Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review

Fast, affordable and tiny, Toshiba's OCZ RC100 BGA M.2 NVMe SSD comes to market.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: Toshiba
14 minutes & 51 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 96%
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The Bottom Line

Tiny, affordable and very fast where it matters most. What's not to love?

Introduction, Drive Specifications, Pricing & Availability

Toshiba is positioning their new RC100 NVMe SSD as "NVMe for everybody". The OCZ RC100 is Toshiba's new mainstream SSD, positioned between the TR200 and the RD400. The 2-lane Toshiba OCZ RC100 is faster than any SATA SSD delivering NVMe goodness for much less money out of pocket than typical 4-lane NVMe SSDs.

Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 01

The focus of Toshiba's newest is affordability. To accomplish this feat, Toshiba employs PoP (Package on Package) technology to create an entire SSD on a single BGA package.

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The drive's controller and 64-layer 3D BiCS TLC flash array are contained on a single package. The RC100's single package design reduces production costs resulting in a more affordable NVMe SSD. To further reduce cost, the Toshiba OCZ RC100 is a DRAM-less design. Toshiba offsets the lack of onboard DRAM by utilizing HMB (Host Memory Buffer) technology.

HMB is a new feature that is built into the latest versions of Windows 10 in-box NVMe driver. HMB allocates a tiny portion (10-38 MiB) of host DRAM to perform SSD functions. This allows the SSD to perform much better than it would without some sort of DRAM support. HMB is baked into Windows 10 version 1709 or newer, so if you are running an older version of Windows 10, you will need to update for HMB functionality.

Toshiba's OCZ RC100 SSD is contained within a single BGA (Ball Grid Array) package. This results in an incredibly compact single sided M.2 SSD that fits onto a 22mm x 42mm (2242) PCB:

Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 02

Its diminutive size makes the OCZ RC100 perfect for small form factor builds, laptop upgrades, ITX PC's or anywhere else where size is at a premium.

The OCZ RC100's single package 2-lane design is very power efficient. Toshiba claims that the OCZ RC100 only consumes about half the power of typical enthusiast NVMe SSDs, making the RC100 ideal for portable computing applications where battery life is critical.

As mentioned, the Toshiba OCZ RC100 is a 2-lane PCIe device. This means it will not be able to achieve sequential performance that is as high as enthusiast grade 4-lane SSDs. However, that doesn't matter to us one bit. As we've shown on many occasions, sequential performance is essentially meaningless in an operating system environment. What actually matters is how well a drive serves up random performance at low queue depths.

Specifications

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Toshiba's OCZ RC100 Series is available in three capacities: 120GB, 240GB and 480GB

  • MTTF: 1 Million Hours
  • Warranty: 3-Year Limited Warranty
  • SLC caching
  • SMART
  • TRIM
  • Garbage Collection

Endurance (TBW): 120GB = 60 TB, 240GB = 120 TB, 480GB = 240 TB

MSRP: 120GB = $59.99, 240GB = $79.99, 480GB = $154.99

Availability: June 12th at major retailers.

Drive Details

Toshiba OCZ RC100 PCIe NVMe SSD

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The front of the packaging features an image of the enclosed SSD. The drive's capacity, form factor and BiCS flash are advertised here.

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The back of the packaging advertises the OCZ RC100's limited 3-year warranty.

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Included with the drive is a printed quick start guide. The guide recommends using Toshiba's NVMe driver, but that is a misprint because at this point there is no Toshiba NVMe driver that supports HMB.

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The drive's single package is covered by a manufacturer label.

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Here is a close-in view of the single BGA SSD package.

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The back of the PCB has no components, making the OCZ RC100 a single-sided design. There is a manufacturer label that lists the particulars of the drive.

Test System Setup, SSD Utility & Drive Properties

Jon's Consumer PCIe SSD Z270 Intel Review Test System Specifications

We would like to thank ASRock, Crucial, Intel, Corsair, RamCity, IN WIN, and Seasonic for making our test system possible.

