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SanDisk Extreme v2 Portable SSD Review: Twice the Speed, Better Security

Our Verdict

SanDisk’s Extreme v2 packs double the performance of the original and ups the security with hardware-accelerated full disk encryption. This, along with a durable design and five-year warranty, makes the Extreme v2 one of the best 10 GBps NVMe portable SSD for content creators on the go.

For

Competitive and consistent performance
AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption
Weather-resistant
Durable, grippy finish
5-year warranty

Against

No power indicator
Short cable for desktop use

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Features and Specifications

Leveraging a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface, WD’s Blue SN550E SSD, and a now-iconic design, SanDisk’s Extreme v2 is a great performing portable SSD that’s built secure and to endure the elements. Reasonably priced, it compares well in today’s market and is easy to recommend.

With an already award-winning and durable design, SanDisk’s focus for the Extreme v2 was to improve on what works, rather than start from scratch. Most of the changes in the v2 are internal rather than external. The company kept the old shell, scaling it up a little to account for faster NVMe-supporting hardware, and upping the performance from 5 Gbps to 10 Gbps to enable rapid data backups or reading when on the move.

SanDisk also upgraded the security significantly. No longer will you have to await the slow transfer speeds associated with the company’s old 128-bit software encryption. The AES 256-bit hardware-accelerated encryption support enables simple to use password security, making the SSD a good fit for those who carry sensitive data around with them.

Specifications

Product	Extreme v2 500GB	Extreme v2 1TB	Extreme v2 2TB	Extreme v2 4TB
Pricing	$94.99	$159.99	$309.99	$699.99
Capacity (User / Raw)	500GB / 512GB	1000GB / 1024GB	2000GB / 2048GB	2000GB / 2048GB
Interface / Protocol	USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2	USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2	USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2	USB-C / USB 3.2 Gen 2
Included	USB Type-C cable and USB Type-A adapter	USB Type-C cable and USB Type-A adapter	USB Type-C cable and USB Type-A adapter	USB Type-C cable and USB Type-A adapter
Sequential Read	1,050 MBps	1,050 MBps	1,050 MBps	1,050 MBps
Sequential Write	1,000 MBps	1,000 MBps	1,000 MBps	1,000 MBps
Interface Controller	ASMedia ASM2362	ASMedia ASM2362	ASMedia ASM2362	ASMedia ASM2362
NAND Controller	WD Architecture	WD Architecture	WD Architecture	WD Architecture
DRAM	DRAMless	DRAMless	DRAMless	DRAMless
Storage Media	WD 96L TLC	WD 96L TLC	WD 96L TLC	WD 96L TLC
Default File System	exFAT	exFAT	exFAT	exFAT
Endurance	“IP55 water-dust resistant; 2-meter drop protection”	“IP55 water-dust resistant; 2-meter drop protection”	“IP55 water-dust resistant; 2-meter drop protection”	“IP55 water-dust resistant; 2-meter drop protection”
Security	AES 256-bit hardware encryption	AES 256-bit hardware encryption	AES 256-bit hardware encryption	AES 256-bit hardware encryption
Dimensions (L x W x H)	101 x 52 x 9 mm	101 x 52 x 9 mm	101 x 52 x 9 mm	101 x 52 x 9 mm
Weight	63 g	63 g	63 g	63 g
Part Number	SDSSDE61-500G-G25	SDSSDE61-1T00-G25	SDSSDE61-2T00-G25	SDSSDE61-4T00-G25
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years

SanDisk’s Extreme v2 comes in capacities of 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, with prices ranging from $0.15-$0.19 per GB. Rated for up to 1,050/1,000 MBps read/write, the SanDisk Extreme v2 can deliver some very responsive performance, but these are peak figures. Due to a small static SLC cache, the Extreme v2 will degrade to direct-to-TLC speeds quickly. The smallest capacity will suffer the most. However, while not bus saturating, sustained performance will remain reasonable with the 1TB and 2TB models.

SanDisk’s Extreme v2 comes with an IP55 rating, AES 256-bit hardware encryption support, and a long warranty to ease concerns when traveling with your storage. The Extreme v2 has been tested to withstand water flow at a rate of 30kPa for three minutes, and dust contact does not interfere with operation. On top of this, SanDisk backs the Extreme v2 with a longer five-year warranty over its predecessor’s three-year warranty.

Software and Accessories

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The Extreme v2 comes with a short 6-inch USB Type-C cable and a 1-inch long Type-C to Type-A adapter. It also comes with encryption management software to quickly set up a password to secure your data.

A Closer Look

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SanDisk’s Extreme v2 is a bit bigger than the original, measuring 101 x 52 x 9 mm and weighing in at under 63 grams. With a carabiner loop integrated and a durable silicone coating, the Extreme v2 features a functional, portable, and enduring design for those on the move in tough conditions. But unlike the Extreme Pro, the Extreme v2’s case and internal structure is made of plastic rather than rigid aluminum. This makes for a small and compact design that is also pretty light, but a little less resistant to twists and bending.

The company opted for an ASMedia ASM2362 USB 3.2 Gen 2 to PCIe 3.0 x2 bridge chip in the design, similar to the company’s WD My Passport SSD. Integration of a near full-length strip of thermal tape between the WD Blue SN550E drive and the front cover aids in maintaining cool operation. Both the SSD and the ASMedia ASM2362 support active-state power management and therefore will scale down power consumption when at idle and help reduce overall heat. It also supports thermal throttling, prioritizing data integrity over performance in high-temperature conditions.

