Vertex 4 is presented in a well-designed box which has a depiction of the drive on the front and fundamental features. OCZ are keen to reveal that Vertex 4 is driven by an Indilinx (dual-ARM controller) – unlike previous generations of Vertex SSD which were SandForce driven. The capacity of this drive is printed in the bottom right corner.



Opening the box up reveals an assortment of included items within the bundle. Included items consist of:

• Vertex 4 SSD within anti-static bag
• 3.5” mounting plate
• Installation guide and warranty leaflet
• OCZ sticker

As is usual for OCZ’s SSD product-line, the Vertex 4 sits within a padded compartment and within an anti-static bag for protection.



Unveiling the Vertex 4 we are met with a very sleek looking exterior. Vertex 4’s outer shell is covered in a smooth, plastic cover – the centre having a product label identifying the drive.

Flipping the drive over the underside has a brushed steel plate with a specifications label detailing the serial number, capacity, form factor and other intricate information. Overall build quality is very good.





To reveal the inner-workings of Vertex 4 – four screws need to be removed. After removing the cover from the drive the first thing to notice is the thermal adhesive pad attached to the cover. When the cover is in place this pad covers the dual-ARM controller – Indilinx Everest 2 platform.

Indilinx Everest 2 brings in better real world performance handling fully incompressible data more efficiently. Incompressible data include video, encrypted data, ZIP/RAR files etc. A plethora of features are available with this platform that includes Ndurance 2.0 technology which in turn delivers:
• Reduced Write Amplification without Compression
• Advanced Multi-Level ECC
• Adaptive NAND Flash Management
• Redundant NAND Array™ (RNA) Technology

Additional to this Vertex 4 also delivers the following features: Auto-Encryption and AES-256 Support Advanced ECC Engine (up to 128bits per 1KB) Superior Flexibility (extensive NAND compatibility; vendor-specific NAND commands).

Intel 25nm Synchronous Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash also features on Vertex 4, something which is in keeping with previous Vertex SSDs.



With the inspection now over let’s see how Vertex 4 performs whilst under testing conditions against a list of rival drives.