Key product launches include:

1. Qi2 Chargers:
   • HyperJuice 4-in-1 Qi2 Charging Stand: A foldable, 15W wireless charger optimized for Apple devices, priced at $149.99, available in Q2 2024.
   • HyperJuice Qi2 Puck Stand + Apple Watch Charger: A portable solution for charging devices and an Apple Watch, priced at $119.99, available in Q3 2024.
2. Power Banks:
   • HyperJuice 10,000mAh Qi2 Power Bank: MagSafe-compatible, also an Apple Watch charger with a 20W USB-C port, priced at $129.99, available in Q2 2024.
   • HyperJuice 5,000mAh Capsule Power Bank with Cables: Compact design with integrated USB-C cables, priced at $49.99, available in Q3 2024.
   • HyperJuice Compact 20,000mAh USB-C PD Power Bank: High-capacity, portable, with 18W charging support, priced at $79.99, launching in Q3 2024.

1. Multi-Port Wall Chargers:
   • HyperJuice 100W USB-C GaN Global Charger: A travel-friendly charger for up to four devices, priced at $99.99, available in Q1 2024.
   • HyperJuice 70W Travel Charger with Adapters: Offers 70W power with dual USB-C and USB-A ports, priced at $79.99, available in Q2 2024.
2. Connectivity Solutions:
   • HyperDrive Next USB4 NVMe SSD DUO Enclosure: Supports two NVMe SSDs with 40Gbps transfer speeds, priced at $179.99, available in Q2 2024
   • HyperDrive Next Snap-On USB-C SSD Enclosure: Portable, supports 2-in-1 M.2 SSDs, priced at $39.99, available in Q2 2024.
   • HyperDrive Next Thunderbolt 5 Dock: Offers triple 4K144Hz display support and 80Gbps speeds, priced at $399.99, available in Q3 2024.

With the releases of the latest generation of Intel and AMD platforms, the era of PCIe 5.0 SSD has officially arrived. TEAMGROUP today has launched the T-FORCE CARDEA Z540 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD. Developed with outstanding technological expertise, it is the SSD gamers of all kinds have been waiting for. Now it’s ready to lead the consumer SSD market into the new era of Gen5. The Z540 PCIe 5.0 SSD uses the latest PCIe Gen 5 x 4 interface and supports the latest NVMe 2.0 protocol, allowing it to reach read and write speeds of up to 12,000MB/s and 10,000MB/s respectively, nearly double the theoretical speed limit of PCIe 4.0. Possessing cutting-edge specifications, Z540 SSD brings gamers an unprecedented, next-generation gaming experience.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Z540 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD is equipped with an exclusive ultra-thin graphene heat spreader that combines multiple patented^[1] technologies. It’s made of 100% recyclable graphene material and utilizes the advantages of hexagonal honeycomb lattice structures to rapidly and evenly disperse heat horizontally, providing Z540 SSD with top-notch cooling. The Z540’s ultra-thin graphene heat spreader is less than 1mm thick and is compatible with various PCIe 5.0 motherboard heatsinks. Based on T-FORCE LAB’s internal testing, the operating temperature of Z540 SSD combining motherboard heatsink and graphene heat spreader is 3–5°C lower than the temperature with only motherboard heatsinks^[2]. Moreover, CARDEA Z540 uses the latest intelligent thermal regulation technology with built-in temperature sensing to automatically adjust performance and prevent overheating. T-FORCE LAB has created numerous temperature solutions for the Z540 SSD to not only enhance and protect data integrity of the SSD but also maintain good operating temperatures at high speeds, extending the lifespan of the SSD.

Z540 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD supports TEAMGROUP’s patented S.M.A.R.T. monitoring software^[3], allowing users to easily track the health and performance of the SSD. With a 5-year warranty provided by TEAMGROUP, gamers can fully enjoy the powerful speeds of Gen5 without any worries. The first batch of T-FORCE CARDEA Z540 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD will be available in the 2TB capacity and be sold worldwide in Q2, 2023. To get a first glimpse of the latest generation SSD, please stay tuned to TEAMGROUP’s official sales channels.

【Learn More】

T-FORCE CARDEA Z540 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD

https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/cardea-z540

Our friends at TeamGroup have a M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD that includes a graphene SSD label for heat dissipation and improved cooling. Here is their announcement.

August 16, 2022, Taipei _Global memory brand, TEAMGROUP, has created numerous innovative SSD products over the years with its cutting-edge research and development to offer the very best solutions in the storage market. Today it has announced MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, featuring a unique breakthrough cooling technology: the industry’s first SSD label to incorporate graphene copper foil. This less than 1mm thick Heat Dissipating Graphene SSD Label has received Utility Patents ^[1] and is tightly adhered to the SSD to provide precise and greater cooling. The design of MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD’s heat dissipating graphene SSD label eliminates the possibility of installation interference. Moreover, it allows users to enjoy double the cooling performance and the increased stability of PCIe Gen4 without the need to install additional thermal equipment when it’s paired with an M.2 slot heatsink.

TEAMGROUP’s brand new MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD is a storage upgrade solution for Gen4x4 SSDs. It offers a read speed of 5,000MB/s and a write speed of 4,500MB/s and supports SLC Cache technology, which provides over double the operation efficiency of Gen3 SSDs. By solving the problem of computer lag, it allows users to multitask with ease and enjoy fast and smooth performance. The MP44L SSD provides excellent data transfer accuracy due to its LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check Code) technology. It supports Windows TRIM optimization commands and the latest NVMe 1.4 standard. With the allocation mechanism of NVM Sets, PLM (Predictable Latency Mode) and the latest RRL (Read Recovery Level) technology, the SSD’s latency is significantly reduced, and wear and tear at high read and write speeds is also diminished, extending the lifespan of the drive.

TEAMGROUP MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD is available in a wide range of capacity, from 250GB to 2TB, to meet the needs of all types of users, whether they are seeking for a PC upgrade or expanding capacity. The first batch of MP44L is expected be available for purchase on Amazon and Newegg in North America in late August, 2022. For more sales and technology information about MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD and its patented heat dissipating graphene SSD label, please stay tuned to TEAMGROUP’s official sales channels for the latest news.

?Learn More?

TEAMGROUP MP44L M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD

https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/mp44l

[1] Heat Dissipating Graphene SSD Label Patent

Taiwan Utility Patent No.: M628748

China Patent No.: CN217135922 U

?About TEAMGROUP?

As a leading provider of memory storage products and mobile applications to the consumer market, TeamGroup Inc. is committed to providing the best storage, multimedia and data sharing solutions. All TEAMGROUP’s memory module products come with a lifetime warranty, repair and replacement services. TeamGroup Inc., also listed company at stock exchange market in January, 2019. In 2016, TEAMGROUP established T-FORCE gaming series which includes all the gaming memory module. In 2020, TEAMGROUP established T-CREATE brand for creative users. For more information, please visit the TEAMGROUP website at https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/ or follow our social media including.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/teamgroupinc

Twitter: https://twitter.com/teamgroupinc

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamgroupinc

BTR recently received a 2TB T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD from TeamGroup which is an older PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 drive that appears to be particularly useful for motherboards with integrated NVMe heatsinks because of its thin graphene foil cooling solution. SSD (Solid State Drive) technology is continually improving and its pricing remains reasonable as speed and capacities increase for gamers who need more storage as games grow larger. CARDEA ZERO Z440 is a fast 5,000MBps/4,400 MBps SSD that we put it through its paces against seven other SSDs. We especially want to see how it compares especially in PC gaming with our other three NVMe Gen 4 x4 SSDs – a 2TB 7,400MBps/7000MBps SSD, a 1TB 7,000MBps/6,000MBps SSD, and another 2TB 5,000 MBps/4,400 MBps SSD.

We will also focus on its performance besides comparing it with five NVMe/PCIe SSDs, a portable USB 3.2 SSD, and a fast SATA III SSD: (1) a 2TB CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series (7,400/7,000MBps Gen 4 x4), (2) a 1TB CARDEA A440 (7,000/6000MBps Gen 4 x4), (3) a 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000/4400MBps Gen 4 x4), (4) the 1TB CARDEA IOPS SSD (3,400/3000MBps, Gen 4 x3), (5) a now midrange TeamGroup 1TB MP33 (1,800/1,500MBps, Gen 3 x4 SSD), (6) a 4TB M200 portable USB 3.2 Type C SSD (2,000/2,000MBps), and (7) a fast 1TB Delta MAX White RGB (560MBps/510MBps) SATA III SSD.

