We review the all new ARC 100 series SSDs from OCZ Storage Solutions. Based on a familiar Indilinx Barefoot 3 controller we test the 240GB product which comes with the latest iteration of Toshiba NAND flash memory. The end result is an SSD that is very fast and more competitive in terms of pricing as OCZ now drops to 50 cents (USD) / 45 cents (EURO) per Gigabyte starting at the 240GB model.

Competitive is the key work for this review as over the past month or two the dynamics are changing fast, players like Samsung and Micron (Crucial) have introduced new SSDs that brings down the market to its knees really. It was only last year that we wrote that SSD prices settled at just under 1 EURO per GB for the end-user, in the beginning of the year prices have been hovering at 70 cents per GB and currently you can already find SSDs priced at 35 Cents (EURO) per Gigabyte of storage volume. So with that in mind nobody can stay behind, hence today you are seeing a new product series from OCZ Storage solutions.

The ARC 100 series will look and feel familiar as it uses the cornerstone of features and even the same controller that previous OCZ SSD products have had. A better pricing model combined with impressive performance is key to OCZ. These days we have nice volume SSDs at way more acceptable prices. Very fast performance versus reliability, OCZ wants to give you the best and made a new combo out of that. The new ARC series based on the Barefoot 3 M10 controller and now combines it with the latest 19nm MLC-Flash memory from Toshiba, of course. The end result is the ARC 100 series hovers at 480 MB/s read with 430 MB/sec rites. Today announced top SKU, the 480 GB model, actually reaches read speeds of 490 MB/sec with write speeds of 450 MB/sec.