While we don't expect solid-state drives to become mainstream just yet, they are by all means moving quickly in that direction. Current generation SSDs deliver more value than ever before, plus they have the speed advantage, features, and adequate capacity to become viable alternatives to standard disk drives to most users.

OCZ's first SandForce-based SSD will be the Vertex 2 Pro which is set for release this March. The Vertex 2 Pro uses the SF-1500 controller with MLC memory and is intended to provide enterprise-level reliability and performance. Therefore, the Vertex 2 Pro is not going to be an affordable SSD as its primary focus will be on performance.

The more popular choice is likely going to be the Vertex 2 that will use the SF-1200 controller. This version should deliver similar performance to the Vertex 2 Pro with the exception of random writes, which is said to be lower. Still we are keen to see how the SandForce SF-1500 controller performs as we test OCZ's upcoming flagship SSD.