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OCZ RevoDrive 80GB Review
UPDATE: October 24th: I have sent a final warning and plea to OCZ leadership about their failed products and near nonexistent customer support. I have moved OCZ for now to Level 5 Warning Status. This means that until I see a marked change in policy and attitude from OCZ and a number of products tested that work without incident to MY standard, I am STRONGLY recommending to never purchase anything OCZ. You will regret it. If this experience changes things for them, great, I will be happy to let you know but for now stay away. OCZ DOES NOT HONOR THEIR LIFETIME WARRANTY. That should be enough to not honor them with your money.
UPDATE: September 29th: Despite repeated pleas to clean up their act, OCZ continues to fail my Integrity Check. I now add "consumer warranty fraud" to the list of failures. I will spare the details, as they no longer matter, but I wouldn't hold my breath for more review product from this flawed company. It's truly a shame, they put out some impressive SOUNDING product, but that product fails to work, and the company behind it fails to support it. This article receives a lot of Google traffic inbound with keywords such as "how to diagnose revoderive", "how to install windows on a ocz revo ssd 80g", "how to updateocz revodrive frimware update", "ocz 80g revo ssd review", "ocz revo 80 gig problems", "ocz revo not recognized", "ocz revo x2 faulty", "ocz revodrive 80gb issues", "ocz revodrive 80gb not see in startup", "ocz revodrive firmware, and so on and so on. These are just SOME of the many ACTUAL search results from Google that have landed on my review. As you can see, people have a lot of problems with OCZ product, and I have a harder and harder time recommending them at all. I have informed the company time and time again, and they remain silent on these issues, and refuse to honor their warranty on my memory product. They are welcome to work toward fixing these issues, but they have shown zero intent to do so.
UPDATE: July 14th: I have given OCZ since the begining of May to either correct this faulty product, or send me a follow up product for review. After the experience of two faulty OCZ products in a row, the SSD and an expensive set of RAM, I must sadly but STRONGLY recommend against the purchase of any OCZ product. Their support is virtually non-existant, and the rep has not replied to emails in two months. That is MORE than a reasonable enough time for me to conclude that the company has decided not to contnue working with me, in retaliation for a negative review. They have done NOTHING to oppose this conclusion, and therefore it stands to reason.
But hey guys, that's what my fully independant review process is FOR. I don't HAVE to give something a good review. So if OCZ DOES send me more product, I will review it, but it will take at least two sample sets in a row to go smoothly AND support needs to be better for me to turn around this recommendation. Feel free to read the review below, but my strong recomendation is to just stay away.
Introduction
Overview of the OCZ Revo 80GB SSD
First impressions
As this is my first SSD review I had extremely high expectations both for the performance of the device, and for the uniqueness of this review process. However; things have been anything aside from smooth, and a complete test of the device is currently not possible. Therefore; this review will be shorter than it should be.
The unboxing itself was very impressive. You can see a video of that below. If you read my review of the Axelo Bat you'll see that sometimes extremely fancy packaging belies an extremely flawed product underneath. While I am not saying that the OCZ Revo is itself an extremely flawed product, in the context of my ultra-high-end build it has proven to be the least reliable piece of hardware that I have used in a long time.
To be fair; I did a lot of research prior to installing the device, prepared a set of 32 and 64-bit drivers, and was given a document detailing the testing procedures that OCZ wanted to see. I have some issues with that and will get to that later, if I can really get down to testing this device. For now the main problem is that while physical installation of the device took approximately 6 seconds, getting it to actually do anything useful has taken half of an entire day.
As it stands I cannot see that this device is stable enough to be used in a production machine. Whatever the reason is, whatever the 27 different workarounds, settings, or other arcane issues there are, the fact still remains that the device does not do what it is intended to do, the way it is supposed do it, as it is configured.
The Architecture
For this particular device this is the first review that I have of a similar product and therefore I do not have in my own lab anything to compare it directly to. As I mentioned in the introduction, the device is not stable for what it is supposed to do. For that; I can compare it to every other device that I have. In this; it fares very poorly.
For the moment I'm not going to get into the details of the SSD architecture until I have a replacement device that will work as advertised.
Commentary on the Architecture or features
The OCZ SSD that I received is a first-generation 80 gig device. In theory; this should be sufficient and appropriate to use as a boot device for a gaming or production machine. When I asked OCZ for an appropriate high-end SSD device for my ultra-high-end build this is what they sent me. You will note; by looking at the test platform notes below, that every other device is either "best in slot" or very close to it. Is this Revo drive a “best in slot SSD”, appropriate for a high-end production machine? As much as I would like to say otherwise I have to say "not remotely". Why?
Stability
Every other device in my test platform works with absolute stability. I trust each of these devices implicitly, and I know that under heavy, heavy load, my computer will not crash, become unstable, develop any odd habits, or otherwise fail me. So far today, the OCZ SSD has done nothing but fail me.