The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, priced at Amazon at $227.99 for the 2TB version (and at $119.99 for the 1TB version). The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is priced at Newegg at $287.99 for the 2TB version. The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 (vanilla) SSD is at Amazon for $299.99 for 2TB, but it comes with two heatsinks, and the 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 is priced at $229.99. They are all in similar price ranges to other comparable fast PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSDs currently available.

For additional price comparisons, the TeamGroup 2TB MP33 NVMe SSD is $145.99, the T-FORCE NVMe CARDEA IOPS is $117.82 and only offered in a 1TB capacity as is the SATA III Delta MAX at Amazon for $109.99 but it offers RGB lighting. The 4TB M200 Portable USB 3.2 Gen2 x2 Type C SSD is $659.99 while the 2TB version is $267.99.

Features & Specifications

Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD which are taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

Features

• M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 solid state drive. Supports the latest platform AMD X570
• Excellent performance – Read speed is up to 5,000 MB/s^[1]. Enhances the speed and performance of the overall system
• Three heat dissipation elements – the combination of graphene and copper can provide excellent heat dissipation. 0.2mm ultra-thin and patented cooling module can avoid interference during installation
• Multiple protection, smart management technology – effectively monitors the status of solid state drive and maximizes its performance
• Product warranty – five-year product warranty with free technical support service
• Taiwan Invention Patent (number: I703921)
• China Utility Patent (number: CN 211019739 U)

Specifications

The specifications, based on CrystalDiskMark, boast up to 5,000 Read MB/s / 4,400 MB/s Write for the 2TB version and the same speeds for the 1TB version which are very good for an older Gen 4 x4 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. Although it features a SLC cache that will degrade beyond its capacity threshold and isn’t capable of sustaining its write performance until full, it is exceptional for gaming and most applications. The 2TB model is rated for a solid lifespan of 3,600 terabytes written backed by a five year guarantee, and it features S.M.A.R.T and Trim support.

We were curious as to why TeamGroup picked the name, “Cardea“. In Greek and Roman mythology, Cardea was the ‘Goddess of the Hinge’, a family protector who kept evil spirits from entering their homes. Cardea comes from the Latin word ‘cardo’, which means hinge, pole, axis, or juncture with the same root as “cardiology”, which means connected to the heart/center. Cardo was also fundamental to Roman city planning. It appears that a SSD/storage is at the heart of a PC and essential to it.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing, Heatsink installation, and Temperatures Under Load

The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 comes in a small box that advertises PCIe 4.0 and a copper graphine heatsink as pictured on the front. Here is the back of the box which warns the buyer that the up to 5,000 MB/s / 4,400 MB/s transfer speeds can vary according to hardware/software conditions and are only to be used for basic reference. It offers a 5-year warranty and demonstrates the heatsink – a thin copper-colored Graphene foil – that will allow the SSD to be placed behind a video card, under an integrated motherboard heatsink, or into the PS5. Here is a closer look at the CARDEA ZERO Z440 in its inner packaging with the heatsink on top of the NVMe SSD. The front of the CARDEA ZERO Z440 carries a sticker which warns that the warranty may be void if removed. It’s pretty meaningless as a restriction since there are modules on both sides of the PCB.

The ICs are on both sides of the PCB and the Z440 Pro uses a second-generation 96-layer 3D BiCS4 NAND manufacturing process. It uses Phison’s PS5016-E16 to achieve its rated speeds.

The CARDEA ZERO Z440 comes with just one heatsink unlike the regular A440 which comes with a second finned heatsink. The graphene heatsink is covered with a lot of unnecessary text, but it is designed to be thin and hidden behind a video card. It is also ideal for installation in a PlayStation 5.

The graphene heatsink is good-looking and easily attaches to the SSD. Installing the heatsink is simple; remove the plastic covering from the sticky thermal interface material and apply it to the heatsink taking care to cover all the modules. It is important to use a heatsink as temperatures will easily exceed 80C without one. But using the graphene heatsink behind a video card only drops temperatures by about 5C. Stressing the ZERO Z440 by copying 100GB over and over resulted in temps of 80C. The ZERO Z440 is as difficult to cool as CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000MBps/4400MBps) which also has ICs on both sides of its PCB and which also runs too hot to be cooled by its supplied graphene heatsink. A ceramic heatsink would have been a better choice.

We measured the temperatures using Crystal Disk Info and Hardware Info 64 which were in agreement, and the SSD became much too hot to touch. In fact, we saw significant loss of performance as the SSD throttled its speeds in an attempt to cool down. We also tested the CARDEA ZERO Z440 with the finned heatsink the A440 came with, and temperatures stayed well below 70C under the most demanding conditions without throttling.

Just as with the CARDEA A440 Special Series, we didn’t know why TeamGroup decided not to include an additional heatsink with the regular A440 but not with the ZERO Z440, so we let them know that we found the graphene heatsink inadequate. They replied (regarding the A440 Special Series which also applies to the Z440):

“We suggest that you use the NVMe heatsink that comes with ASUS ROG Maximus Apex motherboard, and also please suggest users do it this way also.

The CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is originally designed within the PS5 environment, so when it comes with higher data transfers, the temperature will go higher than expected.”

So the Z440 should be fine with a PS5 but not with a PC. If your motherboard has an integrated NVMe heatsink, you will want to use it. If not, buy an aftermarket NVMe heatsink if you are doing intensive SSD work. They should install easily over the ZERO Z440’s graphene heatsink to keep it cool and it will never throttle due to heat. Using the massive NVMe heatsink included with the ASUS ROG Maximus Apex motherboard (above), we never saw temperatures rise above 50C. After installing the CARDEA ZERO Z440, the user may need to format it before use. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first. Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-12900KF (HyperThreading and Turbo boost at stock settings)..
• ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Apex LGA 1700 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 5.0, DDR5)
• T-FORCE DELTA RGB PC5-51200 6400MHz DDR5 CL40 2x16GB kit, supplied by TeamGroup
• GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, supplied by NVIDIA
• T-FORCE T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA A440 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 2TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x3 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE M200 4TB Portable Gen 2 x2 USB 3.2 Type C SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX White 1TB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Super Flower LedEx, 1200W Platinum 80+ power supply unit
• MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R (AIO) 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Corsair 5000D ATX mid-tower (plus 1 x 140mm fan; 2 x 120mm Noctua fans)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 11 Professional edition; latest updates/build
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• PCMark 8 (World of Warcraft & Battlefield 3)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• 3DMark Storage Benchmark (Battlefield V, Call of Duty, Overwatch)

Synthetic Benching Tests & Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020/2021
• AIDA64
• PCMark 10 Pro version courtesy of UL (Full Storage Benchmark, Express, Extended)
• PCMark 8
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• CrystalDiskMark
• TxBENCH Basic
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• HD Tach
• 100GB File Copy Timed Test

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD

Benchmarking SSDs is not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all eight tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
2. T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
3. T-FORCE CARDEA A440 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
4. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
5. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
6. TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
7. T-FORCE M200 4TB Portable Gen 2 x2 USB 3.2 Type C SSD
8. T-FORCE Delta MAX SATA III 1TB SSD

We did not set up Windows on the Delta MAX SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized by multiple charts although we will only show the details for the PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSDs. Let’s start first with 3DMark’s storage benchmark.

3DMark Storage Benchmark

3DMark’s Professional version by UL includes a Storage Benchmark (optional in the Advanced version) which also measures the time it takes to load several popular games. We are only to show the Gen 4 x4 SSD detailed results but will summarize all of them.

First, the ZERO 440 results with 2606.Next, the A440 Pro Special Series results with 3229. Now, the CARDEA A440 results with 3844. Finally, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 scores 3009. Here’s the summary chart of all eight of our tested drives.

The ZERO Z440 is the slowest of the PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x5 SSDs. The CARDEA A440 is a standout as the fastest SSD using this benchmark, followed by the A440 Pro Special Series, the C440, the Z440, the IOPS, the MP33, the portable Type C SSD, and the SATA III DELTA MAX.

Next up, another important UL benchmark suite, PCMark 10 including the full benching suites – Express, Extended, and the Full System Drive Benchmark.

PCMark 10 Professional

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic suites, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 suite for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

The regular version of PCMark 10 misses several key elements such as detailed storage testing, but the Professional version, which we use courtesy of UL, includes a storage benchmark and a full system drive benchmark. In addition, We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended suite. First up is the Full System Drive Benchmark.

