OCZ ATV Turbo 4GB Flash Drive Review

Features & Specifications

OCZ quotes read and write speeds for its OCZ ATV Turbo flash drive 33-35MB/s and 26-30MB/s respectively. The storage capacity for the drive is 4GB and it works with Windows and Mac computers. The rubber housing is shock and water-resistant and the drive has an orange LED on the back of the drive flashes when the drive is working. OCZ also covers the drive with a lifetime warranty.

Benchmarks & Testing

To test the OCZ ATV Turbo I used HD Tach, Sandra XII, transferred files to and from the drive while timing the operation. I also washed, and dried the drive with some laundry to see just how durable it was. The first test was Sandra XII’s removable storage benchmark. This test showed that the OCZ ATV Turbo had a drive index of 7740 ops/min and an endurance factor of 19.70. The Corsair Flash Survivor that I recently reviewed had a drive index of 9575 ops/min and an endurance rating of 16.4 for comparison.

The next test was HD Tach which showed the OCZ ATV Turbo had an average read speed of 27.9MB/s and an average write speed of 23.5MB/s. To compare the Corsair Flash Survivor had an average read speed of 23MB/s and an average write speed of 20.6MB/s. That makes the OCZ ATV Turbo quite a bit faster than the Corsair drive.

For the final test, I copied a folder with 944MB of data in it to the OCZ ATV Turbo and then copied the same folder from the OCZ ATV Turbo to the system drive and times the process with a stopwatch. Writing the folder to the OCZ ATV Turbo took 1-minute and 9-seconds, copying the folder from the OCZ ATV Turbo to the system drive took right at 41 seconds.

The OCZ ATV Turbo is certainly fast, but the drive promises shock and water resistance as well. To test the shock resistance I threw the drive onto concrete as hard as I could. The OCZ ATV Turbo worked without any issues after throwing it down repeatedly. To test the resistance to water, I ran the OCZ ATV Turbo through a full washer cycle in the pocket of my jeans. When the load was done, I found the cap had come off the OCZ ATV Turbo at some point in the wash cycle. I plugged the OCZ ATV Turbo into my computer expecting it to be ruined. However, the OCZ ATV Turbo performed flawlessly after its washing.

After the run through the washer, I put the drive back into the jeans for a dry cycle on high heat. Once again, when the load was dry, I found the cap to the OCZ ATV Turbo had come off at some point. Fortunately, the OCZ ATV Turbo still performed flawlessly. The cap covering the USB port comes off frequently in instances like this, which could lead to failure of the drive. My review sample survived without issue though, and most likely yours will too. Overall the OCZ ATV Turbo is the fastest flash drive I have tested to date and is durable enough to stand up to the rigors of the daily grind.