OCZ 60GB Core V2 Gadsden AL

The extra capacity that the 60GB Core V2 provides over 32GB SSDs is very welcome, and there are also 120GB and 250GB models available, all using MLC NAND flash memory. According to OCZ, its read speed is 170MB/sec while the write speed is 98MB/sec.




In the GIMP image editing test, the 60GB Core V2 returned a score of 1,353 which is slightly disappointing compared with the rest of the field. However, in the multitasking test, it was the third-fastest flash drive, even beating the HyperDrive4 RAM drive with a score of 1,126. It was quick at loading Crysis too, matching the OCZ 32GB Core with a time of 23 seconds. In the search test, the 60GB Core V2 was very quick, recording a time of 13 seconds, four seconds faster than the 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1, and only slower than the Intel flash drives and RAM drives.




Like most MLC NAND-based flash drives, the quirky JMicron controller in the 60GB Core V2 meant that it failed to reach its claimed write speeds, with an HD Tach 3 RW read speed of 143.8MB/sec and write speed of 49.8MB/sec. It drew more power than many of the other flash drives, with the system drawing 149W - the highest amount of all three OCZ drives in this Labs test.




The OCZ 60GB Core V2 is an interesting product. Despite its relatively high power consumption, and its write speed being a lot slower than OCZ claims, its read speed of 143.8MB/sec is nearly three times faster than a 2.5in hard disk. This means that it spends much less time reading data than any laptop hard drive, thereby using less overall power. We suspect that the OCZ 60GB Core V2, Patriot 64GB Warp and Super Talent MasterDrive OX 64GB are all the same underneath, but the OCZ 60GB Core V2 includes a mini-USB 2 port, so it just pips the rest to an Approved award. However, due to its slow and variable write performance, we'd only recommend it for laptops, not desktop PCs.

Author: James Gorbold & Antony Leather

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