Full System Drive Benchmark

The CARDEA ZERO Z440 scores 2162.

Here’s the summary chart of all of our tested drives. The CARDEA ZERO Z440 is the slowest of the PCIe 4.0 drives but well ahead of the PCIe 3.0 drives. On to PCMark 10.

PCMark 10 Express

First the CARDEA ZERO Z440 scores 7324.

Now the ZERO Z440 online validated score which gives more detailed results.

Next, the A440 Pro Special Series results with 7468. Below is the CARDEA A440 Express score with 7480. Finally, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 Express score is 7188. The summary chart is presented after the Extended scores.

PCMark 10 Extended

First up, the CARDEA ZERO Z440 Extended score is 13154.

Next, the ZERO Z440 online results.

The CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series Extended scores 13257. Next, the CARDEA A440 Extended score is 13452. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 Extended score is 13384. Here’s the summary chart.

The Delta MAX SATA III SSD could not be tested since Windows is not set up on it. In the Express suite, the A440’s score generally the fastest while the CARDEA ZERO Z440 scores above the CARDEA C440 but is behind the PCIe 3.0 Gen 3 x4 SSDs in the more demanding Extended suite.

Let’s check out the older PCMark 8 benchmark suite which also uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

Now the CARDEA A440.

Finally, we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD, the last of our PCIe 4.0 SSDs.

Below is presented the summary chart.

Higher scores denote faster drives and as usual, both CARDEA A440 SSDs both standout, followed by the CARDEA ZERO Z440, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD, and then followed in order by the CARDEA IOPS, the MP33 SSD, the Type C portable, and the SATA III Delta MAX in last place as usual.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First, the CARDEA ZERO Z440.

Next up, the A440 Pro Special Series SSD. The A440 results are below.

Finally, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 results.

The results are very similar to the CrystalDiskMark benchmarks but with the CARDEA ZERO Z440 edging out the C440.

Next up are the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 AS SSD results. Finally, the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440AS SSD results.

Although the CARDEA ZERO Z440 has the fastest game copy time, both of the CARDEA A440 SSDs are first in Read/Write with the CARDEA ZERO Z440 ahead of the CARDEA C440, followed by the IOPS, the MP33, the portable, and finally the Delta MAX.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

The CARDEA ZERO Z440 gives an average read of 2332.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 2174.1MB/s for the Long bench.

Below are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our eight drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA A440 Pro again generally scores the fastest in HD Tach ahead of the A440, although the CARDEA ZERO Z440 is ahead of the CARDEA C440 which trades blows with the vanilla A440, followed by the IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD, the portable SSD, and the SATA III Delta MAX takes last place as usual.

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results – FFXIV

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they all load significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker. We tested 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer & Endwalker benchmarks.

Shadowbringers Benchmark

The Shadowbringers Benchmark will not only give you accurate framerates averages, it precisely times how long it takes to load each of 5 different levels and the total loading time. We used maximum settings.

Let’s start with the Shadowbringer benchmark using the CARDEA ZERO Z440. Total Loading times are 9.5555 seconds. Here’s the Shadowbringer summary chart.

The CARDEA ZERO Z440 trades blows with the PCIe 3.0 IOPS and is slightly slower than the C440 which in turn are well behind the A440 SSDs.

We also use the newer Endwalker benchmark.

Endwalker Benchmark

The Endwalker benchmark is just as detailed as Shadowbringers and is a very accurate test of loading game and level times.

We test using the Endwalker benchmark with the CARDEA ZERO Z440. Total Loading times are 9.376 seconds. Here is the Endwalker summary chart..

For all 4 games and from multiple levels tested, both CARDEA A440s stand out, followed generally by the CARDEA ZERO Z440 and C440, the IOPS, the MP33, the Delta MAX, and then the USB 3.2 Type C portable SSD.

We see a 2-3 second difference between our fastest SSD and our slowest SATA III SSD with an additional second required to load from an external drive. It may make an immersion difference for getting right back into the game. However, until developers start to target SSDs for PC game storage, only then we may see SSDs fully achieve the game loading performance they are capable of on Windows. In the meantime, PS5 gamers can take full advantage of either A440’s fast loading speeds. No matter what, faster is better when a gamer wants to get right back into a game.

Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy 104GB

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. We copy a 104GB folder containing Horizon 5 from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs. Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty and refill it.

104GB File Copy

CARDEA ZERO Z440 took 1 minutes and 39.0 seconds. to copy 104GB.

The A440 Pro Speciall Series SSD took 1 minutes and 17.0 seconds. to copy 104GB. The A440 took 1 minutes and 44.0 seconds to copy 104GB. The Ceramic C440 took 1 minutes and 59 seconds for the same copy.

The CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD excels at copying well ahead of the three other Gen 4 x4 SSDs with the CARDEA ZERO Z440 beating the vanilla A440 and the C440. The IOPS comes in fourth place well ahead of the MP200 portable and MP33 SSDs which are in turn faster than the Delta MAX SATA III SSD.

Yet no matter how you look at it, even a SATA III SSD is much faster than any HDD or SSHD for copying large files. Consider taking a nap if you are going to copy 104GB using a hard drive.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but our tests are far more consistent. Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer/Endwalker’s benchmarks. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

PCMark’s Storage Benchmark also provides precise SSD bandwidth, loading times, game record, install, and save time comparisons.

All eight SSDs load games quickly but the Generation 4 x4 PCIe SSDs are generally faster than Generation 3 x4 and stand out from SATA III and external SSDs. When PC game developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the super-fast game loading performance they are capable of. Until then, PlayStation 5 gamers may take full advantage of the CARDEA ZERO Z440 and other PCIe 4.0 fast SSD loading speeds.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, and both CARDEA Ceramic A440 SSDs stand out as the fastest drives, and noticeably faster than the CARDEA C440 and CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSDs. The CARDEA IOPS slots into fifth place well ahead of the TeamGroup MP33 or M200 Portable SSDs, and finally the Delta MAX SATA III SSD is almost always in last place.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide decent game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid (SSHD)drives, but a PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gen 4 x4 will provide the highest performance. Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

We would suggest that 1TB has become the minimum storage capacity for a gamer that includes the operating system since PC games have grown very large although 512GB may be acceptable. It is not absolutely mandatory to have a SSD if you only use your PC for gaming and have a ton of patience. Games usually do not perform significantly better on SSDs since most PC developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games generally take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal SATA III drive or even from an external USB 3.0 SSD.

If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD. Windows 10/11 have become positively painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs may saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games will slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SSD. And for maximum performance with the least frustration, using a PCIe NVMe SSD is the only way to fly.

Let’s recap pricing. The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, priced at Amazon at $227.99 for the 2TB version (and at $119.99 for the 1TB version). The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is priced at Newegg at $287.99 for the 2TB version. The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 (vanilla) SSD is at Amazon for $299.99 for 2TB, but it comes with two heatsinks, and the 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 is priced at $229.99.

We believe that spending the extra money is worth it for a fast 2TB NVMe CARDEA ZERO Z440 PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD over Gen 3 x4 as long as your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0. If not, the CARDEA IOPs is an excellent choice. The CARDEA ZERO Z440 is priced $60 less than the fastest tested 2TB SSD and is priced $2 less than the CARDEA Ceramic C440 which is in the same 5,000MBps/4,400MBps class but comes with a better heatsink. If you have an integrated NVMe motherboard heatsink, the CARDEA ZERO Z440 is a great choice.

Of course, gamers on a budget should also look for sales. Because of today’s close pricing and competition, choosing an SSD is easier than ever. Based on performance and price, we recommend the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z440 SSD as a competitively-priced fast SSD. A five year warranty backed by TeamGroup insures that a player will enjoy fast performance for years to come.

Pros

• • 5-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support

• Fast game/level loading speeds and very fast large file copy speeds
• Fast Write and Read speeds
• The CARDEA ZERO Z440 is priced competitively $60 less than the fastest A440 SSDs, and not too much higher than slower Gen 4 x3 SSDs
• Thin foil copper-graphene heatsink fits under integrated motherboard NVMe heatsinks

Cons

• The included graphene heatsink is inadequate to prevent throttling under heavy load. Use an aftermarket or integrated MB heatsink
• No proprietary disk monitoring utilities. It is necessary to use third-party tools to monitor health and usage

Next up, a VR review of the RX 6650 XT and RX 6700 XT versus the RTX 3060 Ti. It will be followed up by a budget mini-PC (book sized) ECS LIVA A300 review.

Happy Gaming!

