OCZ Releases Firmware Update for Octane, Increases Random Write Performance

by Kristian Vättö on 1/23/2012 2:39:00 PM
Posted in Storage , SSDs , OCZ , Octane , Indilinx , Indilinx Everest

OCZ released a firmware update for its Octane SSD series. The update carries a version number 1.13 and OCZ claims substantial random write improvements. To refresh everyone's memory on Octane, it's based on the Indilinx Everest controller, the first public outcome of OCZ's Indilinx acquisition. We reviewed Octane last November and it did fairly well in our tests, but it wasn't able to steal the performance crown from SandForce. With this update, Octane is getting closer to SandForce performance. Below is a table comparing the random write performance figures provided by OCZ:

OCZ Octane Random Write 4K IOPS PerformanceCapacityOld Firmware (v1.12)New Firmware (v1.13)Change in Performance128GB7.7K IOPS18K IOPS+134%256GB12K IOPS25K IOPS+108%512GB16K IOPS26K IOPS+63%

The smaller the capacity, the bigger the improvement in random write performance. We are still nowhere near the performance of SandForce based SSDs or Crucial m4, which have IOPS rates of 60K and 50K for 240GB/256GB models respectively. However, Octane is getting close to Samsung 830, which is rated for 36K IOPS (256GB model). 

This is definitely pleasant news and tightens the SSD competition even more. Moreover, this update once again shows that the firmware has a huge impact on the performance of an SSD (remember Crucial m4 FW0009?). Given the relative immaturity of the Indilinx Everest controller and its firmware, it's possible we will see another, or even two, performance updates for Octane in the future. 

We will be running Octane with the new firmware through our regular SSD tests to see how the new firmware performs in our test suite. In the meantime, OCZ's firmware updater along with the new firmware can be found here. As always, we recommend caution when moving to new firmware; this particular update is destructive so your SSD will be formatted in the process of updating, thus you should backup your data before flashing.

Source: OCZ

Print This Article 6 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment Well... by Death666Angel on Monday, January 23, 2012 I hope it gets better and cheaper! But the 128GB version seems to be 3Gbps and it costs about the same as the OCZ Solid 3 / Agility 3 120GB which have much better performance. And I think the 120GB is the sweet spot as long as prices remain above/about 1$/GB. :-9 Death666Angel Reply RE: Well... by Kristian Vättö on Monday, January 23, 2012 The 128GB version is SATA 6Gb/s as well. At least it's rated for 470MB/s read and 210MB/s write.

http://www.ocztechnology.com/ocz-octane-sata-iii-2... Kristian Vättö Reply RE: Well... by Death666Angel on Monday, January 23, 2012 Ah, my bad, I just noticed that there is an Octane S2 line vs. Octane. I just found the Octane S2 line since I went by price/GB. The Octane S2 is the one similar to the Solid3/Agility3 in price and has SATA Gbps3. But the Octane with SATA Gbps 6 is 20% more expensive.
To justify that, you need to really hate SF controllers. :D The Crucial m4 is slightly cheaper (6€) while Samsung 830 is 12€ more expensive.
Considering that I thought this controller was supposed to give OCZ more of an edge price-wise, I don't think it has succeeded. :-) Death666Angel Reply RE: Well... by DanNeely on Monday, January 23, 2012 The problem is most of the SSD price is still the flash chips themselves; until that changes the main cost differentiator between controllers on consumer SSDs is the ability to charge more for faster benchmark scores and higher perceived reliability. DanNeely Reply DESTRUCTIVE FLASH by geekfool on Monday, January 23, 2012 FIRMWARE IS DESTRUCTIVE. BACKUP DATA before flashing
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/content.ph...

Please update article to state so. geekfool Reply RE: DESTRUCTIVE FLASH by Kristian Vättö on Tuesday, January 24, 2012 Thanks, I have updated the article. Kristian Vättö Reply Subject Comment Post Comment Please login or register to post a comment.
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