SSD Utility

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 11

The RC100 is fully compatible with OCZ's latest SSD Utility. The utility makes drive maintenance and monitoring simple and easy to understand. The above screenshots let us know that HMB is enabled at the desired amount.

Drive Properties

Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD OS Disk 75% Full

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 480GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD OS Disk 75% Full

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The majority of our testing is performed with our test drive as our boot volume. Our boot volume is 75% full for all OS Disk "C" drive testing to replicate a typical consumer OS volume implementation. We feel that most of you will be utilizing your SSDs for your boot volume and that presenting you with results from an OS volume is more relevant than presenting you with empty secondary volume results.

System settings: Cstates and Speed stepping are both disabled in our systems BIOS. Windows High-Performance power plan is enabled. Windows write caching is enabled, and Windows buffer flushing is disabled. We are utilizing Windows 10 Pro 64-bit OS for all our testing. Empty Windows 10 benchmark screenshots will be shown on our Maxed-Out-Performance (MOP) page.

Please note: When comparing our results to those of other review sites, look at page 10 Maxed Out Performance-Windows 10 which is done with the disk empty.

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Please note: We ran the RC100 fully patched for Spectre/Meltdown on all benchmarks except for SYSmark. None of the competing SSDs were run patched. It is important to keep in mind that the RC100's patched performance is significantly handicapped relative to our test pool.

Benchmark screenshots will be shown 240GB model first followed by the 480GB model.

Synthetic Benchmarks - ATTO & Anvil Storage Utilities

ATTO

Version and / or Patch Used: 3.05

ATTO is a timeless benchmark used to provide manufacturers with data used for marketing storage products. When evaluating ATTO performance we focus on the drive's performance curve and small-file performance.

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 16

We are able to match or exceed factory ATTO sequential read/write performance specs with both capacities even when we are testing as OS volumes 75% full.

Sequential Write

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We would like to see better small-file performance, but overall the performance curve is more than acceptable.

Sequential Read

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Both capacities deliver similar sequential read performance. Again, we would like to see better small-file performance. We also need to keep in mind that the RC100 running patched for Spectre/Meltdown is at a disadvantage relative to our test pool.

Anvil Storage Utilities

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.1.0

Anvil's Storage Utilities is a storage benchmark designed to measure the storage performance of SSDs. The Standard Storage Benchmark performs a series of tests; you can run a full test or just the read or write test, or you can run a single test, i.e. 4K QD16. When evaluating performance with Anvils, we focus on total score.

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This benchmark illustrates why it is mandatory to disable Windows buffer flushing whenever running an NVMe SSD (except for certain Intel NVMe SSDs). The above result was run without disabling Windows buffer flushing.

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You will find Windows buffer flushing in drive policies. Be sure both boxes are checked. We spoke to Toshiba about adding a button to their SSD Utility that will disable Windows buffer flushing. They are looking into it.

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 21

13K IOPS at 4K QD1 read is very impressive. That's exactly what we are looking for.

Scoring

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In terms of total score, the RC100 does very well considering it is a 2-lane SSD running patched for Spectre/Meltdown. Despite being handicapped, the RC100 easily outscores MDD's SBX and Intel's 600P at both capacity points. Looking at the read score, we can see that where it matters most, the RC100 is delivering the goods.

(Anvil) Read IOPS through Queue Depth Scale

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 24
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Random performance is much more important than sequential performance for a system disk. Low queue depth random performance is more important than high queue depth performance. Random read performance is more important than random write. With those previous statements in mind, the results of this test are quite impressive. The RC100's performance curve impresses, especially at low queue depths where it matters most.

(Anvil) Write IOPS through Queue Scale

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 27
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Random write performance is most impacted by patching for Spectre/Meltdown. Even so, the RC100 performs admirably. Its performance curve is still better than MDD's SBX despite the aforementioned handicap.

Synthetic Benchmarks - CrystalDiskMark & AS SSD

CrystalDiskMark

Version and / or Patch Used: 3.0 Technical Preview

CrystalDiskMark is disk benchmark software that allows us to benchmark 4K and 4K queue depths with accuracy. Note: Crystal Disk Mark 3.0 Technical Preview was used for these tests since it offers the ability to measure native command queuing at QD4. When evaluating CDM results, we focus on 4K random performance at QD1 and QD4.