SSD (Solid State Drive) technology is always improving and its pricing remains reasonable as speed and capacities increase. SSD technology has become accessible to PC gamers who need more and more storage as games grow larger. We received a 2TB T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD from TeamGroup that appears to have been especially developed for the PlayStation 5 as its lettering indicates Pro Special 5eries.

The A440 Pro Special Series is a very fast Gen 4 x4 PCIe 4.0 7,400MBps/7,000 MBps PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. We put it through its paces against six other SSDs. We especially want to see if it is practically faster for PC gaming than our other two NVMe Gen 4 x4 SSDs – a 1TB 7,000MBps/6,000MBps SSD or our 2TB 5,000 MBps/4,400 MBps SSD.

We will also focus on its performance by comparing it with three other NVMe/PCIe SSDs, a portable USB 3.2 SSD, and a fast SATA III SSD: (1) a 1TB CARDEA A440 (7,000/6000MBps Gen 4 x4), (2) a 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000/4400MBps Gen 4 x4), (3) the 1TB CARDEA IOPS SSD (3,400/3000MBps, Gen 4 x3), (4) a now midrange TeamGroup 1TB MP33 (1,800/1,500MBps, Gen 3 x4 SSD), (5) a 4TB M200 portable USB 3.2 Type C SSD, and (6) a fast 1TB Delta MAX White RGB (560MBps/510MBps) SATA III SSD.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, priced at Amazon at $287.99 for the 2TB version. The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 (vanilla) SSD that we reviewed in January is at Amazon for $299.99 for 2TB, but it comes with two heatsinks. They are both in a similar price range to other fast PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 SSDs currently available. For additional price comparisons, the 1TB SATA III Delta MAX is $124.99 at Amazon and it offers RGB lighting. The TeamGroup 2TB MP33 SSD is $179.99, the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS is $119.99 only offered in a 1TB capacity, and the 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 version is priced at $259.

Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD which are taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• PCIe Gen4x4 Interface & Crazy Fast Read/ Write Speeds of >7000
• Special Edition White Ultra-thin Patented Graphene Cooling Fins with Zero Interference
• Ultra-large 4TB Gaming Storage Space
• Five-year Warranty for Maximum Protection
• Taiwan Invention Patent (number : I703921)
• United States Patent (number : US11051392B2)
• China Utlity Patent (number : CN 211019739 U)

Specifications

The specifications, based on CrystalDiskMark, boast up to 7,400 Read MB/s / 7,000 MB/s Write for the 2TB version and slightly lower Read/Write speeds for the 1TB version which are excellent for a Gen 4 x4 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. Although it features a SLC cache that will degrade beyond its capacity threshold and isn’t capable of sustaining its write performance until full, it is exceptional for gaming and most applications. The 2TB model is rated for up to 1,400TB of Write backed by a five year guarantee and it features S.M.A.R.T and Trim support.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing, Heatsink installation, and Temperatures Under Load

The TeamGroup T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD comes in a small box that advertises PCIe 4.0 and a white graphine heatsink as pictured on the front.

Here is the back of the box which warns the buyer that the up to 7,400 MB/s / 7,000 MB/s transfer speeds can vary according to hardware/software conditions and are only to be used for basic reference. It offers a 5-year warranty and demonstrates the heatsink – a thin white Graphene copper foil – that will allow the SSD to be placed behind a video card or into the PS5.

Here is a closer look at the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro SSD in its inner packaging with the heatsink and thermal material below it.

The front of the CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series carries a sticker which warns that the warranty may be void if removed. It’s meaningless as there is only a bare PCB below the sticker.

The ICs are on one side of the PCB and the A440 Pro uses Phison’s E18 and Micron’s 176L TLC to achieve its rated speeds.

The A440 Pro Special Series comes with just one heatsink unlike the regular A440 which comes with a second finned heatsink. The Graphene heatsink is covered with a lot of unnecessary text, but it is designed to be thin and hidden behind a video card. It is also ideal for installation in a PlayStation 5.

The white heatsink is good-looking and easily attaches to the Pro.

Installing the heatsink is simple; remove the plastic covering from the sticky thermal interface material and apply it to the heatsink taking care to cover all the modules.

It is important to use a heatsink as temperatures will easily exceed 80C without one. But using the graphene heatsink behind a video card only drops temperatures by about 5C. Stressing the A440 Pro by copying 100GB over and over resulted in temps close to 80C, and using AIDA64’s drive torture test, it reached 76C. Unlike the difficult to cool CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000MBps/4400MBps) that has ICs on both sides of its PCB, the A440 only uses modules on one side, but it still runs too hot to be cooled by its supplied white graphene heatsink.

We measured the temperatures using Crystal Disk Info and Hardware Info 64 which were in agreement, and the SSD became much too hot to touch. In fact, we saw significant loss of performance as the SSD throttled its speeds in an attempt to cool down

We also tested the A440 Pro with the finned heatsink the regular A440 came with and temperatures stayed well below 70C under the most demanding conditions without throttling. We didn’t know why TeamGroup decided to include an additional heatsink with the regular A440 but not with the Pro, so we let them know that we found the graphene heatsink inadequate. They replied:

“We suggest that you use the NVMe heatsink that comes with ASUS ROG Maximus Apex motherboard, and also please suggest users do it this way also.

The CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is originally designed within the PS5 environment, so when it comes with higher data transfers, the temperature will go higher than expected.”

If your motherboard has an integrated NVMe heatsink, you will wish to use it. If not, buy a NVMe heatsink. They should install easily over the A440 Pro’s graphene heatsink. In this way, the A440 will remain cool and never throttle due to heat.

Using the NVMe heatsink included with the ASUS ROG Maximus Apex motherboard, we never saw temperatures even rise to 50C.

After installing the CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series, the user may need to format it before use. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first. Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-12900KF (HyperThreading and Turbo boost at stock settings)..
• ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Apex LGA 1700 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 5.0, DDR5)
• T-FORCE DELTA RGB PC5-51200 6400MHz DDR5 CL40 2x16GB kit, supplied by TeamGroup
• GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, supplied by NVIDIA
• T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA A440 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 2TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x3 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE M200 4TB Portable Gen 2 x2 USB 3.2 Type C SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX White 1TB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Super Flower LedEx, 1200W Platinum 80+ power supply unit
• MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R (AIO) 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Corsair 5000D ATX mid-tower (plus 1 x 140mm fan; 2 x 120mm Noctua fans)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 11 Professional edition; latest updates/build
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter
• S.M.A.R.T. Tool (TeamGroup)

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• PCMark 8 (World of Warcraft & Battlefield 3)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• 3DMark Storage Benchmark (Battlefield V, Call of Duty, Overwatch)

Synthetic Benching Tests & Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020/2021
• AIDA64
• PCMark 10 Pro version courtesy of UL (Full Storage Benchmark, Express, Extended)
• PCMark 8
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• CrystalDiskMark
• TxBENCH Basic
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• HD Tach
• 100GB File Copy Timed Test

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD

Benchmarking SSDs is not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all seven tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
2. T-FORCE CARDEA A440 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
3. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
4. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
5. TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
6. T-FORCE M200 4TB Portable Gen 2 x2 USB 3.2 Type C SSD
7. T-FORCE Delta MAX SATA III 1TB SSD

We did not set up Windows on the DELTA MAX SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized by multiple charts although we will not show the details for every run. Let’s start first with TeamGroup’s own S.M.A.R.T. utility to get information on each SSD tested.

S.M.A.R.T.

This TeamGroup S.M.A.R.T. utility tests each drive using three different sets of tests.

First up, the CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series dual performance tests starting with MB/s with the IOPs results immediately below followed by the latency results at the bottom.

Next, the CARDEA A440 dual performance tests starting with MB/s, IOPs and Latency.

Now, the performance tests for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 in MB/s, IOPs and Latency.

Here are the dual performance tests in MB/s, IOPS, and Latency for the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS.

Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s, IOPS and Latency for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD.

Next, the T-FORCE M200 4TB Portable Gen 2 x2 USB 3.2 Type C SSD dual performance tests starting with MB/s, IOPS and Latency

Finally, the Delta MAX dual performance tests starting with MB/s, IOPS and Latency.

S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the PCIe NVMe CARDEA A440 Pro is the fastest SSD by virtue of its fast Read speeds, followed by the vanilla A440, the CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CARDEA IOPS, the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, the Type C Portable SSD, and in last place, the SATA III SSD – the Delta MAX SSD.

TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. tool is a great place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show. Let’s begin with 3DMark’s storage benchmark.

3DMark Storage Benchmark

3DMark’s Professional version by UL includes a Storage Benchmark (optional in the Advanced version) which also measures the time it takes to load several popular games. We are going to only show the Gen 4 x4 SSDs detailed results but will summarize all of them. If you wish to see the detailed results of the other SSDs , please check the T-FORCE M200 SSD review from earlier this year.

First, the A440 Pro Special Series results with 3229.

Next, the CARDEA A440 results with 3844.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 scores 3009.

Here’s the summary chart of all seven of our tested drives.

It’s interesting that the CARDEA A440 is a standout as fastest SSD using this benchmark, followed by the A440 Pro Special Series, the C440, the IOPS, the MP33, the portable Type C SSD, and the SATA III DELTA MAX.

Next up, another important UL benchmark suite, PCMark 10 including the full benching suites – Express, Extended, and the Full System Drive Benchmark.

PCMark 10 Professional

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic suites, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 suite for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

The regular version of PCMark 10 misses several key elements such as detailed storage testing, but the Professional version, which we use courtesy of UL, includes a storage benchmark and a full system drive benchmark. In addition, We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended suite also. First up is the Full System Drive Benchmark.

Full System Drive Benchmark

First, the A440 Pro Special Series results with 2917. We used the same version of 3DMark to test all of our SSDs and did not install the latest recent update for consistency across all drives. Again, we show the detailed results of only our fastest three PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 SSDs.

Next, we test the CARDEA A440 which scores 3474.

The CARDEA Ceramic results give 2223.

Here’s the summary chart of all of our tested drives.

Again, we see the NVMe PCIe SSDs line up in their expected order from fastest (left) to slowest (right) with the exception that the A440 Pro Special Series scores lower than the regular A440.

The PCMark 10 Express benchmark suite is best suited for office tasks while the Extended benchmarks are for power users. To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results for the three fastest SSDs which are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons. All seven SSD results will be summarized after the screenshots are presented.

PCMark 10 Express

First, the A440 Pro Special Series results with 7468.

Now the online validated score which gives more detailed results.

Next up, the CARDEA A440 Express score with 7480.

Now the online validated score with more detailed results.

Now, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 Express score is 7188

The online results follow.

The summary chart is presented after the Extended scores.

PCMark 10 Extended

First up, the CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series Extended score is 13257.

Now the online results.

Next, the CARDEA A440 Extended score is 13452.

Here are the online details.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 Extended score is 13384.

The online details are below.

Here’s the summary chart. The Delta MAX SATA III SSD could not be tested since Windows is not set up on it.

In the express suite, the CARDEA IOPS SSD actually scores highest followed by the A440 which just edges out the A440 Pro, the MP33, and then the C440 in the least demanding office Extended Office benchmarks. The more demanding Extended suite lines up the SSDs all rather closely except for the Portable SSD.

Let’s check out the older PCMark 8 benchmark suite which also uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

Next up, the C440 Ceramic SSD Read tests.

Here is the summary chart comparing our seven tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better.

Next the CARDEA A440.

Next, we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First we test the A440 Pro Special Series SSD.

Next we test the A440.

Now the CARDEA Ceramic C440 results.

The HD Tune benchmark results are summarized by the chart below.

Next are the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 AS SSD results showing the results in MB/s next to IOPS, and below them, the copy speeds.

Next are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440AS SSD results.

Again, both of the CARDEA A440 SSDs stands out with the vanilla version edging out the Pro. The CARDEA C440 is next followed by the IOPS, the MP33, the portable, and finally the Delta MAX.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

Here are the A440 Pro HD Tach results with an average read of 2486.0MB/s for the Quick bench and 2335.4MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the A440 HD Tach results with an average read of 2212.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 2308.1MB/s for the Long bench.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tach results give an average read of 2321.0MB/s for the Quick bench and 2150.7MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our seven drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA A440 Pro again generally scores the fastest in HD Tach ahead of the A440, although the CARDEA C440 trades blows with the vanilla A440, followed by the IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD, the portables SSD, and the SATA III Delta MAX takes last place as usual.

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results – FFXIV

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they all load significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker. We tested 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer & Endwalker benchmarks.

Shadowbringers Benchmark

The Shadowbringers Benchmark will not only give you accurate framerates averages, it precisely times how long it takes to load each of 5 different levels and the total loading time. We used maximum settings.

Let’s start with the Shadowbringer benchmark using the A440 Pro. Total Loading times are 8.068 seconds.

We also use the newer Endwalker benchmark and then summarize the results of our five tested SSDs.

Endwalker Benchmark

The Endwalker benchmark is also just as detailed as Shadowbringers and is a very accurate test of loading game and level times.

We test using the Endwalker benchmark with the A440 Pro. Total Loading times are 7.888 seconds.

Here is the summary chart and we also include PCMark 8’s game loading tests.

For all 4 games and from multiple levels tested, both CARDEA A440s stand out with the vanilla version beating the Pro, followed generally by the C440, the IOPS, the MP33, the Delta MAX, and then the USB 3.2 Type C portable SSD. We see a 2-3 second difference between our fastest SSD and our slowest SATA III SSD with an additional second required to load from an external drive.

It does make an immersion difference for getting right back into the game. However, until developers start to target SSDs for PC game storage, only then we may see SSDs fully achieve the game loading performance they are capable of on Windows. In the meantime, PS5 gamers can take full advantage of either A440’s fast loading speeds. No matter what, faster is better when a gamer wants to get right back into a game.

Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy 104GB

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. We copy a 104GB folder containing Horizon 5 from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs. Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty and refill it.

104GB File Copy

The A440 Pro Speciall Series SSD took 1 minutes and 17.0 seconds. to copy 104GB.

The A440 took 1 minutes and 44.0 seconds to copy 104GB.

The Ceramic C440 took 1 minutes and 59 seconds for the same copy.

The CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD excels at copying well ahead of the two other Gen 4 x4 SSDs. The IOPS comes in fourth place well ahead of the MP200 portable and MP33 SSDs which are in turn faster than the Delta MAX SATA III SSD. Yet no matter how you look at it, even a SATA III SSD is much faster than any HDD or SSHD for copying large files. Consider taking a nap if you are going to copy 104GB using a hard drive.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but our tests are far more consistent. Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer/Endwalker’s benchmarks. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

PCMark’s Storage Benchmark also provides precise SSD bandwidth, loading times, game record, install, and save time comparisons.

All seven SSDs load games quickly but the three Generation 4 x4 PCIe SSDs stand out from Generation 3 x4 and especially from SATA III and external SSDs. When PC game developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the super-fast game loading performance they are capable of. Until then, PlayStation 5 gamers may take full advantage of either CARDEA A440’s fast loading speeds.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, and both CARDEA Ceramic A440 SSDs stand out as the fastest drives, and noticeably faster than the CARDEA C440. The CARDEA IOPS slots into fourth place well ahead of the TeamGroup MP33 or M200 Portable SSDs, and finally the Delta MAX SATA III SSD is almost always in last place.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide decent game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid (SSHD)drives, but a PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gen 4 x4 will provide the highest performance. Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

We would suggest that 1TB has become the minimum storage capacity for a gamer that includes the operating system since PC games have grown very large although 512GB may still be acceptable. It still is not mandatory to have a SSD if you only use your PC for gaming and have a ton of patience. Games do not usually perform significantly better on SSDs since most PC developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games usually take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal SATA III drive or even from an external USB 3.0 SSD.

If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD. Windows 10/11 have become positively painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs often saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games will slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SATA III SSD. But for maximum performance with the least frustration, using a PCIe NVMe SSD is the only way to fly. HDDs should be relegated only for storage and for back-up.

Let’s recap pricing. The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities, priced at Amazon at $287.99 for the 2TB version. The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 (vanilla) SSD that we reviewed in January is at Amazon for $299.99 for 2TB, but it comes with two heatsinks. They are both in a similar price range to other fast PCIe 4.0 Gen4 x4 SSDs currently available. For additional price comparisons, the 1TB SATA III Delta MAX is $124.99 at Amazon and it offers RGB lighting. The TeamGroup 2TB MP33 SSD is $179.99, the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS is $119.99 only offered in a 1TB capacity, and the 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 version is priced at $259.