To be fair
Let me be very clear; I am not saying that the device is dead. It would be simple if it was and I wouldn't make such a fuss. The device is in fact recognized, and after several attempts at loading drivers it does finally work. That ordeal alone would have been enough to turn me off to the device had I purchased it through someone like Newegg. I would've either RMA’d the device or returned it for something else. The fact that the device is recognized and appears to work correctly, and eventually allows one to format it in a manner that is recognized by Windows, leads me to believe that the problem is not catastrophic and rather represents a fundamental issue with stability and compatibility.
BSOD
Starting with my Rampage build, once I finally got the system to recognize the drive I was able to run a few tests. I'll get into the actual test results at a later update although they are not encouraging. Using two separate hard drive testing apps my Revo drive topped out around 280 MB per second as opposed to the advertised 540. One could argue; this might be an issue of which slot the device is in ( I have tried 3 so far ), a setting in Windows, a setting in the testing program, a setting in the system bios, or any of 33 other issues that could come up. Even if that was a valid argument, it would only serve to prove that a device that requires that many hours of tweaking, finessing, and/or troubleshooting in order to work as advertised is not worthy to be used in an ultra-high-end production machine where all of the other parts simply work as designed.
Installation of Windows 7
Once I was able to actually get the device to be recognized by the Windows installer I was able to install a working version of Windows and attempt to boot from the device. At this point I was encouraged, and thought that the worst was behind me. However after all of the raid bios screens and the initial loading window screen, I get a dreaded BSOD. The actual BSOD itself blinks by so fast that I cannot capture it even with my camera at 60 frames per second. Therefore I have no idea what it says. I have Googled this problem, and I come to find that Revo drives and BSODs are very common, common enough that the recommendation to Google "Revo drives BSOD" is mentioned by more than one forum user. This is usually not a good sign. If something is this widely unstable, I cannot, in any good conscience, recommend the device to anyone. I have to imagine that the company that makes this device is well aware of what's being said about it on Google, and I cannot understand why they chose this particular device to send me. It really does not make a good first impression, especially after they already knew that I had to RMA an expensive ( $300 ) set of ram from them.
I will be following up with OCZ for solutions to this problem, but even if I get it working perfectly, and at the advertised 540 MB per second speed, I will have spent so many hours getting it to work that it will not have been worth it, and my recommendation will not change greatly. I am saddened by this, as I have high hopes for this device.
The X2
I am nothing if not fair. If OCZ wishes to send me an X2 Revo drive, and that drive works without a hitch, and proves itself to be completely stable under my work loads, for a period of at least a few weeks, then I can assume that this problem is isolated to the original Revo drive and is not simply something that is tolerated by OCZ for their products in general. Tragically however; in my Google searching I found a number of references to BSOD and the X2 as well. Does that mean that all Revos are unstable? Only time will tell; and sometimes a key firmware update can bring it all together. I am going to shelve this Revo drive for the moment, but OCZ requested the unit back for testing. Normally I won't send a storage device back if I've put any personal data on it, but I've shredded the data on it, and there wasn't anything too personal on there. I'm waiting for them to send me something a little better for my testing, as I'm really not confident in the Revodrive at this point, not with the many references to BSODs one can find online. I'll look at an X2, or a Z drive, or maybe a Vertex, but the Revodrive as it is really needs a firmware update or something to be recommended.
Bad RAM and RMA
In the interest of disclosure; I must mention that the only other OCZ device that I have in my possession is a set of 12GB Reaper 1333 RAM (OCZ3RPR1333C9LV12GK ). This RAM arrived flawed, and is often not recognized properly by the bios, and must be RMA’d. Add to this that OCZ requires that the RMA be returned at the customer's expense, and that they sent my Revo drive via UPS ground, ( virtually all other vendors have sent their product via FedEx overnight or at least UPS air ) and overall things are not looking so good.
Redemption
If you have read any of my other reviews you will already know about my "integrity check". Everyone makes mistakes, God knows even me, but how we are judged is how we fix those mistakes. My confidence in the Revo drive is pretty much shot. Even if I get it working correctly, as I said, I find it hard to recommend it to the average user who may not be willing or able to spend several or more hours/days troubleshooting various things in the bios. That's a lot to ask of any customer much less one who is not super tech savvy.
Test Platform and Methodology
1366 Test Platform
CPU - Intel Core i7 970 at 4.2+Ghz
CPU Cooling - Coolit System E.C.O. 240 with Push/Pull Fans
GPU – XFX AMD HD 5970 OCed to 900/1200
GPU Cooling - Coolit System O.M.N.I. 5970
Motherboard - Asus Rampage III Extreme with 1208 bios
RAM – G.Skill 6GB kit ( Temporary until a new 12+ kit can be had )
PSU - Corsair AX1200 1200w
OS - Windows 7 x64
No doubt about it, this is an ULTRA HIGH end system. Full reviews of key components are forthcoming, but for now, what you need to know is that this system is not a bottleneck for any card/device.
Test Results
Coming if issues with card are satisfactorily resolved
Issues?
Numerous so far.
