OCZ's new flagship RD400 SSD reviewed: A return to form

Note: This article was first published on 4th August 2016.

The OCZ story so far

OCZ has always been known for its fast, high-end SSDs targeted at gamers, power users, and enthusiasts. However, the past couple of years have been rough on the company. While the likes of Samsung and Intel have already dropped high-speed PCIe-based SSDs supporting the latest NVMe protocol and ultra-wide PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, OCZ’s only viable competitor in the high-end consumer space has been the aging Vector 180 SSD, a SATA-based SSD that simply could not keep up with Samsung’s and Intel’s latest. Fortunately, things are picking up.

The acquisition of OCZ by Toshiba in 2014 means that OCZ is now backed by one of the giants of flash memory. This means more money for R&D and marketing, and perhaps more importantly, access to the very best NAND flash memory available. In fact, Toshiba’s NAND memory is so popular these days that just about any major SSD brand, minus Samsung and Intel for obvious reasons, is using Toshiba memory.

So it is with high hopes that we approach OCZ’s latest high-end consumer SSD, the RD400 - OCZ’s first PCIe-based SSD to support PCIe 3.0 and also the new NVMe protocol.

The OCZ RD400

The RD400 is OCZ’s SSD for gamers and enthusiasts and it features suitably high specifications. The key thing to know is that it supports the fast PCIe 3.0 x4 interface. This allows for data transfer rates of up to 32Gbps or 4GB/s.

In addition, the RD400 also supports the new NVMe protocol (Non-Volatile Memory Express). The NVMe protocol was developed expressly for PCIe-based SSDs, and supersedes the old AHCI protocol (which is more adept for HDDs using the SATA interface), with the goal to improve storage performance. In a nutshell, NVMe allows for more commands per queue and also more queues, to take advantage of the extremely low latency of flash-based storage. 

Little is known about the controller is used in the RD400 other than it’s a Toshiba-branded one with the reference “TC58NCP070GSB". However, the NAND comes from, you guessed it, Toshiba. Specifically, it’s Toshiba’s newer 15nm 128Gbit MLC NAND.

Power draw is also in line with expectations from a modern consumer SSD. Under load, the RD400 will only draw a maximum of 6W of power (6.4W for the 1TB model and if you use the M.2 to PCIe adapter). And at its minimum, the RD400's power draw is just 6mW.

And since it’s an MLC NAND drive, endurance shouldn’t be an issue for most users. Even the 128GB model is rated for 74TB written or 40GB of writes a day. And the rated endurance doubles as we increase in capacity. The 512GB model that we are reviewing is good for 296TB written or 162GB of writes a day. Remember, most consumers are only going to be chewing through 10GB to 20GB of writes a day, so the RD400 provides more than enough endurance. As for capacities, the RD400 will be available in four capacities: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB.

The RD400 will be offered in two packages: as a M.2 drive or with a PCIe 3.0 x4 to M.2 adapter. We have the latter package. If you have a suitable M.2 slot that supports PCIe 3.0 x4 on your motherboard, you could easily remove the RD400 from its PCIe adapter and install directly into your M.2 slot. Otherwise, simply install the RD400 with it s adaptor into any suitable PCIe slot on your motherboard and it will work too.

The RD400 comes in the pretty typical M.2 2280 form factor, so it should fit most motherboards and notebooks with M.2 slots with little issues - the only thing to make sure of is that your M.2 supports PCIe 3.0 x4 to maximize the performance potential of the RD400. Earlier motherboards with M.2 slots are typically only limited to PCIe 2.0 x2 ithroughput or worst, use SATA interface (in which case the SSD is not compatible).

Like any other modern SSD, the OCZ RD400 comes with a management utility called, rather unimaginatively, OCZ SSD Utility. It’s a simple, handy to use utility that lets users monitor their drive’s status, update its firmware, format, run TRIM operations on the drive, and more.