We believe that spending the extra money is worth it for a super-fast 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD over Gen 3 x4 as long as your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0. If not, the CARDEA IOPs is an excellent choice. The 2TB CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series is actually priced less than the 2TB vanilla A440 and would be a logical choice for faster Read and copy speeds – If you already have an NVMe heatsink or plan to install it in a PS5. If not, the regular A440 is an excellent choice.

Of course, gamers on a budget should also look for sales. Because of today’s close pricing and competition, choosing an SSD is easier than ever. Based on performance and price, we will recommend the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Pro Special Series SSD as a competitively-priced fast SSD.

A five year warranty backed by TeamGroup insures that a player will enjoy fast performance for years to come.

Pros

• 5-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Blazing fast game/level loading speeds and very fast large file copy speeds
• Very fast Write and and also extra fast Read speeds
• The A440 Pro Special Series is priced competitively and not much higher than slower Gen 4 x3 SSDs
• Designed for the PS5

Cons

• The included graphene heatsink is inadequate to prevent throttling

The Verdict

Happy Gaming!

SSD (Solid State Drive) technology is continually improving and its pricing remains reasonable as speeds and capacities increase. SSD technology has become very accessible, and gamers need significantly more capacity as games are getting larger. We received a 1TB T-FORCE CARDEA A440 from TeamGroup which is a very fast Gen 4 x4 PCIe 4.0 7,000MBps / 5,500 MBps PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. We put the A440 through its paces against four other SSDs to see if it is an upgrade from our 2TB 5,000 MBps / 4,400 MBps NVMe Gen 4 x4 SSD for gaming.

The 1TB T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities, and the 1TB version is at Amazon for $169.99 that puts it in a similar price range as the other fast SSDs currently available. We will see if 7,000MBps / 5,500MBps speeds make a practical difference for gamers, and we will focus on its performance by comparing it with three other NVMe/PCIe SSDs and a fast SATA III SSD: (1) a 2TB CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000/4400MBps Gen 4 x4), (2) the Gen 4 x3 1TB CARDEA IOPS SSD (3,400/3000MBps), (3) a now midrange TeamGroup 1TB MP33 (1,800/1,500MBps) Gen 3 x4 SSD, and a fast 1TB Delta MAX White RGB (560MBps/510MBps) SATA III SSD.

The 1TB SATA III Delta MAX is $129.99 at Amazon and it offers RGB lighting. The TeamGroup 1TB MP33 SSD is $79.97, the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS is $119.99, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB version is priced $129.99 ($259 for the 2TB version). Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD which are taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• Enjoy the lightning speed of the PCIe Gen4 x4
• Featuring two patented heat sinks
• Effective cooling—flexible installation
• Supports the latest NVMe 1.4 standard
• Taiwan Utility Patent (number: M541645)
• Taiwan Invention Patent (number: I703921)
• China Utility Patent (number: CN 211019739 U)

Specifications

The specifications, based on CrystalDiskMark, boast up to 7,000 Read / 5,500 MB/s Write for the 1TB version and a higher Read speed to 6,900MB/s for the 2TB version which are excellent for a Gen 4 x4 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. Although it features a SLC cache that will degrade beyond its capacity threshold and isn’t capable of sustaining its write performance until full, it is exceptional for gaming and most applications. The 1TB model is rated for up to 700TB of Write backed by a five year guarantee and it features S.M.A.R.T and Trim support.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE A440 CARDEA SSD and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing, Heatsink installation, and Temperatures Under Load

The TeamGroup T-FORCE A440 CARDEA SSD comes in a small box that advertises PCIe 4.0 and two heatsinks as pictured on the front.

Here is the back of the box which warns the buyer that the up to 7,000 / 6,900 MB/s transfer speeds can vary according to hardware/software conditions and are only to be used for basic reference. It offers a 5-year warranty and demonstrates the two heatsinks – a thin Graphene copper foil that will allow the SSD to be placed behind a video card, and a thicker finned heatsink for maximum cooling.

Here is a closer look at the T-FORCE A440 CARDEA SSD in its packaging next to the box. The front of the CARDEA A440 carries a sticker which warns that the warranty may be void if removed. It’s meaningless as there is only a bare PCB below the sticker.

The ICs are on one side of the PCB and the A440 uses Phison’s E18 and Micron’s 96L TLC to achieve its rated speeds.

The A440 comes with two heatsinks. The Graphene heatsink is covered with a lot of unnecessary text, but it is designed to be thin and hidden behind a video card. It would also be ideal for installation in a PlayStation 5.

The finned heatsink is good-looking and easily attaches to a NVMe SSD.

Installing the heatsink is simple as shown in TeamGroup’s video.

It is important to use a heatsink as temperatures will easily exceed 70C without one. Using the graphene heatsink behind a video card drops temperatures to a manageable below-65C, but using the finned heatsink drops temperatures well below 60C. Stressing the A440 by copying 100GB over and over only resulted in temps of 58C, and using AIDA64’s drive torture test, it only reached 60C. Unlike the CARDEA Ceramic C440 (5,000MBps/4400MBps) that has ICs on both side of its PCB, the A440 only uses ICs on one side and it’s relatively easy to cool. We measured the temperatures using Crystal Disk Info and Hardware Info 64 which were in agreement.

The A440 looks good installed in a PC using the finned heatsink.

If your motherboard has an integrated NVMe heatsink, you may wish to use it instead. Either way, the A440 will remain cool under its most stressful conditions.

After installing the CARDEA A440, the user may need to format it before use. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first. Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-12900KF (HyperThreading and Turbo boost at stock settings)..
• ASUS Prime PD-4 motherboard (Intel Z690 chipset, latest BIOS with Resizable BAR enabled, PCIe 5.0/4.0/3.1/3.1 – USB 4.0 Type-C specification)
• T-FORCE Dark Z 2x16GB DDR4 3600MHz CL18, supplied by TeamGroup
• GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, supplied by NVIDIA
• T-FORCE CARDEA A440 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 2TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x3 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX White 1TB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Super Flower LedEx, 1200W Platinum 80+ power supply unit
• MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 360R (AIO) 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Corsair 5000D ATX mid-tower (plus 1 x 140mm fan; 2 x 120mm Noctua fans)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 11 Professional edition; latest updates/build
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter
• S.M.A.R.T. Tool (TeamGroup)

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• PCMark 8 (World of Warcraft & Battlefield 3)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Benchmark – loading times of five different levels
• 3DMark Storage Benchmark (Battlefield V, Call of Duty, Overwatch)

Synthetic Benching Tests & Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020/2021
• AIDA64
• PCMark 10 Pro version courtesy of UL (Full Storage Benchmark, Express, Extended)
• PCMark 8
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• CrystalDiskMark
• TxBENCH Basic
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• HD Tach
• 100GB File Copy Timed Test

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the CARDEA A440

Benchmarking SSDs are not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all five tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE CARDEA A440 M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 SSD
2. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
3. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
4. TeamGroup MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
5. T-FORCE Delta MAX SATA III 1TB SSD

We did not set up Windows on the DELTA MAX SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized in multiple charts. Let’s start first with TeamGroup’s own S.M.A.R.T. utility to get information on each SSD tested.

S.M.A.R.T.

This TeamGroup S.M.A.R.T. utility tests each drive using two different sets of tests.

First up, the CARDEA A440 dual performance tests starting with MB/s.

Next the CARDEA A440 performance dual test results given in IOPS.

S.M.A.R.T. also measures the CARDEA A440 latency.

Next, the performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440.

Next the CARDEA Ceramic performance dual test results given in IOPS

Finally, the S.M.A.R.T. tool measures latency for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.

Here are the dual performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS.

Next we look at the performance tests in IOPS for the CARDEA IOPS

S.M.A.R.T. next measures latency for the CARDEA IOPS.

Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD.

Next we look at the performance tests in IOPS for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD

Now the dual latency tests for the MP33 SSD.

Next, the Delta MAX dual performance tests starting with MB/s.

We look at the performance tests in IOPS for the Delta MAX.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures the Delta MAX SATA III SSD latency.

S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the PCIe NVMe CARDEA A440 is the fastest SSD, followed by the CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CARDEA IOPS, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and in last place, the SATA III SSD – the Delta MAX SSD.

TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. tool is a great place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show. Let’s begin with 3DMark’s storage benchmark.

3DMark Storage Benchmark

3DMark’s Professional version by UL includes a Storage Benchmark (optional in the Advanced version) which also measures the time it takes to load several popular games.

First, the CARDEA Cermic A440 results with 3844.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 scores 3009.

Next up, the CARDEA IOPS manages 2587.

The TeamGroup MP33 SSD gets 1538.

