When OCZ debuted Z-Drive on CeBIT 2009, we were surprised to see the bulky look which dwarfed a lot of graphics cards. OCZ has now updated its product website and unveiled the new, sleek looking Z-Drive.
Gone is the bulky triple-slot appearance that protected four separate SSD drives on a PCIe card, now the board is more looking like a little bit fatter SSD placed on a PCIe card. This enables OCZ to compete in the same form factor as drives from Fusion-io.
OCZ Z-Drive Evolution in six months: Triple slot Z-Drive became a single slot part [almost]
After all, Z-Drive is not a retail product, but rather targeting commercial environment, where speed and durability is of utmost importance. Even though OCZ hasn't announced anything officially, we would not be surprised to see a gaming-oriented Z-Drive coming down soon - the only thing needed is a way to boot the operating system from a PCIe card, even via a SATA adapter - and use the PCI Express bus to achieve near limitless speeds. Luckily, what didn't go down is the performance, which is on continuous peak of what PCI Express Gen2 x4 slot can offer them.
Final version of Z-Drive reveals RAID0 controller on the back side, 4-pin Molex required for operation
According to OCZ, Z-drive 250GB offers 774MB/s of read, 646MB/s write speeds, 500GB model can read up to 878MB/s and write at 761MB/s, while the top capacity model, the 1TB of SSD goodness – reads at 878MB/s and writes up to 781MB/s. All three drives feature sustained write speed of up to 600MB/s, making this drive ideal for a lot of web servers and digital workstations in the content creation business.
Price? 250GB goes for $1,561.30; 500MB sets you back for $2,450.50, while the pleasure of owning 1TB SSD drive with currently unbeatable performance goes for $3,368.99. These prices are valid in the US, while Europe "enjoys" that nasty 1:1 conversion rate [500GB – €2,235, 1TB – €3,477].
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