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Focusing in on QD1 and QD4 we find the RC100 smashing the competing drives in our test pool with the exception of Plextor's 4-lane M8Se. Keep in mind that the RC100 is the only SSD in our test pool that is running patched. The results of this test bode well for the RC100's moderate workload performance.

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Random write performance is getting crushed by the patches. Patching is causing the RC100 to fall to the bottom of our test pool. We will again point out that random write performance is far less important than random read. In fact, random write performance is 4x less important in an 80/20 (80% read/20% write) consumer setting.

AS SSD

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.8.5611.39791

AS SSD determines the performance of SSDs. The tool contains four synthetic as well as three practice tests. The synthetic tests are to determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD. We evaluate AS SSD performance in terms of overall score. We are looking for a minimum score of 2,000 when evaluating NVMe SSDs

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 34
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The RC100 serves up decent scores considering it is running patched. Now, when we dig a bit deeper and look at the all-important read score, we find the 480GB RC100 delivering the best-read score of the bunch. This is what matters and why we are giving the overall win to the 480GB RC100.

Benchmarks (OS) - Vantage, PCMark 7, PCMark 8 & SYSmark 2014 SE

Moderate Workload Model

We categorize these tests as indicative of a moderate workload environment.

PCMark Vantage - Hard Disk Tests

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.2.0.0

The reason we like PCMark Vantage is because the recorded traces are played back without system stops. What we see is the raw performance of the drive. This allows us to see a marked difference between scoring that other trace-based benchmarks do not exhibit. An example of a marked difference in scoring on the same drive would be empty vs. filled vs. steady state.

We run Vantage three ways. The first run is with the OS drive 75% full to simulate a lightly used OS volume filled with data to an amount we feel is common for most users. The second run is with the OS volume written into a "Steady State" utilizing SNIA's consumer guidelines. Steady state testing simulates a drive's performance similar to that of a drive that been subjected to consumer workloads for extensive amounts of time. The third run is a Vantage HDD test with the test drive attached as an empty, lightly used secondary device.

OS Volume 75% Full - Lightly Used

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 37

OS Volume 75% Full - Steady State

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Secondary Volume Empty - FOB

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 41

There's a big difference between an empty drive, one that's 75% full/used, and one that's in a steady state.

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The important scores to pay attention to are "OS Volume Steady State" and "OS Volume 75% full." These two categories are most important because they are indicative of typical of consumer user states. When a drive is in a steady state, it means garbage collection is running at the same time it's reading/writing.

Focusing in on steady-state, we find the RC100 defeating the contenders in our test pool with the exception of Plextor's M8Se. Empty is also a win for the RC100 480GB. Once again, we will note that patching for Spectre/Meltdown has a hugely negative impact on overall performance.

PCMark 7 - System Storage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.4.0

We will look to Raw System Storage scoring for evaluation because it's done without system stops and, therefore, allows us to see significant scoring differences between drives. When evaluating NVMe SSDs we are typically looking for a minimum score of 11,000.

OS Volume 75% Full - Lightly Used

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 44
Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 45

Patching rears its ugly head yet again. The RC100 is without question faster than the SBX, 600P and SX8000, but our chart does not reflect this fact. Never-the-less, the RC100 performs very well considering it is running patched and the others are not.

PCMark 8

Version and / or Patch Used: 2.4.304

We use PCMark 8 Storage benchmark to test the performance of SSDs with traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and a selection of popular games. You can test the system drive or any other recognized storage device, including local external drives.

Unlike synthetic storage tests, the PCMark 8 Storage benchmark highlights real-world performance differences between storage devices. We focus on the total score first and then storage bandwidth when evaluating PCMark 8 results.

OS Volume 75% Full - Lightly Used

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 47
Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 48

PCMark 8 is the most intensive moderate workload simulation we run. For being patched, the RC100 delivers the goods very well. We are of the opinion that if the 480GB RC100 was not running patched it would win this outright. Our evidence for this will be illustrated by the next benchmark where we run the RC100 unpatched.

