OCZ Vector 512GB SSD

Here we see the actual drive. The silver foil makes it a bit difficult to take a picture of and the image looks a bit dull. The drive is actually vibrant in color when in your hand.

All of the data, serial number, model number and so on is located on the back of the drive.

Vector is a 7mm z-height drive so it works in notebooks, desktops and new ultrabooks that require the 7mm standard. All of the mounting points are the same as 9.5mm height drives so you're not going to run into any incompatibility issues.

Vector also returns OCZ's flagship SSDs to an all-metal case. Late run Vertex 3 and all Vertex 4 drives mixed metal with plastic and the drives felt cheap. Vector is all-metal with a nice solid feel, the feel of quality.

This part is a bit exciting for me. The first time we tested a Vector product we didn't know what OCZ planned for the open DRAM pad on the PCB, seen here next to the Micron DRAM chip. OCZ configured the 512GB with the same 1GB size DRAM buffer found on the 256GB model. We speculated that OCZ might try to fit 1.5GB of DRAM on the 512GB drive, but that didn't happen.

With the Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller nestled in the middle on the other side, all of the flash surrounds the controller. There are 16 25nm IMFT flash chips with 8 on each side. Two Micron DRAM chips cache page table data.