And in last place, the Delta MAX SATA III SSD gets 1005.

Here’s the summary chart.

It’s clear that the CARDEA A440 is the fastest SSD followed by the C440, the IOPS, the MP33, and the DELTA MAX.

Next up, another important UL benchmark suite, PCMark 10 including the full benching suites – Express, Extended, and the Full System Drive Benchmark.

PCMark 10 Professional

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic suites, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 suite for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

The regular version of PCMark 10 misses several key elements such as detailed storage testing, but the Professional version, which we use courtesy of UL, includes a storage benchmark and a full system drive benchmark. In addition, We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended suite also. First up is the Full System Drive Benchmark.

Full System Drive Benchmark

First we test the CARDEA A440 which scores 3474.

Next the CARDEA Ceramic results give 2223.

The CARDEA IOPS SSD scores 2027.

Finally, the MP33 SSD manages 1187.

The Delta MAX SSD could not be tested since Windows was not set up on it.

Here’s the summary chart.

Again, we see the NVMe PCIe SSDs line up in their expected order from fastest (left) to slowest (right).

The PCMark 10 Express benchmark suite is best suited for office tasks while the Extended benchmarks are for power users. To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results. All of the SSD results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons. These will be summarized after all of the screenshots are presented.

PCMark 10 Express

First up, the CARDEA A440 Express score with 7480.

Now the online validated score which gives more detailed results.

Next, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 Express score is 7188

Now online results.

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS Express score with 7484.

Online details are next.

The Team Group MP33 Express score is given below with 7348

The online details follow.

Delta Max could not be tested since windows is not set up on it.

The summary chart is presented after the Extended scores.

PCMark 10 Extended

First up, the CARDEA A440 Extended score is 13452.

Here are the online details.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 Extended score is 13384.

The online details are below.

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS Extended score with 13304

The online details are below.

The TeamGroup MP33 SSD manages 13210.

Finally, the online results are detailed.

The Delta MAX SATA III SSD could not be tested since Windows is not set up on it.

Here’s the summary chart.

The CARDEA IOPS SSD actually scores highest followed by the A440, the MP33, and then the C440 in the least demanding office Extended Office benchmarks, but the more demanding Extended suite lines up the SSDs in their expected order.

Let’s check out the older PCMark 8 benchmark suite which also uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

All of the SSDs load games and levels quickly and the PCIe SSDs are the quickest with the CARDEA A440 just edging out the CARDEA C440 and IOPS, and the MP33 is faster than the Delta MAX SATA SSD by about a second. The fastest PCIe SSD loads 2-3 seconds faster than the SATA III SSD. However, using a FireCuda 2TB SSHD, it takes nearly twice as long to load the same games. It’s past time to relegate HDDs to storage-only.

Next up, the C440 Ceramic SSD Read tests.

Next the CARDEA IOPS Read tests are shown below.

Next, the MP33 series of benchmarks are presented below.

Finally, the Delta MAX SATA III series of benches are below.

Here is the summary chart comparing our five tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better.

Again the CARDEA A440 leads the C440 in most of the tests, followed by the CARDEA IOPS and then the MP33 SSD which is well ahead of the Delta MAX SATA III SSD.

First we test the CARDEA A440.

Next, we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD.

Below are the TeamGroup MP33 SSD results.

Finally, we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III.

Below is presented the summary chart.

Next are the CARDEA IOPS SSD results:

Next the MP33 SSD.

Finally the Delta MAX SATA III results.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First we test the A440.

Next the CARDEA Ceramic C440 results.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS SSD results are shown below.

Finally, we test the 1TB T-FORCE Delta MAX SATA III SSD.

Here are the HD Tune benches summarized by the chart below.

Below are the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 AS SSD results showing the results in MB/s next to IOPS, and below them, the copy speeds.

Next are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440AS SSD results.

Below are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPSAS SSD benchmark results.

Finally, the T-FORCE Delta MAX SATA III SSD results also showing MB/s next to IOPS and below them, copy speeds.

Again, the CARDEA A440 stands out. The CARDEA C4400 is next followed by the IOPS, the MP33 and finally the Delta MAX.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 ATTO results are first.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

Here are the A440 HD Tach results with an average read of 2212.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 2308.1MB/s for the Long bench.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tach results give an average read of 2321.0MB/s for the Quick bench and 2150.7MB/s for the Long bench.

Below are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS HD Tach results with an average read of 2079.7MB/s for the Quick bench and 1822.5MB/s for the Long bench.

Next, the TeamGroup MP33 HD Tach results show an average read of 1265.8MB/s for the Quick bench and 1198.2MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the Delta MAX SATA III HD Tach results with an average read of 409.8MB/s for the Quick bench and 405.8MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our five drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA A440 again generally scores the fastest in HD Tach although the CARDEA C440 trades blows followed by the IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD, while the SATA III Delta MAX takes last place as usual.

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results – FFXIV

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they all load significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker. We tested 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer & Endwalker benchmarks.

Shadowbringers Benchmark

The Shadowbringers Benchmark will not only give you accurate framerates averages, it precisely times how long it takes to load each of 5 different levels and the total loading time. We used maximum settings.

Let’s start with the Shadowbringer benchmark – first with the A440. Total Loading times are 7.659 seconds.

We also use the newer Endwalker benchmark and then summarize the results of our five tested SSDs.

Endwalker Benchmark

The Endwalker benchmark is also just as detailed as Shadowbringers and is a very accurate test of loading game and level times.

Let’s begin with the Endwalker benchmark by first using the A440. Total Loading times are 7.608 seconds.

Here is the summary chart and we also include PCMark 8’s game loading tests.

For all 4 games and multiple levels tested, the CARDEA A440 stands out, followed generally by the C440, the IOPS, the MP33 and then the Delta MAX. We see a 2-3 second difference between our fastest SSD and our slowest SATA III SSD. It does make an immersion difference for getting right back into the game. When we played God of War, although we use the C440 for our boot drive, we set the game up on the A440 and the loading times were blazing fast.

However, until developers start to target SSDs for PC game storage, then we may see SSDs fully achieve the game loading performance they are capable of on Windows. In the meantime, PS5 gamers can take full advantage of the A440’s fast loading speeds. No matter what, faster is better when a gamer wants to load or get back into a game.

Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy 102GB

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. We copy a 102GB folder containing Horizon 5 from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs. Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty and refill it.

102GB File Copy

The A440 took 1 minutes and 44.0 seconds. to copy 102GB.

The Ceramic C440 took 1 minutes and 59 seconds for the same copy.

The Delta Max SATA III SSD took 9 minutes 49 seconds for the same copy

The CARDEA A440 SSD excels at copying along with the other Gen 4 x4 SSD, the C440, compared to any of our other tested SSDs. The IOPS comes in second place well ahead of the MP33 SSDs which is in turn faster than the Delta MAX SATA III SSD. Yet no matter how you look at it, even a SATA III SSD is much faster than any HDD or SSHD for copying large files. Consider taking a nap if you are going to copy 102GB using a hard drive.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but our tests are far more consistent. Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer/Endwalker’s benchmarks. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

PCMark’s Storage Benchmark also provides precise SSD bandwidth, loading times, game record, install, and save time comparisons.

All five SSDs load games quickly but the two Generation 4 x4 PCIe SSDs stand out from the Generation 3 x4 and especially SATA III SSD. When PC game developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the super-fast game loading performance they are capable of. Until then PlayStation 5 gamers can take full advantage of the CARDEA A440’s fast loading speeds.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA Ceramic A440 SSD is the fastest drive, and noticeably faster than the CARDEA A440. The CARDEA IOPS slots into third place well ahead of the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and finally the Delta MAX SATA III SSD is always in last place.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide decent game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid (SSHD)drives, but a PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gen 4 x4 will provide the highest performance. Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

We would suggest that 1TB has become the minimum storage capacity for a gamer that includes the operating system since PC games have grown so large although 512GB may be acceptable. It still is not mandatory to have a SSD if you only use your PC for gaming and have a ton of patience. Games do not perform significantly better on SSDs since most PC developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games usually take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal SATA III drive or even from an external USB 3.0 SSD.

If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD. Windows 10/11 have become positively painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs often saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games will slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SATA III SSD. But for maximum performance with the least frustration, using a PCIe NVMe SSD is the only way to fly. HDDs should be relegated only for storage and for back-up.