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WD’s Blue SN550E is the company’s external-optimized SN550 Blue variant. It leverages a 4-channel DRAMless NVMe 1.3-compliant SSD controller with a multi-gear Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) ECC. While this SSD lacks DRAM for caching the FTL mapping table, it leverages internal SRAM to help optimize metadata updates. The SSD’s hardware also supports Trim when formatted via a supported file system such as NTFS, helping aid performance consistency over the device’s lifespan.

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The controller interfaces with sixteen dies of WD’s BiCS4 96L TLC flash. This NAND measures 512Gb in density and features a 2-plane architecture, half the plane count of most of Micron’s 96L TLC, and operates at speeds of up to 800 MTps. While it features half the plane count of the competition, WD implements advanced algorithms to optimize both SLC and direct-to-TLC performance.

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Features and Specifications

Next Page 1TB Performance Results

Corsair MP600 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD Review: Faster Speed, Less Endurance

Our Verdict

Although it’s a pricey drive, Corsair’s MP600 Pro is fast, secure, and keeps its cool with innovative cooling solutions.

For

+ Competitive performance
+ Innovative and functional thermal solutions
+ AES 256-bit encryption
+ 5-year warranty

Against

– Less endurance than the non-Pro model
– Smaller-than-expected SLC cache
– Slow-to-recover SLC cache
– Dated software support
– Costly

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Features and Specifications

Powered by Phison’s new PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD controller and Micron’s 96-Layer TLC flash, Corsair’s all-new MP600 Pro is the company’s fastest M.2 NVMe SSD yet. With sequential read/write throughput that stretches up to a blistering 7.1 / 6.5 GBps, the MP600 Pro offers nearly bus-saturating performance and looks brilliant with innovative custom heatsinks, making it a sure contender for our list of Best SSDs. Though the drive is pricey, Corsair offers not only a standard drive cooled with a heatsink but also a Hydro X Edition with a water block for those who want a truly water-cooled M.2 SSD.

Historically, Corsair’s SSDs have a solid design and rank well in both performance and value. Until now, the MP600 served as the company’s top dog, sporting a sleek design, AES 256-bit encryption, and packing top speeds of up to 5 / 4.4 GBps of sequential read/write throughput.

Now, over a year later and just in time for Intel’s Rocket Lake launch, the company has upgraded to faster hardware to create a Pro model for those who want even more speed. Corsair’s MP600 Pro improves upon its predecessor, trading out the Phison E16 controller for the new E18 and interfacing with a faster flash with a 1,200 MTps transfer rate. Those enhancements yield up to 660,000 / 800,000 random read/write IOPS.

Unlike Team Group’s form-over-function attempt at water-cooling an SSD, Corsair’s MP600 Pro Hydro X Edition is the first truly water-cooled M.2 NVMe SSD we’ve seen. With both a heatsink edition and the Hydro X Edition for integrating into your custom watercooled PC, both of the sleek and innovative designs ensure cool operation.

Specifications

Product	Force MP600 Pro 1TB	Force MP600 Pro 2TB	Force MP600 Pro Hydro X 2TB
Pricing	$224.99	$434.99	$259.99
Capacity (User / Raw)	1000GB / 1024GB	2000GB / 2048GB	2000GB / 2048GB
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Interface / Protocol	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4
Controller	Phison PS5018-E18	Phison PS5018-E18	Phison PS5018-E18
DRAM	DDR4	DDR4	DDR4
Memory	Micron 96L TLC	Micron 96L TLC	Micron 96L TLC
Sequential Read	7,000 MBps	7,000 MBps	7,000 MBps
Sequential Write	5,500 MBps	6,550 MBps	6,550 MBps
Random Read	360,000 IOPS	660,000 IOPS	660,000 IOPS
Random Write	780,000 IOPS	800,000 IOPS	800,000 IOPS
Security	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption
Endurance (TBW)	700 TB	1,400 TB	1,400 TB
Part Number	CSSD-F1000GBMP600PRO	CSSD-F2000GBMP600PRO	CSSD-F2000GBMP600PROHXE
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years

The MP600 Pro is available in capacities of 1TB and 2TB for $225 and $435, respectively. The Hydro X Edition only comes in a 2TB capacity with a slightly higher price tag of $460. Corsair rates the MP600 Pro to deliver speeds of up to 7,000 / 6,550 MBps in sequential read/write transfers and up to 660,000 / 800,000 random read/write IOPS under heavy load.

Corsair didn’t improve the MP600 Pro’s endurance ratings, though. In fact, instead of improving, the Pro has slightly lower endurance than the MP600. Corsair’s MP600 Pro comes backed by a five-year warranty and is rated to endure up to 700TB of written data per 1TB of drive capacity, while the original MP600 carries a much higher 1,800TB-per-1TB of capacity rating.

Corsair supports the MP600 Pro with an SSD Toolbox software, too, but the GUI is dated compared to some of the better SSD Toolbox software like Samsung’s Magician, WD’s SSD Dashboard, or Intel’s Memory and Storage Tool.

A Closer Look

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Corsair’s MP600 Pro is an M.2 2280 SSD, and our sample comes with a large extruded aluminum heatsink rather than the XM2 water block. The heatsink measures 24 x 14.5 x 70 mm and comes with plenty of fins to dissipate the SSD’s heat output, even in situations with little to no airflow. However, the fins are large enough that they could potentially block a GPU.

Unlike Adata’s XPG Gammix S70, you can remove the MP600 Pro from the heatsink, which is always a plus. But bear in mind, doing so may ruin the thermal pad between the heatsink and SSD, so you might have to do some patchwork or replace it with a new strip entirely if you plan to reinstall the heatsink later.

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Phison’s PS5018-E18, a fast eight-channel PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD controller, resides under the hood. This controller offers among the fastest write speeds we’ve seen, thanks to its DRAM cache that assures responsive access to the file mapping table. The controller also interfaces with a single 8Gb package of SK Hynix DDR4.