Test Setup

The drives will be tested on our updated storage testbed using the Windows 10 operating system, which has the following specifications:

• Intel Core i7-4770K (3.5GHz)
• ASUS Z97-Deluxe/USB 3.1 (Intel Z97 chipset)
• 2 x 4GB DDR3-1600 memory
• MSI GeForce 8600 GTS
• Windows 10 Pro

We have also revised our benchmarks and the list used are as follows:

• AS-SSD benchmark 1.8.5636.36856
• CrystalDiskMark 5.0.2
• PCMark 8 (Storage suite)
• Atto Disk Benchmark 3.0.5
• Iometer (version 2006.07.27)

The OCZ RD400’s chief rival will be the Samsung SSD 950 Pro, the winner of our last Tech Awards for Best SSD. Like the RD400, the SSD 950 is a PCIe-based SSD that supports the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and also the new NVMe protocol.

Back when we tested the SSD 950 Pro, we noticed that its performance was a little erratic, and this can be attributed to the NVMe driver. At the point of testing, the native Windows NVMe driver was still very raw, and so we used Samsung’s own, which were still “beta”. Samsung has since updated its NVMe drivers and so to provide a fair test, we have retested the SSD 950 with Samsung’s new updated NVMe drivers. It will be interesting to see which drive comes out top in the performance stakes.

The following drives were tested for this review:

• OCZ RD400 (512GB)
• Samsung SSD 950 Pro (512GB)
• Intel SSD 750 Series (400GB)
• Plextor M6e Black Edition (512GB)
• Kingston HyperX Predator (480GB)

PCMark 8

PCMark 8 is the most up-to-date system benchmarking software from benchmarking specialists Futuremark. It was designed for Windows 8 machines (now updated for Windows 10) and the storage suite test puts drives through a collection of 10 different real life workloads involving applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Word, Excel and even games like Battlefield 3 and World of Warcraft.

We begin as always with PCMark 8, because it gives us a very good gauge of how the drives will perform in later tests. The OCZ RD400 began brightly with the second highest score of 5082, just 17 points shy of the first-placed Samsung SSD 950 Pro.

Looking at the breakdown of the score, we can see that the RD400 managed an impressive overall speed of 571MB/s, which makes it over 20% faster than the Intel SSD 750 Series and over 65% faster than both the Plextor M6e Black Edition and Kingston HyperX Predator. However, it was bested by the Samsung SSD 950, which racked up an incredible 702MB/s, which means it was over 20% faster than the RD400. Investigating deeper still, we can see that while the SSD 950 Pro was the fastest drive, the actual differences in time taken to complete the various workloads are actually minute. 

CrystalDiskMark 5.0.2 Results

CrystalDiskMark is an easy-to-run and quick utility to use to gauge a drive’s performance. It measures sequential read and write performance and random read and write speeds of random 4KB and 4KB (queue depth 32) data. On CrystalDiskMark, the OCZ RD400 put up a pretty strong showing. While sequential read and write speeds were no match for the blazing fast Samsung SSD 950 Pro, its later performances on the 4K and 4K, 32 queue-depth workloads were quite impressive. The RD400 displayed very respectable 4K read and write speeds. And on the 4K, 32 queue-depth workload, it was the fastest drive by a good margin of over 10%. It was also the only drive in this intensive workload to achieve speeds in excess of 700MB/s.

AS SSD 1.8.5636.36856 Results

AS SSD is a benchmark that uses non-compressible and completely random data. This benchmark is useful because some controllers, like the once popular but now defunct SandForce SF-2281, compress data first before moving them around. However, with non-compressible and random data, controllers cannot compress the data first, which forces them to deal with data as they are. Therefore, this is a useful benchmark to prevent drivers using controllers like the SF-2281 controller or similar from gaining an upper hand.

