OCZ Technology Vertex 3 SSD Form Factor: Bigger isn't Always Better

By: Chris Ramseyer (more) | Storage Content | Posted: May 18, 2011 7:03 am

Comment | Print | Email | Font Size: A A

2.5-inch Form Factor

ocz_technology_vertex_3_ssd_form_factor_bigger_isn_t_always_better

The above image was taken from OCZ's own Vertex 3 Product Sheet PDF that you can find here. The physical size mimics what I have on file in a document that lists 'official' sizes for the 2.5" form factor. Both documents state that a 2.5" form factor drive should be 69.75mm wide.

While installing a new, retail OCZ Vertex 3 240GB drive in my Lenovo notebook today, I found that the drive wouldn't fit into the drive carrier that is used to install 2.5" form factor drives. As you can see above, the data connector end is larger than it should be. At first I just thought this was an issue exclusive to the drive I had on hand, but I also found the Vertex 3 Max IOPS 240GB drive has the same issue (review coming soon).

At that point I moved toward the Vertex 3 120GB drive that I tested last month and noticed that it used a different case to house the drive. Here we see the 120GB (bottom) and the 240GB (top) stacked on top of each other. At this point the picture became very clear, the new Vertex 3 cases are seriously out of spec.