BAPCo SYSmark 2014 SE Application Performance

Version and / or Patch Used: 2.0.0.70

SYSmark 2014 SE is considered the gold standard for testing system performance because it is an application based benchmark. This test gives us the ultimate in real-world results because it utilizes actual applications running on the system, instead of playing back recorded traces. If you want to know what kind of impact a particular SSD will have on your system's overall performance; this test will show you.

Our systems are much more powerful than the calibration system (1000-point baseline) used by BAPCo, so we ran an OCZ TL100 120GB SATA III SSD to establish a comparison point relative to our test systems. We will be running this test going forward and we will add drives to our chart as we test them.

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 50
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It is important to keep in mind that a few points are a big deal when comparing SYSmark scoring on the same platform. This line-up is a bit different than up to this point. This is because all these SSDs were run on our Z270 Platform. Other benchmarks are relatively unaffected when we switch platforms, but SYSmark must be run on the same platform for comparison accuracy.

We ran the RC100 unpatched for this test. This is the real deal, this is what matters most - actual application performance. And there you have it. The RC100 is considerably faster than MDD's SBX when running applications. It is even faster than Corsair's MLC powered NX500 Add-In-Card.

The results of this test accurately reflect how our system "feels" when running the RC100. It is very responsive, boots like lightning, and multitasks very well. We have a hard time distinguishing between an RC100 system disk and most 4-lane system disks. In fact, compared with the other SSDs that comprise our main test pool, the RC100 delivers a significantly better user experience.

Benchmarks (Secondary) - IOPS, Response & Transfer Rate

Iometer - Maximum IOPS

Version and / or Patch Used: Iometer 2014

We use Iometer to measure high queue depth performance. (No Partition)

Max IOPS Read

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 53

Max IOPS Write

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 56

We test NVMe SSDs using eight threads at QD32, or QD256. We do this because we want to see what the drive can generate at its maximum attainable queue depth. We have no problem exceeding (actually more than doubling) factory max random read IOPS specs. We can't quite get there with max random write IOPS.

Iometer - Disk Response

Version and / or Patch Used: Iometer 2014

We use Iometer to measure disk response times. Disk response times are measured at an industry accepted standard of 4K QD1 for both write and read. Each test runs twice for 30 seconds consecutively, with a 5-second ramp-up before each test. We partition the drive/array as a secondary device for this testing.

Avg. Write Response

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 58

Avg. Read Response

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 60
Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 61

The RC100 delivers where it matters. That read response is what matters to the end-user, and as you can see it's far better than the competition. This is why the RC100 delivers outstanding user experience.

DiskBench - Transfer Rate

Version and / or Patch Used: 2.6.2.0

We use DiskBench to time a 28.6GB block (9,882 files in 1,247 folders) composed primarily of incompressible sequential and random data as it's transferred from our Toshiba RD400 1TB NVME SSD to our test drive. We then read from a 6GB zip file that's part of our 28.6GB data block to determine the test drive's read transfer rate. Our system is restarted prior to the read test to clear any cached data, ensuring an accurate test result.

Write Transfer Rate

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 63

Read Transfer Rate

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Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB & 480GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD Review 66

The RC100 delivers excellent transfer rates, and this is despite the patching handicap. The RC100 outperforms the drives that comprise our test pool when reading data. Write transfers are also quite impressive for a 2-lane SSD.

Benchmarks – 70/30 Mixed Workload & Sustained Sequential Write

70/30 Mixed Workload Test (Sledgehammer)

Version and / or Patch Used: Iometer 2014

Heavy Workload Model

This test hammers a drive so hard we've dubbed it "Sledgehammer". Our 70/30 Mixed Workload test is designed to simulate a heavy-duty enthusiast/workstation steady-state environment. We feel that a mix of 70% read/30% write, full random 4K transfers best represents this type of user environment. Our test allows us to see the drive enter into and reach a steady state as the test progresses.