First; device recognition was not automatic in the bios. It seemed to take a couple of restarts to get things going. Once in Windows it took several attempts to load drivers before the device would be recognized by Windows. In fact it took several attempts and several restarts, the ultimate resolution of which was arbitrary, as Windows simply loaded the 32-bit drivers that I had previously attempted and then all seemed well.
Formatting the device itself also proved problematic as the first formatting did not seem to take. After restarting again the raid bios finally showed up and formatting the device could take place.
Upon attempting to install Windows on the device, it took four or five attempts, utilizing the same 32 and 64-bit drivers, before the installer would recognize the device and consent to install Windows, once it finally did we got the BSOD.
I have also tested the drive in two other platforms, and it worked in neither. I think that's quite enough due diligence.
Other Features
The box was pretty, and the board is lightweight. The device came very well protected in its package, but included absolutely no paper materials, which I later realized is because it was a used product. This was an unfortunate bad move on OCZ's part for a first co-op review. You really want to make a good first impresssion, and from the slow shipping to the used product, to it being a dud, this experience has been anything but. I will reserve final judgment until after I see what they do next.
Integrity Check
As this is a brand new paradigm in product reviews, I will take a moment to explain the logic behind it in each of my early reviews.
This is how it works:
For my site, my keystone paradigm is “Integrity”. It governs everything that I do. I do not “scoop”, I do not “spy”, nor will I purchase stolen hardware, or less serious but still crappy behavior such as copying content, posting something on my site as if it was my content, with a “via-“ link. There is no via ANYthing on my site. 100% of all of my content is generated by me. Period.
On that same token, I have certain standards for vendors. It has been my long experience that vendors will treat their reviewers equal to how they treat their customers. The only difference between a professional reviewer and an end user is that reviewers don’t pay for the product. However, we still, or at least, I still expect a certain degree of support, communication, acceptance of feedback, and level of behavioral conduct.
As part of this process, I will detail my dealings with each company from first contact, product acquisition, support, and follow up. Exceptional companies will gain a lot of credit here, and the poorly run, greedy, or otherwise “less thans” will be outed.
COMPANY
First; OCZ sells me a set of ram that does not work properly, and then requires me to send my product back under warranty at my own expense. That case is still forthcoming and I will report back when I get the new set of ram. I have made a video of what happens with this particular RAM. I may or may not make that video available online. What it boils down to is that with all three sticks in, upon random start up, one or two of those sticks will not be recognized.
Second; OCZ sends me for professional review an older Revo drive that has been little more than a problem. Looking on their website, there are no firmware updates for any of the Revo drives. Therefore; if I cannot get it to work to its full potential in my primary system, a system that is dead stable, I cannot recommend this particular device at all. Also, after looking up the expected contents of the box, it appears that I was sent a unit that was either used and returned, or used previously in review. As is stated elsewhere on my site, I consider this a pretty serious offense, especially when the unit was packed back up to look like it was new and not disclosed as "not new".
The next move for OCZ is either to provide a Revo X2 ( "new" ) so that I can see for myself whether or not the stability issues seen in the original Revo are carried forth to the newer version, or maybe a Z drive or Vertex, or something, and finally how they handle that will help determine what their final "integrity score" is with me.
I will update this review and report back when this has occurred.
Support
So far OCZ support has proven to be less than desirable. I am truly saddened by this, as when I was originally shopping for RAM for this system, I noted that whenever someone had a problem on Newegg, OCZ was always quick to respond. I interpreted this, hopefully not erroneously, as a company that is truly on the ball. How they handle the support issues that I have will determine their reputation with me moving forward.
UPDATE: July 14th: I have given OCZ since the begining of May to either correct this faulty product, or send me a follow up product for review. After the experience of two faulty OCZ products in a row, the SSD and an expensive set of RAM, I must sadly but STRONGLY recommend against the purchase of any OCZ product. Their support is virtually non-existant, and the rep has not replied to emails in two months. That is MORE than a reasonable enough time for me to conclude that the company has decided not to contnue working with me, in retaliation for a negative review. They have done NOTHING to oppose this conclusion, and therefore it stands to reason.
Conclusion
For the moment this is hardly a conclusion. I have given up on this particular drive, after many hours of troubleshooting. I also attempted to install it in another desktop I have with a Sandy Bridge motherboard, a system that I have not begun the review on, as I am still waiting on a couple of new parts. Tragically; the unit proved even worse in that system, as it would not allow it to POST. I also tried it in my Gigabyte based 1156 board ( seen in my AMD 6850/6870 review ) with the same conclusion; no boot. The fact of the matter remains that OCZ sent this device to me as their interpretation of what should go in an ultra-high-end production machine. As it has proven unworthy to be such a device, I will be taking that into account in its final evaluation, no matter what happens. The only exception to this assessment is if the Revo drive that I received is faulty. If OCZ sends me an X2 or Z that works perfectly, with no BSODs, this will be a very different situation. At that point, I will simply conclude that the Revo wasn't really a good yield and hopefully the others will be better.
Stay tuned for the conclusion of this, and hopefully other OCZ product reviews, in the near future.
UPDATE: July 14th: I wouldn't hold my breath.
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Category: Reviews