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The VX500 comes in a small, blue box. While there isn't a lot of information on the front, the back of the box advertises many of the drive's key features including its SATA 6Gbps interface, 2.5" ultra-slim form factor, Toshiba MLC NAND flash memory, TRIM support and 5-year limited warranty.
Toshiba doesn't include a lot of extras with the VX500. Along with the SSD, the box contains a small drive installation manual with instructions for both desktop and notebook computers as well as a couple of sheets of paper with information on how to reach OCZ's tech support and install the Acronis True Image software
Physical Features:
The construction of the OCZ VX500 is very similar to that of Toshiba's Q Series Pro and Q300 SSDs. The outer casing is made out of a lightweight, metal alloy. Instead of a matte black or silver finish, it sports a more natural look which is broken up by a series of small dots. The top of the drive also has a large, blue and gray sticker showing that it is part of Toshiba's OCZ VX500 series.
Toshiba isn't taking any chances when it comes to heat. The VX500 has thermal pads on the controller as well as the NAND flash chips. These pads transfer heat away from the components to the outer casing, which then acts like a large heat spreader.
With the thermal pads removed, you can see that the VX500 uses Toshiba's TC358790 controller chip. Very little is known about this controller. However, we can assume that like Toshiba's other controllers, it's based on a design from another company like Marvell.
For the 512GB version of the VX500, Toshiba used their own 15nm MLC NAND flash chips. Looking at the pictures above, you can see that there are eight 64GB NAND flash packages on the top of the PCB. Also take note that while there is a place for a DRAM cache chip, the 512GB version of the VX500 does not have one. The 1TB version of the drive is the only one to use an external DRAM cache and, even then, it's only 256MB.
