The performance of a novel all-optical sampling orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system is proposed and analyzed. Time delays and phase shifters are used to realize all optical forward/inverse discrete Fourier transform (DFT/IDFT). Different system configurations are tested and analyzed to optimize the performance, including the system capacity, modulation formats, DFT/IDFT constructions, and the width of the sample pulse. The 50- and 100-Gb/s real-time all-optical sampling (AOS) OFDM systems are investigated. All results are analyzed, and useful suggestions are offered for future high-speed applications.