OCZ Puts SSDs On PCI Express Card: Comes Up With RevoDrive


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Remember that promising product called the i-RAM Gigabyte first threw at us back in 2006? That gave us the promise of having an ultra fast storage (as fast as DDR memory) where we can install Windows over or use it as an auxilliary cache. It had an auxilliary lithium ion battery the size of a small camcorder's to provide it juice for tens of hours when there's no power available to draw from the board. That drive didn't quite materialize long enough to be available here, but it looks like the idea's not entirely that bad. OCZ's RevoDrive PCIe SSD is just that, minus the removable volatile memory sticks and battery and solder on SSDs in place. While it may not be as blistering fast as DDR memory, SSDs at least, are non-volatile.

I'm sure we can live with read speeds of up to 540MB/s, write speeds of up to 480MB/s, sustained write speeds of up to 400MB/s, and up to 75,000 IOPs of reading and writing smallish 4k jobs. It's using a PCI-Express x4 interface, uses MLC memory, and is available in 120GB and 240GB capacities. The SSDs are configured in RAID 0 internally, too, which explains the unsually fast read time. OCZ promises an ultra reliable 2 million hour mean time between failure (MTBF) rating. The product's compatible with Windows XP 32/64-bit, Vista 32/64-bit, Windows 7 32/64-bit, and Linux operating systems.

It's marketed for enthusiasts, gamers, and power users, and it can be used to boot off your OS or just store your applications. The chipset used is Sandforce, too.