OCZ completes transition to 25nm NAND flash memory

OCZ send out word that it's the first SSD maker to successfully complete the transition to 2xnm NAND flash-based storage solutions. Interestingly, the company has decided to continue to offer 34nm versions, but at a higher price per gigabyte.

The 25nm SSDs from OCZ have been on the market for a couple of weeks now but unfortunately the lower price seems to be their only advantage. OCZ confirmed last week that 25nm NAND is not as robust as the previous generation and offers a program-erase cycle of only 3,000x, which is 2,000 less than the previous generation. To guarantee a decent life expectation, OCZ increased the amount of NAND set aside for over-provisioning by a couple of gigabytes. This means the 25nm 60GB Vertex 2 has only 55GB available instead of 60GB on the 34nm version, while the 25nm 120GB Vertex 2 offers only 118GB instead of 120GB on the 34nm model.

Besides the difference in capacity, early adopters also complain that their 25nm Vertex 2 SSDs offer poorer performance, especially when handling uncompressable data.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:OCZ), a leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announces it is the first SSD manufacturer to successfully complete the transition to 2Xnm NAND flash-based storage solutions.

“OCZ is constantly exploring ways to not just advance solid state drive design but also make the technology more affordable, while maintaining high performance and reliability standards,” said Ryan Petersen, CEO of OCZ Technology Group. “We are excited to complete the transition to the next generation 2Xnm NAND components which reiterates our strategy of producing high performance SSDs at the most attractive price point available for consumer applications.”

As the industry transitions to a 2Xnm fabrication process, OCZ remains focused on delivering high-performance solutions that continue to pave the way for SSDs to become more accessible to the complete range of consumers, and to ultimately replace traditional mechanical hard drives over the next few years.

OCZ will continue to offer the older flash technology in select SSD products with a higher price per gigabyte. All of OCZ’s 2Xnm‐based SSDs carry the same warranty as the earlier 3Xnm versions, and it is the Company’s objective to continue to deliver the very best balance of affordability, performance, and capacity to ensure an optimal computing experience.