On AS SSD, the OCZ RD400 began brightly on the Copy Benchmark with some rather decent copy speeds. It was very fast on the “ISO” workload, and its numbers on the “Program” and “Game” workloads were also quite competitive. The RD400’s sequential read and write speeds were just about on a par with the Intel SSD 750 Series, but it was no match for the SSD 950 Pro. 4K performance was good and commendable, but then it was disappointing on the 4K, 64 threads workloads. Here, the Intel SSD 750 Series was the undisputed leader, but we can also see that the RD400’s numbers were pretty tame.

ATTO Disk Benchmark 3.0.2 Results

ATTO is one of the oldest benchmarks around, but it’s still a useful tool to gauge a drive’s adeptness at managing compressible data. It’s also useful for seeing how a drive performs across a variety of different transfer block size. Generally speaking, the OCZ RD400 was a strong performer on ATTO. Its 4K performance was certainly decent, and it managed the highest numbers on both the 512K and 8MB workloads - besting the SSD 950 Pro by a small margin of around 3% to 5%. However, we noticed that its read performance was lackluster on the 32K workload, though its write performance on that same workload was still impressive.

Iometer Results (Part 1)

Lastly, we put the drives through the rigorous grind of Iometer, with different workloads and I/O queue depths. We have chosen to show results from a queue depth of 1 to 5 as this better represents the workloads a typical consumer might face. Overall, the OCZ RD400’s performance on Iometer was good. Streaming reads performance was only slightly slower than the Samsung SSD 950 Pro, and its streaming writes performance was by far the best amongst all the tested drives. On the File Server workload, the RD400 performed almost identically to the first-place SSD 950 Pro; while its performance on the Web Server workload was also very commendable. 

Iometer Results (Part 2)

Finally, we look at the I/O response times for the workloads reported on the previous page. Here we can see that the OCZ RD400 is generally a responsive drive with very competitive average response times.

A return to form

It’s taken OCZ awhile, but they are showing signs of returning to their glory days. The new RD400 drive should be regarded as a resounding success, and it’s a very attractive drive that we think all enthusiasts should consider when assembling or upgrading their system.

On the performance front, we finally have a drive that is capable of giving Samsung’s mighty SSD 950 Pro a run for its money. Though the SSD 950 Pro has the slight edge overall, the RD400 is certainly no slouch and comes very, very close to challenging the SSD 950 Pro for outright speed honors. In fact, the RD400 has more impressive and consistent write speeds overall.

The OCZ RD400 also impressed us in other areas. Power draw is suitably low, and rated endurance is adequately high. The free to download OCZ SSD Utility also makes it easy for users to monitor and update their drives’ firmware.

And then there’s OCZ excellent warranty program. Called the Advanced Warranty Program (previously known as OCZ ShieldPlus), this warranty program aims to reduce the hassle of drive replacements by sending affected customers a replacement drive first. Users can then send their faulty drive back using the mailer that came with the replacement drive. It's OCZ way of saying sorry to owners who trusted in their products and have to go through the hassle of replacing their drives. It also shows just how confident OCZ is of their drives.

As for pricing, the RD400 is competitively priced. The 512GB model that was tested here comes in at S$509, which makes it slightly more affordable than the Samsung SSD 950 Pro (depending on which retailer you're comparing). Although both drives come with 5-year long warranties, OCZ’s Advanced Warranty Program has the SSD 950 Pro beat when it comes to overall convenience and value.

Here’s a table showing the prices of the various capacities of the RD400:

A thing to note is that the prices mentioned here are for the RD400 as is, without the M.2 to PCIe adapter that you see here. If you want the RD400 with the M.2 to PCIe adapter, you'll have to pay around S$20 to S$50 more, depending on the capacity. That might sound expensive, but don't fret as you can always consider other M.2 to PCIe adapters such as this card from ASUS that's only S$22.

All in all, the OCZ RD400 marks a return to form for OCZ. Though the outright performance crown is still Samsung’s, the RD400 is definitely no slowpoke and has proven itself to be more than a match for the SSD 950 Pro. And thanks to OCZ’s excellent warranty program, we think that if you are looking to get the most value out of your hard-earned dollars, the RD400 should be the way to go.

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