Since its inception, the Vector series has made a name for itself as the flagship drive within OCZ's SSD lineup but it has begun to show its age. Less expensive, more capable competitors have been introduced from numerous companies but they?re about to face a newcomer: the Vector 180.

While the new and improved OCZ have created some very impressive mainstream and entry level drives, they have been curiously absent from the enthusiast market since their reemergence as a Toshiba-backed company. This did leave the existing SSD lineup in somewhat of quandary with their 'mainstream' Vertex 460 nearly equaling the older Vector 150's real world abilities. For enthusiasts the very idea of purchasing an enthusiast grade drive that can barely outperform the mainstream version was contraindicated to say the least.