Phase one of the test preconditions the drive for 1 hour with 128K sequential writes at QD32. Phase two of the test runs a 70% read/30% write at QD32, full random 4K transfer workload on the drive for 1 hour. We log and chart (phase two) IOPS data at 5-second intervals for 1 hour (720 data points). 60 data points = 5 minutes.

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What we like about this test is that it reflects reality. Everything lines up, as it should. Consumer drives don't outperform Enterprise-Class SSDs that were designed for enterprise workloads. Consumer drives based on old technology are not outperforming modern Performance-Class SSDs, etc.

Obviously, the RC100 is not designed to handle workloads of this nature. We believe that this is because the allocated size for HMB is just to small to keep up with this workload.

Sustained Sequential Write

Version and / or Patch Used: Iometer 2014

Heavy Workload Model

We write to the drive for 1 hour with 128K sequential writes at QD32. We log and chart megabytes per second data at 5-second intervals for 1 hour (720 data points). 60 data points = 5 minutes.

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This test unmasks the sequential write performance of TLC flash arrays. The RC100 does better than Intel's 600P, but that's not saying much.

Maxed-Out Performance (MOP)

This testing is just to see what the drive is capable of in a FOB (Fresh Out of Box) state under optimal conditions. We are utilizing empty volumes of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2008 R2 64-bit for this testing.

Windows 10 MOP (Patched)

Toshiba OCZ RC100 240GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

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Windows 10 MOP (Patched)

Toshiba OCZ RC100 480GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

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Final Thoughts

Toshiba's OCZ RC100 is the smallest SSD we've ever tested, but don't let that small size fool you. The RC100 is fast and responsive. It provides a user experience that rivals the best that flash has to offer. This is in spite the lack of DRAM and having only two PCIe lanes to play with.

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The RC100 is by far the best performing two-lane flash-based SSD you can buy at this time. It is even faster, where it really matters, than many four-lane SSDs currently on the market. The RC100 also presents a value proposition that is hard to ignore. With an opening MSRP of just $155 for 480GB of NVMe goodness, the RC100 should sell like hotcakes.

Our synthetic testing, most notably our response testing, clearly shows that the RC100 is right there with high-end NVMe SSDs when reading random data at low queue depths. This is in spite of having only two PCIe lanes and the rather severe handicap of running performance killing patches for Spectre/Meltdown against SSDs. Even patched, it quickly became apparent to us that the RC100 is the real deal.

We must admit that we were a bit skeptical that the RC100 would be able to keep up with other value-oriented SSDs that have an onboard DRAM cache. Our skepticism faded the moment we saw the RC100's random read performance at QD1 when 75% full. We are pleasantly surprised to see that HMB (Host Memory Buffer) technology is so effective.

Because of its single BGA chip design, the RC100 is in our opinion destined to be one of the most affordable, if not the most affordable, NVMe SSDs on the market. It's almost there right out of the gate. It is true MDD's SBX Series, Kingston's A1000 Series and some of ADATA's lineup can be had for a few dollars less, but they offer an inferior user experience.

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It's tiny, it's powerful, it's super power efficient and cheap to boot. We feel the RC100 is ideal for those who are looking for more than performance SATA has to offer at a price that won't break the bank. Additionally, the RC100's M.2 2242 design is perfect for small form factor builds as well as a mobile computing upgrade.

We are pleasantly surprised by the total package that is Toshiba's OCZ RC100. With this in mind, Toshiba's OCZ RC100 is TweakTown recommended and Editors Choice awarded.

Pros:

  • Low QD Random Read
  • Application Performance
  • Included Software
  • Pricing

Cons:

  • 3-Year Warranty
  • Heavy Workloads
TweakTown award
Performance 90%
Quality 100%
Features 95%
Value 99%
Overall 96%

The Bottom Line: Tiny, affordable and very fast where it matters most. What's not to love?

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Jon joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and has since reviewed 100s of new storage products. Jon became a computer enthusiast when Windows XP launched. He was into water cooling and benching ATI video cards with modded drivers. Jon has been building computers for others for more than 10 years. Jon became a storage enthusiast the day he first booted an Intel X25-M G1 80GB SSD. Look for Jon to bring consumer SSD reviews into the spotlight.

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