Although it’s not quite as fast as its Vector sibling, OCZ’s Vertex 4 is a very speedy SSD. It uses the company's older IndiLinx Everest 2 controller, but contains the same 25nm, IMTF (Intel Micron Flash Technologies), MLC NAND used in the Vector. The combination proved fast enough to take fourth place in overall performance in our December 2012 SSD roundup.

The Vertex 4 wrote our 10GB file/folder mix at 411.3 MBps and read it back at 343.3 MBps. That second number was the slowest in the roundup—an odd hiccup for an otherwise very fast drive. The drive wrote our single large 10GB file at 599.3 MBps, and it read it back at 443.3MBps—the fourth- and seventh-fastest transfer rates, respectively, that we saw in those individual tests.

The 256GB Vertex 4’s retail price is $260, or about 98 cents per gigabyte; but we saw it heavily discounted online, selling for around $195 (as of December 18, 2012). At that price, it’s only 77 cents per gigabyte, which is a very good price for a drive this fast. Only the Kinsgston HyperX 3K and the SanDisk Extreme boasted lower street prices than that.

OCZ ships the Vertex 4 with a mounting bracket and screws, and if you look in the included manual, there's a serial number for Acronis True Image to aid in cloning your old drive.

The OCZ Vertex 4 currently sits at the sweet spot for SSDs: It's very fast and relatively affordable, and it has 16GB more capacity than most of its competitors.

Note: This review is part of a roundup of seven SSDs. Be sure to read the introduction, where you'll also find a detailed explanation of how SSDs work, as well as links to our reviews of each of the other six drives.