AS SSD:
AS SSD is a relatively new benchmark designed specifically for solid state drives. The application contains five synthetic tests used to determine the sequential and random read and write performance of a drive. Take note that AS SSD uses incompressible data in its tests, which can have a major impact on the scores of SandForce-based drives like the Vertex 3.
AS SSD also includes a copy benchmark. This test copies an ISO (two large files), program (many small files) and game (small and large files), returning the speed and duration of each.
HD Tune Pro 4.61:
Next, I ran a series of tests using HD Tune Pro. This hard disk utility measures a drive's performance by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its access time, burst rate and CPU usage. For this review, I'm also going to use it to benchmark the Vertex 3's random read and write speeds, random access times and the number of operations per second.
 OCZ Vertex 3 120GB - HD Tune Read Benchmark |
 OCZ Agility 3 120GB - HD Tune Read Benchmark |
 OCZ Vertex 3 120GB - HD Tune Write Benchmark |
 OCZ Agility 3 120GB - HD Tune Write Benchmark |
The Vertex 3 performed very well when benchmarked with HD Tune. The drive had average read and write speeds of 491.0 MB/s and 411.2 MB/s, respectively, and a burst rate of 333.2 MB/s when reading.
 OCZ Vertex 3 120GB - HD Tune Random Access Read |
 OCZ Agility 3 120GB - HD Tune Random Access Read |
 OCZ Vertex 3 120GB - HD Tune Random Access Write |
 OCZ Agility 3 120GB - HD Tune Random Access Write |
The Vertex 3 didn't disappoint when doing random reads and writes. When reading 4KB blocks, the drive reached 16910 IOPS and had an average speed of 66.056 MB/s. The Vertex 3 was even faster when writing, reaching 18227 IOPS with an average speed of 71.201 MB/s.
Iometer:
Lastly, I ran a series of tests using Iometer. This tool can be configured to benchmark a number of things. In this case, I used it to measure the Vertex 3's read and write speeds and the number of operations per second. The tests were run using both repeating and random bytes and a queue depth of 3.
The Vertex 3's performance was very similar to what we saw in our other tests. With highly compressible, repeating data, the drive was able to read at 526.37 MB/s and write at 464.25 MB/s. The Vertex 3 did not slow nearly as much as the Agility 3 when reading random data. However, its write speeds dropped to 160.82 MB/s.
The Vertex 3 performed very well when doing random reads and writes. With repeating data, the drive was able to read at 56.6 MB/s and write at a blazing 260.69 MB/s. Here too, the Vertex 3 took a performance hit when tested with random data. However, it was still able to write at 154.79 MB/s.
According to OCZ, the Vertex 3 is capable of 60,000 IOPS when randomly writing 4K blocks. In our tests, the drive reached 66,738 IOPS with repeating data and 39,628 IOPS with random data.
