OCZ Vertex 3.20 120GB SSD Review

As the name implies, AS SSD is a nifty little program written exclusively for solid-state drives. It can still be run on a mechanical hard drive just for fun, but be warned: what takes a few minutes on an SSD will require the better part of an hour on an HDD! It is freely available for download here.

This handy tool measures sequential reads and writes in addition to the important 4KB random reads and writes, then ranks the results with a final score for quick comparison with other SSDs. In addition to the main test there is a secondary benchmark that simulates the type of data transferred for ISO, Program, and Game files. We selected this program for its precision, ability to generate large file sizes on-the-fly, and because it is written to bypass Windows 7’s automatic caching system.

Second only to Iometer, AS SSD is one of the best tools for distinguishing between multiple SSDs while providing a scoring system for easier, quicker comparisons that anyone can run for themselves. One thing to note is that AS SSD does use incompressible data for its testing, which is a worst-case scenario for SandForce drives such as the 3.20 we are testing here.

The 3.20 performs well-enough without any single points of contention, but more importantly remains a close second to other budget SSDs in the AS SSD tests. Interestingly, access latency is slightly on the higher side with the 3.20, although this is normal with SandForce controllers in general.