Furthermore, the controller incorporates three Cortex R5 cores clocked at 1GHz, and two lower-clocked Dual CoXProcessor 2.0 cores handle the host’s requests and the SSDs’ internal NAND management algorithms. The controller also supports APST, ASPM, and the L1.2 standby power state for efficiency, as well as thermal throttling to ensure cool operation. However, like the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, the MP600 also comes with a low throttle temperature limit. Thermal throttling triggers if the temperature exceeds 68 degrees Celsius. This algorithm dynamically reduces performance by roughly 50 MBps for every 1 degree Celsius over that limit.

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The MP600 Pro’s controller interfaces with Micron’s 96-Layer 3D TLC flash at speeds of up to 1,200 MTps. The 1TB model uses four NAND packages, each containing four 512Gb dies, while the 2TB models use eight NAND packages with eight 512Gb dies apiece. This flash features a robust quad-plane architecture and many innovative design features, including CuA (Circuit under Array) and tile grouping for responsive random read access. However, it isn’t as cutting-edge as Micron’s 176-Layer flash that should hit the market soon.

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Zadak Spark RGB 1 TB Review

Introduction

Zadak is a fairly young manufacturer of computer hardware—they were founded in 2015 in Taiwan. Besides SSDs, they’ve released cases, memory, and closed-loop watercoolers. All their products are targeted at the DIY PC space.

The Zadak Spark RGB is an M.2 NVMe SSD that goes all out on RGB bling capability. Thanks to support for all major motherboard vendors, you can use the Spark RGB with your mobo’s RGB control software, and it just works. No additional cabling is required, the SSD will show up as a separate ARGB element in your motherboard’s RGB software.

Under the hood, the Zadak Spark RGB SSD is based on a Phison PS5012-E12 controller, paired with Micron 96-layer 3D TLC flash and 1 GB of DDR4 DRAM cache. PCI-Express 3.0 x4 is used as the host interface.

The Zadak Spark RGB SSD is available in capacities of 512 GB ($130), 1 TB ($220), and 2 TB ($390). Endurance for these models is set at 360 TBW, 726 TBW, and 1550 TBW respectively. Zadak provides a five-year warranty for the Spark RGB.

Specifications: ZADAK Spark RGB 1 TB
Brand:	ZADAK
Model:	SPARK PCIe Gen 3×4 M.2 RGB SSD
Capacity:	1024 GB (953 GB usable) No additional overprovisioning
Controller:	Phison PS5012-E12
Flash:	Micron 96-Layer 3D TLC B27A IA7BG64AVA
DRAM:	2x 512 MB SK Hynix DDR4-2400 H5AN4G6NBJR-UHC
Endurance:	726 TBW
Form Factor:	M.2 2280
Interface:	PCIe Gen 3 x4, NVMe 1.3
Device ID:	Z SPKG3 1TB
Firmware:	AP226PH0
Warranty:	5 years
Price at Time of Review:	$220 / 22 cents per GB

Samsung 980 M.2 NVMe SSD Review: Going DRAMless with V6 V-NAND

Our Verdict

If you aren’t looking for the best of the best like Samsung’s 980 Pro but still want solid performance for large files or graphics-heavy games at a more affordable price point, Samsung’s 980 is worth your consideration.

For

Competitive performance
Attractive design
AES 256-bit hardware encryption
Software package
980 Pro-like endurance and 5-year warranty

Against

Slow write speeds after the SLC cache fills

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Features and Specifications

Samsung’s SSDs are widely regarded as among the most reliable and best-performing in the market, and today the company hopes to extend that reputation with the introduction of the 980 NVMe SSD. Samsung’s 980 is designed for everyday PC users and gamers, although with performance ratings six times that of a standard SATA SSD, it possibly appeals to lower-budget content creators, too.

Samsung’s 980 also stands out with much more affordable pricing than the 980 Pro and 970 Evo Plus, a benefit borne of its DRAMless design that the company claims makes it the highest-performing DRAMless SSD on the market. Powered by the company’s V6 V-NAND and an efficient DRAMless controller that first debuted in the Portable SSD T7 Touch, this mix of hardware promises fast PCIe Gen3 performance and respectable endurance ratings.

Specifications

Product	980 250GB	980 500GB	980 1TB
Pricing	$49.99	$69.99	$129.99
Capacity (User / Raw)	250GB / 256GB	500GB / 512GB	1000GB / 1024GB
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Interface / Protocol	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4
Controller	Samsung Pablo	Samsung Pablo	Samsung Pablo
DRAM	DRAMless / HMB	DRAMless / HMB	DRAMless / HMB
Memory	Samsung 128L V-NAND TLC	Samsung 128L V-NAND TLC	Samsung 128L V-NAND TLC
Sequential Read	2,900 MBps	3,100 MBps	3,500 MBps
Sequential Write	1,300 MBps	2,600 MBps	3,000 MBps
Random Read (QD1)	17,000 IOPS	17,000 IOPS	17,000 IOPS
Random Write (QD1)	53,000 IOPS	54,000 IOPS	54,000 IOPS
Random Read	230,000 IOPS	400,000 IOPS	500,000 IOPS
Random Write	320,000 IOPS	470,000 IOPS	480,000 IOPS
Security	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption
Endurance (TBW)	150 TB	300 TB	600 TB
Part Number	MZ-V8V250BW	MZ-V8V500BW	MZ-V8V1T0BW
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years

Samsung targets the 980 at lower price points with capacities that include 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB models. With prices of $50, $70, and $130, the 980 hits the market with affordable price points at each capacity. That stands in contrast to the rest of the company’s SSD families, many of which span from 2TB to 8TB and cost hundreds of dollars.

