainstream” SSD for this generation. So what distinguishes it from the Vertex 3, and is there any reason to buy it? Like other 240GB SandForce drives, the Agility 3 uses 256GB of NAND, with 16GB devoted to overprovisioning. Unlike the Vertex 3 and OWC’s Mercury Extreme Pro, which use synchronous NAND for their storage, the Agility 3 uses asynchronous, which is slower. Does the cheaper NAND in the OCZ Agility 3 make a difference? Yes and no. The good news is that the Agility’s use of cheaper NAND only becomes a problem in a few situations, most of which are unlikely...

Hardware Roundup

By HotHardware, published 24-06-2011

Video: TechwareLabs Review: Sapphire Radeon HD 6670 Ultimate Video Card Motherboards and Chipsets: ASUS M5A99X EVO (AMD 990X) Motherboard Review @ Tweaktown Processors: AMD Llano A8-3500M APU Review @ t-break Memory and Storage: Toshiba BDX5200 Review @ TechReviewSource.com OCZ Vertex 3 MAX IOPS @ PureOverclock OCZ Agility 3 SSD Tests @ Benchmark...

Hardware Roundup

By HotHardware, published 06-07-2011

Video: HIS Radeon HD6870 IceQ-X Turbo-X Video Card @ Benchmark Reviews Motherboards and Chipsets: Legion Hardware - (Gigabyte Z68X-UD3H-B3) Zotac H67-ITX WiFi H67 Motherboard Review @ eTeknix.com Memory and Storage: Intel 320 Series 120GB SSD Review @ ITShootOut.com OCZ Agility 3 SSD Review @ Neoseeker Plextor PX-NAS4 Network Attached Storage...

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

By TechwareLabs, published 31-05-2011

Buying Guide: Hard drive upgrade: what to buy and how to fit it

By TechRadar, published 05-07-2011

Hard drives - or non-volatile storage devices, to give them their proper name - have long been essential for computing, but you could be forgiven for thinking that the HDD's days are numbered. If you believe the cloud computing fundamentalists, we'll be living and working in a browser soon, accessing applications on a North American server farm and maybe storing data elsewhere. This style of computing has its advantages, but we're great fans of owning our own applications and controlling our own data. Given this philosophical position, we're going to need somewhere to store all our data and - despite technology's constant evolution - there's little better than a humble hard disk. The current market is split roughly in two. On one hand are the traditional mechanical hard disks, with spinnin...