The Solid-State Drive (SSD) has without a doubt become the storage choice for computing. For any system, ranging from the highest end of gaming rigs to the most mobile of netbooks, the pros of an SSD far outweigh their cons. The most obvious advantage to an SSD is its speed, but this speed also comes with noiseless operation, low heat and energy consumption, and high durability. While there are several drawbacks to an SSD as compared to a conventional HDD, for example high price and largely uncharted extended lifetime performance, there is no question that SSD popularity has shot through the roof over the past few months.


As both popularity for SSDs and development of their technology grow, manufacturers are beginning to release their second generation SSD product lines. Today we have for review OCZ's second generation "mainstream" SSD, the OCZ Agility 120GB SSD.

Back in May, OCIA.net site owner Shawn Knight had a chance to look at the first generation of mainstream SSDs from OCZ. That mainstream SSD, the Apex, performed exceedingly well for its price-point. Today, we'll see how substantially SSD consumers benefit from the development of technology over time. Specifications for the OCZ Agility, from the OCZ website, follow:

    - Specifications
        - Available in 30GB (32), 60GB (64), 120GB (128) capacities*
        - 64MB Onboard Cache
        - Seek Time: <.1ms
        - Slim 2.5" Design
        - 99.8 x 69.63 x 9.3mm
        - Lightweight 77g
        - Operating Temp: 0C ~ 70C
        - Storage Temp: -45C ~ +85C
        - Low Power Consumption: 2W in operation, .5W in stand by
        - Shock Resistant 1500G
        - RAID Support
        - MTBF 1.5 million hours
    - 30GB Max Performance**
        - Read: Up to 185 MB/s
        - Write: Up to 100 MB/s
        - Sustained Write: Up to 60 MB/S
    - 60GB Max Performance**
        - Read: Up to 230 MB/s
        - Write: Up to 135 MB/s
        - Sustained Write: Up to 80 MB/S
    - 120GB Max Performance**
        - Read: Up to 230 MB/s
        - Write: Up to 135 MB/s
        - Sustained Write: Up to 80 MB/S

While the Agility might not compare to high-end and SLC SSDs in speed, it should outperform any conventional HDD by far. In other words, the specifications we see here fit nicely in line with what we would expect from a mainstream SSD. Continue on as we have a look at this drive...