Samsung’s 980 comes with TurboWrite 2.0, meaning it features a massive SLC buffer that’s larger than the cache on the 970 Evo and 970 Evo Plus. This speedy buffer absorbs data at a faster rate before write speeds degrade as the workload spills into the native TLC flash. However, the 980’s TurboWrite 2.0 implementation is a bit different than the 980 Pro’s; instead of a hybrid arrangement with both static and dynamic TLC caches, the 980 comes with just a dynamic SLC. This enables more cache capacity for the 500GB and 1TB models than the 980 Pro, but due to the 980’s lower-end SSD controller, the SSD isn’t quite as fast when the cache is full.

	970 Evo Plus – Intelligent TurboWrite 1.0			980 – Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0
Capacity	Default	Intelligent	Total	Intelligent / Total
250GB	4GB	9GB	13GB	45GB
500GB	4GB	18GB	22GB	122GB
1TB	6GB	36GB	42GB	160GB

Interfacing with the host over a PCIe 3.0 x4 link, the 980 NVMe SSD can up to 3.5/3 GBps of sequential read/write throughput and even sustain up to 500,000/480,000 random read/write IOPS at its highest capacity. But, while peak figures are eye-catchers, the real key to application performance lies in the QD1 random performance rating. Samsung rates the drive with up to 17,000/54,000 read/write IOPS at QD1, which promises responsive performance in everyday desktop PC workloads.

Like the 980 Pro and 970 Evo Plus, the new 980 comes factory over-provisioned by roughly 9% and is backed by a five-year warranty or up to the respective TBW rating, which varies based on the capacity of the drive (150 TB per 250GB). The 980 also boasts the same AES 256-bit Full Disk Encryption feature set that’s compliant with TCG/Opal v2.0 and Encrypted Drive (IEEE1667) standards.

Software and Accessories

Samsung’s Magician application is one of the best pieces of storage management software available, and it’s getting better with its next iteration. Magician 6.3 comes with the same capabilities as prior versions but also brings the debut of Full Power Mode support. Like the WD Black’s SSD Dashboard Game Mode, this feature allows the 980 to operate at peak performance by disabling the lower power states, thus reducing the latency associated with transitioning between power states. Unforunately Magician 6.3 isn’t available for today’s review, but Samsung says it will be available within the next few weeks. The company also provides additional software to quickly clone your old data to your new Samsung SSD.

A Closer Look

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Samsung’s 980 comes in an M.2 2280 single-sided form factor with a black PCB. To keep the SSD cool, Samsung incorporated a few thermal solutions into the design. The heat spreader label on the back of the drive improves thermal dissipation to help combat excess heat, and the Dynamic Thermal Guard technology invokes thermal throttling if needed. The 980 also supports Active State Power Management (ASPM), Autonomous Power State Transition (APST), and the L1.2 ultra-low power mode to regulate overall power consumption. The controller also comes with a nickel-coating that the company claims reduces its operating temperatures by five degrees Celsius.

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Speaking of which, Samsung’s Pablo, an NVMe 1.4 compliant SSD controller, powers the 980. The company wasn’t too forthcoming with deeper details on the controller. We believe it to be a multi-core Arm architecture that may be manufactured using its 14nm process, especially since the 980 Pro was so proudly touted for being manufactured on the company’s 8nm process node.

The controller features half the NAND channels of the controllers that power the company’s 970 Evo Plus and 980 Pro, which, along with the lack of a memory controller, helps save on cost due to less complex logic. Naturally, that comes at the expense of performance. However, to mitigate these performance bottlenecks, the DRAMless architecture uses host memory buffer (HMB) tech that leverages the host system’s DRAM instead of an onboard DRAM chip to host the FTL mapping table.

This technology allows the controller to leverage a small portion of the host system’s DRAM memory by using the Direct Memory Access functionality that’s baked into the PCI-Express interface. The company programmed the SSD to use 64MB of system memory for the 980’s needs, which is similar to other HMB drives on the market.

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Each capacity of Samsung’s 980 NVMe SSD comes with a single NAND package containing up to sixteen 512Gb dies. Samsung’s V6 V-NAND TLC has a 2-plane architecture. While this is only half the number of planes compared to competing types of flash, Samsung says it has engineered the silicon to still provide speedy programming and read times. For further detailed reading, we covered this flash more extensively in our review of the Samsung 980 Pro.

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The Samsung 980 SSD Spotted: A DRAM-Less PCIe 3.0 x4 SSD

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A number of European retailers have started to list Samsung’s yet-to-be-announced Samsung 980 (non-Pro) SSDs. Despite expectations, the new units are not inexpensive SSDs with a PCIe 4.0 x4 interface, but are rather unpretentious midrange PCIe 3.0 x4 drives that share some technologies with the flagship.

The Samsung 980 SSDs come in 250GB, 500GB, and 1TB versions. The drives are based on the company’s latest Pablo controller as well as 136-layer TLC V-NAND memory, just like the company’s top-of-the-range 980 Pro drives. The controller supports AES 256-bit encryption as well as TCG/Opal IEEE 1667 coding, so the new SSDs can be used for aimed at enterprises, government agencies and other entities that require advanced security. The new M.2-2280 SSDs do not use any DRAM cache and are therefore cheaper to produce than Samsung’s typical PCIe SSDs that usually come with a DRAM cache.

From sequential performance point of view, Samsung rates the new 980 drives for an up to 3,500 MB/s sequential read speed as well as an up to 3,000 MB/s sequential write speed. As for random performance, advanced versions of the Samsung 980 are claimed to be capable of up to 500,000 random reads (4KB, QD32) as well as up to 480,000 IOPS random writes (4KB, QD1).

