OCZ Trion 100 SSD Review (240GB/480GB/960GB)

Not four months after launching their flagship consumer SSD, the Vector 180, OCZ is launching a new value-oriented TLC SSD named the Trion 100. Our first look at the Trion 100 was at Computex 2015 where we saw that, while it is a value offering, its performance will be anything but. Thanks to OCZ’s acquisition by Toshiba, they are able to, not only leverage Toshiba’s second generation A19 TLC but also, they are able to integrate a new Toshiba controller into the Trion 100’s design.

The reason behind this new Toshiba controller, called the TC58, is that the Barefoot 3 doesn’t have the ECC capability needed for TLC NAND. The TC58’s appearance should come as no surprise as the OCZ Vector 180 was expected to be the last of their SSDs to utilize the Barefoot 3 architecture. Also, due to the inherent issues of TLC, controllers need better than average ECC algorithms to maintain data integrity as well as performance. With JetExpress still in the works for enterprise use and, from what we know, nothing else being developed in for consumer use, OCZ’s choice to go with a readily available Toshiba controller was obvious. If this is any hint, we should be seeing a lot more of this vertical integration in the future, making products that are more reliable and more affordable as well.

SPECIFICATIONS, PRICING, AND AVAILABILITY

The OCZ Trion is a SATA 6Gb/s SSD that comes in a 7mm 2.5″ form factor. It is available in capacities of 120GB ($59.99), 240GB ($89.99), 480GB ($179.99), and 960GB ($359.99). Sequential read speeds are rated for up to 550MB/s and 90K IOPS while write speeds are rated for up to 530MB/s and 64K IOPS.

Endurance rates for the Trion 100 SSDs are listed as 30TBW (120GB), 60TBW (240GB), 120TBW (480GB), and 240TBW (960GB), and are based on the JESD219A workload, which is different than what they normally base the endurance figures on. Formerly it might be typical to see only 4K random write workloads used, but with the JESD219A workload, it is much more diverse in the file sizes.  This is actually closer to a real world workload and is also what other companies base their endurance figures on. OCZ is currently testing their other products endurance based on JESD219A and endurance ratings should improve.

The feature list is pretty short, but by utilizing Toshiba’s controller there is DEVSLP support. It features idle time garbage collection and TRIM support as well. Its MTBF rating is for 1.5 million hours. Also, with this SSD you can utilizes OCZ’s SSD Guru, which is an SSD toolbox for updating firmware, monitoring the SSD, and even manually running TRIM.

The OCZ Trion 100 also comes with their now standard ShieldPlus warranty and this is valid for a length of 3-years. As we have stated in our past reviews, this warranty service is one of the best offerings we have seen and are glad OCZ have decided to go the route they did with it.

PACKAGING AND COMPONENTS

The packaging design continues on their new format with the photo of the SSD on the front with a sticker stating the capacity on the bottom right. On the backside it states the main specs, which we went over earlier.

Because it is a value oriented SSD, there are no included accessories, only a drive installation manual and contact support paper.

The overall aesthetics of the Trion 100 also follow OCZ’s other SSDs. The white and blue theme should go well with PCs those with white computer cases. The overall weight is 48g, which is very light and great for mobile use cases.

Once dismantled, we noticed that these SSDs are void of a thermal pad to dissipate heat into the clamp shell. Also, all capacities tested utilize 4 NAND packages and a single DRAM package, save for the 960GB model which has two DRAM packages. We can’t also help but notice that the overall PCB design is pretty similar to SSDs featuring the Phison S10 controller.

When it comes to information about this new controller, Toshiba is keeping things hush hush, all our efforts were fruitless. They were unable to disclose anything beyond what has been published about the Trion 100 in terms of specs and that we can refer to it as: Toshiba Controller TC58. Later on in the review we are going to test for some sort of SLC caching mode for writes, so be sure to check that out.

As mentioned earlier, they have gone with Toshiba’s second generation 128Gbit A19 TLC NAND. The amount of user addressable space is 223GB, 447GB, and 894GB per our samples. The Trion 100’s use Nanya DRAM cache that is a 1:1 ration of MB DRAM:GB RAW NAND, 128MB DRAM:120GB capacity, 256MB DRAM:240GB capacity, etc.