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Review: Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSD Reviewed by: Wendy Robertson Provided by: OCZ Model: VX500-25SAT3-512G Firmware version: 1.1 |
The Toshiba OCZ VX500 is aimed at the mainstream segment of
the consumer SSD market, and is the successor the popular OCZ Vector 180 range
of SSDs. The Toshiba OCZ VX500 is powered by a Toshiba TC358790 SSD
controller, and is coupled to Toshiba 15nm MLC NAND.
As stated above, the VX500 is targeted at the mainstream
segment of the market, and is aimed at mid-ranged PCs, and laptops, where
performance and endurance are key.
The Toshiba OCZ VX500 is available in capacities of 128GB,
256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. The version I am looking at today is the 512GB version.
Toshiba OCZ company information
Those of you that would like to find out more about Toshiba OCZ,
can do so at their website.
The Toshiba OCZ VX500 SSD
Now it’s time to take a look at the drive itself and its
retail package..
Being a mainstream SSD, you get a bare drive, installation
manual, and a serial key for Acronis True Image HD backup and cloning software.
Box top
Box bottom
Drive top
Drive bottom
The casing of the Toshiba OCZ VX500 is an all metal affair.
The drive is fairly lightweight, but solidly built.
PCB
The PCB houses the Toshiba TC358790 SSD controller, eight
Toshiba 15nm MLC NAND chip packages, LPDDR3 cache on the 1TB model, the lower capacity models have no external DRAM, as this is not required, and we can also see various support
components. There are thermal transfer pads on the SSD controller and NAND to
transfer heat from these components to the outside world.
Drive maintenance features
For Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 users, and some
distributions of Linux, the Toshiba OCZ VX500 SSD supports TRIM to keep the
NAND clean. The Toshiba OCZ VX500 also has advanced garbage collection to clean
the NAND during drive idle periods.
Toshiba OCZ SSD Utility
Toshiba OCZ SSD
Utility
The SSD utility software allows the user to maintain the
SSD, and has the following features.
Overview tab
- Dashboard: Brings up useful information about the
SSD, including its health status and how much data has been written to the
SSD. It also displays how the SSD is connected, the firmware and if any
updated firmware is available. There is also a
handy temperature meter. - SSD details: Brings up more details about the SSD,
including its hardware ID string. - System details: Allows the user to see a mass of
information about the PC that the VX500 is connected to. - SMART: Displays the S.M.A.R.T. information for the VX500.
Tuner tab
- Benchmark: Performs a very basic benchmark on the
SSD. - SSD Tuner: Allows you to manually ‘over-provision’
the VX500. In other words, set aside an amount of NAND for the exclusive
use of the SSD controller. Using this feature will reduce the amount of
user storage. - OS Tuner: Allows operating system features that can
affect SSD performance, to be switched on or off.
Maintenance tab
- Updates: Allows the Toshiba OCZ VX500 firmware to
be updated. - Tools: Allows the SSD to be 'secure erased',
clearing all NAND and returning the SSD back to its default factory state. - Alerts: Displays any pending problem with the SSD,
or the system that it’s connected to. - Bootable SSD Utility: Allows the user to make a
bootable USB version of the SSD utility.
Settings tab
The settings tab allows the user to change various settings
in the OCZ SSD Utility. For example, if the monitoring part of the utility
should run in the background on closing the application, or if the OCZ SSD
Utility should be run automatically at Windows start up.
Help tab
The help tab creates a system report which can be saved as a
file, ready to be sent to Toshiba OCZ, should the user require technical
support from Toshiba OCZ.
Specifications.
The VX500 also comes with the Toshiba OCZ ‘Advanced Warranty
Program’, which means that if the drive should fail within the five year warranty
period, OCZ will ship you out a brand new SSD as an advanced replacement, thereby
keeping down time to a minimum. OCZ will also supply you with a pre-paid return
label, so that you can return the defective SSD free of charge
Let’s head to the next page where we take a look at our
testing methods and the review PC....