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Since the Samsung 980 SSDs feature a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, unlike their 980 Pro counterparts, it is not surprising that the new drives are considerably slower when compared to the flagship products from Samsung (and other SSDs using a PCIe 4.0 x4 bus). What is surprising is that the new Samsung 980 SSDs are slower when compared to their predecessors, the Samsung 970 Evo Plus drives in such metrics as sequential write speed (3,000 MB/s vs. 3,300 MB/s), random read speed (500,000IOPS vs. 620,000 IOPS), and random write speed (480,000 IOPS vs. 560,000 IOPS).

Based on data from Geizhals.eu (via ComputerBase.de), Samsung’s 980 250GB drive costs €70, the 500GB version is priced at €90, and the 1TB model carries a €150 price tag. Meanwhile, Samsung’s 970 Evo Plus 250GB can be obtained for €54, the 500GB flavor is available for €74, whereas the 1TB version can be bought for €144.

Right now, Samsung’s 980 SSDs do not really look competitive with its direct predecessors at the given prices, but we’ll have to test them. But since the new drives are based on 136-layer TLC V-NAND and lack DRAM cache, it is possible that their manufacturing costs are lower than those of the 970 Evo, which will allow Samsung to lower prices of the 980 SSDs in the future.

European retailers intend to start sales of the Samsung 980 SSDs on March 30, 2021.

Team Group EX2 SATA SSD Review: Affordable and Responsive

Our Verdict

Team Group’s EX2 is a budget-oriented 2.5” SATA 6 Gbps SSD that’s responsive under light workloads, but it’s not worth the purchase when better SSDs are only a few dollars more.

For

Low-cost
Responsive performance within the cache and fast to recover

Against

Plastic casing
3-year warranty
Lacks hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption
Incredibly slow write speeds after cache fills

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Team Group EX2 Features and Specifications

Team Group‘s EX2 is a low-cost SATA SSD composed of a mix of both new and old hardware that is fairly similar to the Crucial BX500. Combining both TLC flash and Silicon Motion’s somewhat dated DRAMless SM2258XT SSD controller, Team Group has created a low-cost SSD that delivers mixed signals. On the one hand, the BiCS4 96-layer TLC flash is typically more reliable than QLC, but on the other, the dated controller makes for inconsistent performance under mixed and write-heavy workloads.

Team Group’s EX2 wouldn’t be our first choice in upgrading our own systems, especially because its sustained write performance can tank to slower speeds than the Crucial BX500, and even HDDs. It’s not much cheaper than competitors, but if you’re pinching pennies and you are fine with the performance trade-offs, the EX2 may be worth your consideration if you don’t write a lot of data to your drive and you can snag it for a very low price.

Specifications

Product	EX2 512GB	EX2 1TB	EX2 2TB
Pricing	$53.99	$89.99	$ 189.99
Capacity (User / Raw)	500GB / 512GB	1000GB / 1024GB	2000GB / 2048GB
Form Factor	2.5″ SATA	2.5″ SATA	2.5″ SATA
Interface / Protocol	SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI	SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI	SATA 6 Gbps / AHCI
Controller	Silicon Motion SM2258XT	Silicon Motion SM2258XT	Silicon Motion SM2258XT
DRAM	DRAMless	DRAMless	DRAMless
Memory	SanDisk 96L TLC	SanDisk 96L TLC	SanDisk 96L TLC
Sequential Read	550 MBps	550 MBps	550 MBps
Sequential Write	520 MBps	520 MBps	520 MBps
Security	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption	AES 256-bit encryption
Endurance (TBW)	400 TB	800 TB	1,600 TB
Part Number	T253E2512G0C101	T253E2001T0C101	T253E2002T0C101
Warranty	3-Years	3-Years	3-Years

The EX2 comes in three capacities of 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, priced at roughly $0.0-$0.11 per gigabyte. Team Group rates the EX2 to hit sequential read and write speeds of up to 550/520 MBps, but unlike most SSDs, it lacks performance ratings for random workloads. Team Group’s EX2 is backed by a three-year warranty and comes with some solid endurance ratings, though.

The drive uses Silicon Motion’s proprietary NANDXtend ECC, which utilizes 1KB codeword LDPC and RAID, along with SRAM ECC and end-to-end data path protection to ensure data integrity. The EX2 is rated to endure up to 400TB of writes per 512GB of capacity within its warranty period, which is much higher than most of its QLC-based competitors.

A Closer Look

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A large sticker with a brushed metal-like finish covers the top of the Team Group EX2, and depending on your preference, the look may be a pro or a con. We prefer the more sophisticated look of Samsung’s SATA SSDs and the like more than the EX2. The EX2 comes in a 2.5” 7mm form factor and is mostly made of plastic to reduce cost. Internally, the PCB snaps into the casing and the casing snaps together without any need for screws.

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Team Group’s EX2 uses a Silicon Motion SM2258XT SATA 6 Gbps SSD controller to manage the flash. It’s an older SATA controller that’s based on a single 32-bit ARC CPU and it is produced on a low-power 40nm process node for cost-effectiveness.

The drive has a DRAMless architecture, too, meaning that instead of using a fast DRAM buffer space to update the FTL mapping table, the drive updates and retrieves LBA metadata on the much slower NAND. Unlike NVMe SSDs, SATA SSDs cannot harness Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to use the host system’s DRAM as a cache. The EX2 does support Trim and S.M.A.R.T. data reporting, though.

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This four-channel controller interfaces with four SanDisk BiCS4 96L TLC NAND packages, two on each side of the PCB. This flash operates at Toggle DDR3.0 speeds of up to 800 MTps in a dual-plane configuration (doubling performance over one plane) and sips power at 1.8V. Each package contains four 512Gb NAND dies, for a total of sixteen dies.

