It took a lot of complaints and a few articles from us and others, but OCZ has done the right thing and confirmed they will be issuing free SSD replacements for those affected by their switch to 25nm NAND. The issue is not so much the NAND itself, but OCZ’s implementation, especially in their lower capacity SSDs, like the 60GB Vertex 2 we just reviewed.
It took a lot of complaints and a few articles from us and others, but OCZ has done the right thing and confirmed they will be issuing free SSD replacements for those affected by their switch to 25nm NAND. The issue is not so much the NAND itself, but OCZ’s implementation, especially in their lower capacity SSDs, like the 60GB Vertex 2 we just reviewed.
When you compare the new and old Vertex 2 SSDs side by side, you can clearly see the new unit has fewer NAND chips. OCZ used 16 32Gb (4GB) 32nm Hynix NAND ICs on the older model but switched to 8 64Gb (8GB) 25nm Micron ICs on the new revision. While still maintaining roughly the same capacity (not including overprovisioning) this resulted in half the channels connected to the controller resulting in slower write speeds under certain conditions. The updated model will still retain 25nm flash (which was never a problem by itself) but OCZ will use 32Gb ICs, filling all available channels like the previous 32/34nm models as well as reducing RAISE requirements which will get back some of the lost storage capacity and likely the performance as well.
The good news though is those who are affected now have a remedy. OCZ is paying for shipping both ways, and getting consumers the updated 25nm SSD. To get the RMA process started, consumers should file a support ticket with OCZ. According to their own forums, the response may take a few days, they’re understandably deluged with return requests right now. Many retailers are also accepting returns on the drives, NewEgg for instance is offering a full refund even on opened drives.
