Introduction

When the original Vertex and Agility product lines were introduced, we were told that the Vertex had a specific BOM (Build of Materials) list and the Agility had a dynamic BOM. In the end we found the first Vertex to have one set of flash that never changed, but the Agility shipped with three or more different flash configurations. The Agility was sold at a lower price because it used whatever flash was the lowest priced at the time of manufacture. While all who purchased an Agility were rolling the dice as far as what flash was included, some ended up with a drive that was identical to the higher priced Vertex.

When Vertex 2 and Agility 2 hit the market things changed again; Vertex 2 shipped with a higher IOPS programming and Agility 2 was shipped with the lower programming. For the most part this was an acceptable situation, but the BOM was never nailed down for Vertex 2. Eventually OCZ started playing loose and fast with the second series of these SSD products and somewhere along the line in December 2010 Vertex 2 drives started shipping with 25nm flash.

The move to 25nm meant OCZ could build drives with half the physical flash chips installed, thus making drives slower and since SandForce controllers consume an entire flash module for background tasks, end user capacity suffered as well. For most, it was the capacity shrinkage that hurt the most, especially for users purchasing smaller capacity drives.

You would think that OCZ learned from the BOM change fiasco with Vertex 2, but we have just found an issue with Vertex 3 and for notebook users the problem affects a lot more than user capacity and slower performance….you might not be able to use the Vertex 3 at all.

Update:

We've heard back today from OCZ Technology about the Lenovo Notebook / Vertex 3 issue.

A new housing is in place and will be shipping soon. At this time we don't have an ETA, but when one becomes available we'll update this article further. Anyone having the issue with their Lenovo or other notebook will be able to send their drive back to OCZ in exchange for a drive with the updated casing that will allow the drive to fit.