MORE: Best SSDs

MORE: How We Test HDDs And SSDs

MORE: All SSD Content

	SSD 670p 512GB	SSD 670p 1TB	SSD 670p 2TB
Pricing	$89.00	$154.00	$329.00
Capacity (User / Raw)	512GB / 512GB	1024GB / 1024GB	2048GB / 2048GB
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Interface / Protocol	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3	PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3
Controller	Silicon Motion SM2265	Silicon Motion SM2265	Silicon Motion SM2265
DRAM	DDR3L	DDR3L	DDR3L
Memory	Intel 144L QLC	Intel 144L QLC	Intel 144L QLC
Sequential Read	3,000 MBps	3,500 MBps	3,500 MBps
Sequential Write	1,600 MBps	2,500 MBps	2,700 MBps
Random Read (QD1)	20,000 IOPS	20,000 IOPS	20,000 IOPS
Random Write (QD1)	54,000 IOPS	54,000 IOPS	54,000 IOPS
Random Read	110,000 IOPS	220,000 IOPS	310,000 IOPS
Random Write	315,000 IOPS	330,000 IOPS	340,000 IOPS
Security	AES 256-bit FDE	AES 256-bit FDE	AES 256-bit FDE
Endurance (TBW)	185 TB	370 TB	740 TB
Part Number	SSDPEKNU512GZX1	SSDPEKNU010TZX1	SSDPEKNU020TZX1
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years

Specifications: ADATA XPG Gammix S70 2 TB
Brand:	ADATA XPG
Model:	AGAMMIXS70-2T-C
Capacity:	2048 GB (1907 GB usable) No additional overprovisioning
Controller:	Innogrit IG5236 “Rainier”
Flash:	3D TLC IMFT Rebranded as ADATA
DRAM:	2x 1 GB Hynix DDR4-3200 H5AN8G6NDJR-XNC
Endurance:	1480 TBW
Form Factor:	M.2 2280
Interface:	PCIe Gen 4 x4, NVMe 1.4
Device ID:	XPG GAMMIX S70
Firmware:	3.2.7.3
Warranty:	5 years
Price at Time of Review:	$400 / 20 cents per GB

Our Verdict

Samsung’s 2TB 980 Pro delivers some of the fastest performance we have seen from a Gen4 SSD. Although costly, Samsung’s 980 Pro is a solid pick for those looking for one of the best SSDs you can get your hands on.

For

Responsive PCIe Gen4 performance
Sustained write speeds
Hardware-based AES 256-bit encryption
Aesthetically pleasing
Software package
5-year warranty

Against

Average endurance ratings
Costly
TurboWrite SLC cache not as large as competitors
No 4TB option

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Features and Specifications

Update 2/17/2021: We have updated this article with new testing for the 2TB Samsung 980 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD on page 4.

Original Review published 9/22/2020:

Samsung’s 980 Pro is set to redefine the company’s product line up, and perhaps the entire high-performance market, with a combination of the speedy PCIe 4.0 interface paired with a new controller and flash, all of which delivers brutal performance in many types of applications. That isn’t too surprising given the drive’s rated speed of up to 7/5 GBps of sequential read/write throughput and 1 million IOPs.

For the first time, the company’s flagship Pro series SSD doesn’t come with 2-bit MLC flash. Instead, the 980 Pro uses Samsung’s latest 3-bit TLC flash to reduce costs, essentially making it the high-end evolution of the more economical 970 Evo Plus series. But, with a very robust PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe controller under the hood, the 980 Pro still ensures efficient and responsive performance along with AES 256-bit security for both gamers and prosumers alike.

Aside from its slower sustained write speed than the previous-gen 970 Pro, Samsung’s 980 Pro is the fastest flash-based SSD we’ve laid our hands on. The 980 Pro proves that even while Samsung no longer uses 2-bit MLC flash in the design, its newest 1xx-layer layer V6 V-NAND 3-bit TLC scales to new heights and brings impressive performance to the table.

Samsung’s 980 Pro is the SSD to get if you’re building a high-end gaming or work machine with bleeding-edge performance in mind. The 980 Pro also doesn’t cost too much more than Phison E16-based SSDs, like Seagate’s FireCuda 520 or Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0, making it surprisingly competitive against other prosumer-class drives at checkout, too.

Specifications

Product	980 PRO 250GB	980 PRO 500GB	980 PRO 1TB	980 PRO 2TB
Pricing	$89.99	$149.99	$229.99	TBD
Capacity (User / Raw)	250GB / 256GB	500GB / 512GB	1000GB / 1024GB	2000GB / 2048GB
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Interface / Protocol	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3c	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3c	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3c	PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3c
Controller	Samsung Elpis	Samsung Elpis	Samsung Elpis	Samsung Elpis
DRAM	LPDDR4	LPDDR4	LPDDR4	LPDDR4
Memory	Samsung 1xxL V-NAND TLC	Samsung 1xxL V-NAND TLC	Samsung 1xxL V-NAND TLC	Samsung 1xxL V-NAND TLC
Sequential Read	6,400 MBps	6,900 MBps	7,000 MBps	TBD
Sequential Write	2,700 MBps	5,000 MBps	5,000 MBps	TBD
Random Read – QD1	22,000 IOPS	22,000 IOPS	22,000 IOPS	TBD
Random Write – QD1	60,000 IOPS	60,000 IOPS	60,000 IOPS	TBD
Peak Random Read	500,000 IOPS	800,000 IOPS	1,000,000 IOPS	TBD
Peak Random Write	600,000 IOPS	1,000,000 IOPS	1,000,000 IOPS	TBD
Security	AES 256-bit FDE; TCG Opal V2.0; IEEE1667	AES 256-bit FDE; TCG Opal V2.0; IEEE1667	AES 256-bit FDE; TCG Opal V2.0; IEEE1667	AES 256-bit FDE; TCG Opal V2.0; IEEE1667
Endurance (TBW)	150 TB	300 TB	600 TB	1200 TB
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years
Part Number	MZ-V8P250BW	MZ-V8P500BW	MZ-V8P1T0BW	MZ-V8P2T0BW

