Packaging

The Drive

The drive conforms to the dimensions set forth by the 2.5" form factor. It is made of metal, which improves its durability. Its height is only 7 mm, which makes it compatible with Intel's Ultrabook specification.


Like most recent SSDs, the OCZ Vertex 450 uses the SATA 6 Gbps interface. The interface is compatible with all older SATA standard, but will in such a case work at reduced performance.


You will find the SSD controller and 16 flash chips on the PCB. A DRAM chip next to the flash controller provides operating memory for the controller.


OCZ uses their own in-house Indilinx Barefoot M10 controller on the Vertex 450, giving them maximum control over performance optimizations and firmware.


The 16 flash chips are produced by Micron on a 20 nanometer process.


A DDR3 memory chip by Micron on the PCB provides RAM for the SSD controller. A second solder pad is here too, but it is probably left empty because the controller doesn't require that much memory for the 256 GB variant.