OCZ has made a great job with the design and optimization of the Barefoot 3 controller. It provides a really consistent performance with all kind of files - no matter they are small, large, compressible or not.

The Vector SSD excelled in almost any test we put it through: it offered fast sequential read/write speeds, great performance with small file threaded requests, very fast performance with small random files and high queue depths as well as low access times. Adding to all these a 5-year warranty and you have possibly the best SATA SSD made so far.

Overall we are impressed by the Vector, as it proved to be a solid step forward for OCZ compared to the Vertex 4, highly competitive to other high-performing SSDs such as Samsung's offerings and still, very reliable and stable during operation.

The 256GB drive retails for $250, which is $10 more than the Samsung 840 256GB PRo Series. Don't forget that you are still apply for a free downloadable OCZ's Far Cry3 game PC game with each purchase of a Vector SSD.

Positive:

• Stable operation under a heavy workload
• Very high sequential reading and writing performance, even at very low queue depths.
• Great 4K random writing performance regardless queue depths
• Excellent 4K random reading performance regardless queue depths
• SATA 6Gbps support
• TRIM support under Windows 7 and Windows 8
• Low access times
• 5 year warranty

Negative:

• Price could be a little lower