Samsung’s 980 Pro is available in capacities spanning from 250GB up to 1TB, but unlike the last-gen 970 Pro, the 980 Pro will bring back the 2TB capacity point. Unfortunately, Samsung will not release the 2TB model until late 2020. As expected of Samsung’s flagship SSD, each capacity commands a premium over competing drives. Prices range from $90 for the 250GB capacity up to $230 for the 1TB model, with the latter having the best price-per-GB.

The company rates the 980 Pro to hit peak sequential speeds of up to 7/5 GBps read/write and upwards of 1 million random read/write IOPS. These performance figures aren’t consistent across the capacity of the device like they were on the 970 Pro, however, so the larger drives are faster than their slower counterparts.

980 Pro – Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0
Capacity	Default	Intelligent	Total	TurboWrite	After TurboWrite
250GB	4GB	45GB	49GB	2,700 MBps	500 MBps
500GB	4GB	90GB	94GB	5,000 MBps	1,000 MBps
1TB	6GB	108GB	114GB	5,000 MBps	2,000 MBps

970 EVO Plus – Intelligent TurboWrite 1.0
Capacity	Default	Intelligent	Total	TurboWrite	After TurboWrite
250GB	4GB	9GB	13GB	2,300 MBps	400 MBps
500GB	4GB	18GB	22GB	3,200 MBps	900 MBps
1TB	6GB	36GB	42GB	3,300 MBps	1,700 MBps
2TB	6GB	36GB	42GB	3,300 MBps	1,700 MBps

Samsung’s 980 Pro features Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 to enable fast burst performance, but as we see with all SLC caching mechanisms, Samsung’s direct-to-TLC write speed is much slower after the cache fills. Samsung’s Intelligent TurboWrite 2.0 improves upon the 97O EVO Plus’s implementation so that the end-user can write faster for longer, though.

Turbo Write (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Not only is the sustained after-TurboWrite performance higher across the board, but Samsung significantly increased the capacity of the TurboWrite cache. Samsung left the same static 4GB/6GB default cache values, but tweaked the dynamic cache by expanding its capacity to be up to five times larger.

Total Bytes Written and Warranty Ratings
Product	250GB	500GB	1TB	2TB
980 Pro	150 TB	300 TB	600 TB	1,200 TB
970 Pro	300 TB	600 TB	1,200 TB	N/A
Warranty	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years	5-Years

Even with the new TurboWrite 2.0 implementation, Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) ECC, and 9% over-provisioning, Samsung still pulled back on the 980 Pro’s endurance ratings due to the TLC flash, matching the 970 EVO Plus within the same five-year warranty period.

This is a bit of disappointment, not only for us, but also for the potential buyers who have already expressed some grief on forums. This change is a calculated move by Samsung, though. According to Samsung’s statistics on over 661,000 NVMe SSDs, the company says 99% of users write up to 156 TB of data within five years, and 99.7% write less than 600 TB.

Furthermore, unlike most SSDs on the market, Samsung’s 980 Pro supports AES 256-bit hardware-accelerated encryption that is TCG Opal V2.0 and IEEE1667-compliant for protection of data at rest. It supports secure erase via the Format NVM command and crypto erase capability, as well as S.M.A.R.T. data reporting and Trim.

Software and Accessories

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From drive monitoring to benchmarking and security configurations, Samsung Magician leads the market in both SSD Toolbox design and capability. The company also supports NVMe SSDs with a custom driver tuned by the company. And for those who need to migrate their existing data over to their new Samsung SSD, the company provides its Samsung Data Migration Software to clone it over easily.

A Closer Look

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Overall, Samsung’s 980 Pro looks to be an overhauled and scaled up 970 EVO Plus. The 980 Pro comes in an M.2 2280 form factor and features a quality black PCB and components. The SKU numbers on the top sticker take away from the aesthetic appeal of the 980 Pro, though. The company could have easily placed these markings on the backside along with the compliance information.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

With the 980 Pro’s small footprint yet massive performance, the device is bound to generate some heat. To help keep it cool, the company continues to use a copper heat spreader on the backside of the device to help absorb the thermal load when heavy workloads hit. Additionally, the controller features a nickel coating that Samsung says imProves cooling by roughly 7%.

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The drive also supports Active State Power Management (ASPM), Autonomous Power State Transition (APST), and the L1.2 ultra-low power mode to regulate overall power consumption, as well as further refinements to dynamic thermal guard (DTG) technology that allows you to write for longer without the device slowing down.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The new SSD controller, dubbed Elpis, measures 16.5 x 16.5mm and features a DRAM-based multi-core Arm architecture built on Samsung’s 8nm manufacturing process node. While the previous-gen Phoenix leveraged five Arm Cortex R5 cores, Samsung hasn’t specified what type of cores, or how many, power this new controller. Samsung also doesn’t specify the channel count, although it’s probably an eight-channel design.

Samsung did mention some other interesting points on the controller’s IO processing capability, however. The company states that the new PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3c controller can natively process up to 128 concurrent I/O queues, which is up from 32 queues on the previous PCIe 3.0 controller, leading to a more responsive latency profile.

The 980 Pro leverages DRAM for caching its FTL metadata, and for this task, the company outfitted the SSD with LPDDR4. These DRAM ICs interface at up to 1866 MHz and need as little as 1.1V to operate. The 250GB and 500GB models come with 512MB of DRAM while the 1TB and 2TB receive 1GB and 2GB, respectively.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Over the years, Samsung has led the way in NAND design, and the company’s V-NAND was the first vertical-channel 3D charge trap flash brought into volume production. Samsung’s 1xx-layer V6 V-NAND TLC is the company’s most refined flash yet – it scales the layer count up to new heights and consumes 15% less power than the V5 flash.

Although it hasn’t confirmed, Samsung’s V6 V-NAND reportedly features up to 136 layers, up 40% from the 970 EVO Plus’s 92-layer count. Unlike competing types of 3D flash, Samsung didn’t need to use a multi-stack design to achieve such a high layer count. Instead, the company uses its unique channel hole etching technology to enhance scalability within a single stack. By sticking with a single stack design, the company says it can maintain high-quality production and achieve good yields without the risk of stack channel hole misalignments.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

There are just two NAND packages onboard the 980 Pro’s PCB, which applies to all capacities. The 250GB to 1TB 980 Pros come with 256Gb dies while the 2TB model, when available, will feature 512Gb dies. This means that both the 1TB and 2TB models feature 32 dies in total for optimal interleaving and peak performance characteristics. To boost performance, Samsung’s V-NAND features two planes per die (independent regions of die access) for further interleaving.

Competitors like SK hynix and Micron now feature four-plane designs, which doubles parallelism, but this adds to overall periphery circuity, which in turn takes up precious die space. To overcome that die space limitation, most companies use, or are transitioning to, Periphery Under Cell (PUC) or CMOS Under Array (CUA) technology.

NAND Flash	Samsung V6 V-NAND	SK hynix 4D NAND	Micron	Kioxia BiCS4
Layer Count	1xxL	128L	96L	96L
Bit count per cell	3-bit / TLC	3-bit / TLC	3-bit / TLC	3-bit / TLC
Die density (Gb)	512	512	512	512
Die area (mm^2)	101.6	63.2	81.8	86
Bit density (Gb/mm^2)	5	8.1	6.3	6

By placing the additional periphery, page buffer, and other select circuitry under the cell array rather than its border, companies can increase bit density per wafer. Lacking this design component, Samsung’s V6 V-NAND suffers in regards to bit density. Samsung’s next-generation V7 V-NAND will most likely implement both multi-stack and Cell Over Periphery (COP) concepts for improvement.

The current design splits each of the two 16kB plane cell arrays into two 8kB sub-planes with even/odd sensing for even faster performance capability with the limited space budget. This, in conjunction with some other modifications like an enhanced bit line precharge scheme, couple-capacitance-minimizing technique, progressive Vth window scheme, and random pre-pulse sensing scheme, enables Samsung’s V6 V-NAND TLC to respond 10% faster to both read and program requests over the last generation of flash. The new flash operates down to 45/450 microseconds (820/82 MBps) read/write, respectively.

Although the company didn’t specify the exact speed that the flash interfaces with the controller at, Samsung specified the flash operates at Toggle DDR 4.0 speeds, which ranges from 800 MTps up to 1,400 MTps, at a 1.2V supply voltage. This most likely matches the speed of SK hynix’s 128-Layer TLC, which is 1,200 MTps.

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Features and Specifications

Next Page 500GB Performance Results

Product	Controller	SSD Controller Clock	NAND	Flash Interface Speed
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro v1	SM2262ENG	650 MHz	IMFT 64L TLC	650 MTps
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro v2	SM2262G	575 MHz	Micron 96L TLC	650 MTps
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro v3	SM2262G	575 MHz	Samsung 64L TLC	525 MTps
Adata XPG SX8200 Pro v4	SM2262G	?	SK Hynix 96L TLC	?

SSD	Part Number	Capacity	Sequential Read (MBps)	Sequential Write (MBps)	Random Read (IOPS)	Random Write (IOPS)	Endurance (TBW)	Warranty	Pricing
WD Green SN350 960GB	WDS960G2G0C	960GB	2,400	1,900	340,000	380,000	80	3 Years	$99.99
WD Green SN350 480GB	WDS480G2G0C	480GB	2,400	1,650	250,000	170,000	60	3 Years	$54.99
WD Green SN350 240GB	WDS240G2G0C	240GB	2,400	900	160,000	160,000	40	3 Years	$43.99

Specifications: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB SSD
Brand:	Samsung
Model:	MZ-V8P1T0BW
Capacity:	1000 GB (931 GB usable) 24 GB additional overprovisioning
Controller:	Samsung Elpis S4LV003
Flash:	Samsung 110 to 136-layer 3D TLC V-NAND v6 K9DUGY8J5C-DCK0
DRAM:	1x 1 GB Samsung LPDDR4 K4F8E3D4HF-BGCH
Endurance:	600 TBW
Form Factor:	M.2 2280
Interface:	PCIe Gen 4 x4, NVMe 1.3c
Device ID:	Samsung SSD 980 PRO 1TB
Firmware:	2B2QGXA7
Warranty:	5 years
Price at Time of Review:	$215 / 22 cents per GB

Our Verdict

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Features and Specifications

Specifications

Software and Accessories

A Closer Look

Our Verdict

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Features and Specifications

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A Closer Look

Introduction

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A Closer Look

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Team Group EX2 Features and Specifications

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A Closer Look

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Features and Specifications

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A Closer Look

Introduction

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Features and Specifications

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Software and Accessories

A Closer Look

Adata XPG SX8200 Pro Revisions

Introduction

WD Green SN350 Specifications

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A Closer Look