Let’s recap pricing. The 1TB SATA III DELTA MAX is $129.99 at Amazon and it offers RGB lighting. The TeamGroup 1TB MP33 SSD is $79.97, the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS is $119.99, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB version is priced $129.99 and the 1TB T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD can be purchased at Amazon for $169.99. We believe that spending the extra $40 is worth it for a super-fast 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD as long as your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0. If not, the CARDEA IOPs is an excellent choice.

Of course, gamers on a budget should also look for sales. Because of today’s close pricing and competition, choosing an SSD is easier than ever. Based on performance and price, we will recommend the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD as a competitively-priced, fast, cool-running, and good looking SSD.

A five year warranty backed by TeamGroup insures that a player will enjoy fast performance for years to come. Having a choce of two heatsinks sweetens the deal to give the gamer a choice to display the SSD or hide it behind a video card while still keeping it cool.

Pros

• 5-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Blazing fast game/level loading speeds and very fast large file copy speeds
• Choice of two heatsinks to keep the A440 cool. It may be hidden behind a video card or used in a PS5 and it will stay cool using the Graphene heatsink, or it can be used and displayed with the finned aluminum heatsink for a cool look and for even cooler operating temperatures
• The A440 is priced competitively and not much higher than slower Gen 4 x3 SSDs

Cons

• None.

The Verdict

Stay tuned as Rodrigo is currently working on his Adrenalin 22.1.2 Optional (WHQL) driver performance analysis. We will follow it up mid-week with a RTX 3050 review focusing on VR before we return to our DDR5 series featuring the T-FORCE Delta 6400 CL40 2x16GBB kit. We’ll compare it with the G.Skill Trident Z5 6000 CL36 kit using our 31-game benchmark suite and extensive suite of applications.

Happy Gaming!

Wins 2021 GOOD DESIGN Award

Our friends at TeamGroup have just launched a rugged portable external SSD and here is their press release:

November 4, 2021, Taipei_ TEAMGROUP is a world-leading memory brand that continues to research and develop diverse products to meet various needs. The M200 Portable External SSD launched by T-FORCE, TEAMGROUP’s gaming brand, integrates military-inspired designs, offers up to 8TB in storage, and is equipped with TEAMGROUP’s patented graphene cooling technology for stable performance. The brilliant M200 design has won the 2021 GOOD DESIGN Award, the Oscars of design in the East, and will be available globally at the beginning of December 2021.

Japan’s GOOD DESIGN Award was launched by the Japan Institute of Design Promotion in 1957 and is one of the four most influential design awards globally. The GOOD DESIGN Award spotlights three major concepts: Discover, Share, and Innovation, to reinforce the idea that design can enrich our lives, industries and societies. This year, TEAMGROUP’s M200 Portable External SSD stands out from the 5,835 entries and won the GOOD DESIGN Award for its unique and functional design, a testimony to TEAMGROUP’s comprehensive R&D capabilities.

The T-FORCE M200 Portable External SSD is an ultra-light USB3.2 Gen2x2 SSD at only 83g and the read/write speed is up to 2,000MB/s and 8TB in storage capacity. Equipped with TEAMGROUP’s patented graphene cooling technology, the M200 SSD adopts a dual metal structure to increase cooling surfaces and ensure stable transmissions. The military-style hanging hole is added to highlight portability and its unique design further. The M200 SSD will be available at the beginning of December 2021 and will become the most vital storage support for consumers storing large 3A game files or 4K & 8K UHD videos.

? Learn More ?

T-FORCE M200 Portable External SSD

? About TEAMGROUP ?

As a leading provider of memory storage products and mobile applications to the consumer market, Team Group Inc. is committed to providing the best storage, multimedia and data sharing solutions. All TEAMGROUP’s memory module products come with a lifetime warranty, repair and replacement services. Team Group Inc., also listed company at stock exchange market in January, 2019. In 2016, TEAMGROUP established T-FORCE gaming series which includes all the gaming memory module. In 2020, TEAMGROUP established T-CREATE brand for creative users. For more information, please visit the TEAMGROUP website at www.teamgroupinc.com or follow our social media including Facebook: www.facebook.com/teamgroupinc /Twitter: https://twitter.com/teamgroupinc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamgroupinc

###

Happy Gaming!

SSD (Solid State Drive) technology is continually improving and its pricing remains reasonable as speeds and capacities increase. SSD technology has become more accessible, and gamers need more and more capacity as games are getting larger. Teamgroup’s EX2 3D NAND SSD is a inexpensive SATA III drive that is available in 512MB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities. The Elite EX2 advertises a Read/Write Speed up to 550/520 MB/s which is slow compared with the fastest PCIe-based NVMe drives that reach around 7000/6000 MB/s Read/Write speeds but are expensive. We will see if the EX2 is a good buy for a gamer in late 2021.

Although the EX2’s specifications indicate that it is much slower than PCIe NVMe SSDs, we will see if it makes a practical difference for gamers and if SATA III is still relevant. Our 512MB Elite EX2 review sample came directly from TeamGroup, and we will focus on its performance by comparing it with six other SSDs. Besides benchmarking the EX2, we will focus on our other four fastest PCIe NVMe drives – the 1TB CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CAEDEA IOPS SSD, the CARDEA Liquid 512GB SSD, and the 1TB MP33 SSD – as well as our fastest SATA III SSD, the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB drive and the DELTA MAX.

The TeamGroup Elite EX2 is currently $51.99 at Amazon and priced at $86.99 for the 1TB capacity. The 1TB DELTA MAX is currently $120.99 at Amazon or $72.99 for the 512GB version but they offer RGB lighting. The 512GB T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $49.99 and the 1TB version is $99.99; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $76.99 at Amazon and the 1TB version is $139.49 at Newegg; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $86.99, or $53.99 for the 512GB version. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is a Gen 4 x4 drive currently priced $119.99 at Amazon as a 5000MBps/ 4400MBps drive but there is no 512GB version.

Here are the features and specifications of the EX2 Elite taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• Blazing read/write speed
• Optimized performance
• Complete lineup of capacities
• Trustworthy reliability

Specifications

The specifications, based on CrystalDiskMark, boast 550MB/s Read and 520MB/s Write which are average for a SATA III drive.

Next we unbox the TeamGroup 512GB EX2 Elite and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing and a Closer Look

The TeamGroup 512GB EX2 Elite SSD comes in a small box that advertises 3D NAND, 6 Gb/s SATA, and SLC Caching together with a 3-year warranty.

Here is the back of the box which warns the buyer that the transfer speeds can vary according to capacity and are only to be used for basic reference.

Here is a closer look at the 512GB EX2 Elite which looks typical for a 2.5 inch internal SATA III SSD in blue and silver.

The obverse of the EX2 carries the sticker which warns that the warranty may be void if removed. There is no reason for an end user to open a SSD.

Seen from the edge, the SATA connectors are typical.

After installing the EX2 Elite SSD, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first.

Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-10900K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost is locked on to 5.1/5.0GHz for all eight cores. Comet Lake DX11 CPU graphics.
• EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard (Intel Z390 chipset, latest BIOS with Resizable BAR disabled, PCIe 3.0/3.1/3.1 – USB 3.0 Type-C specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x)
• T-FORCE XTREEM 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, dual channel at 3866MHz), supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE EX2 Elite SATA III 512GB SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• ANTEC HCG1000 Extreme, 1000W gold power supply unit
• DEEPCOOL Castle 360EX AIO 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower (plus 1 Noctua 140mm fan)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Intel’s drivers v30.0.100.9966
• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition; latest updates/build
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter
• HD Tach
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• Crystal DiskMark
• S.M.A.R.T. Tool (TeamGroup)

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• World of Warcraft (PCMark 8)
• Battlefield 3 (PCMark 8)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers & Endwalker benchmarks – loading times of five levels each

Synthetic Benching Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020
• AIDA64
• PCMark 8
• PCMark 10 Pro version courtesy of UL
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• TxBENCH

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the EX2 Elite SSD

Benchmarking SSDs are not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all six tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are generally listed in the following order on the charts:

1. TeamGroup EX2 Elite SATA III 512MB SSD
2. T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SSD
3. T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD
4. Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
5. T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
6. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
7. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD

We did not set up Windows on the Vulcan SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized in multiple charts. Let’s start first with TeamGroup’s own S.M.A.R.T. utility to get some information on each SSD.

S.M.A.R.T.

This TeamGroup S.M.A.R.T. utility gives more information than many other free disk tools.

First is the system and disk information for the EX2 Elite.

S.M.A.R.T. also tests the drive with two sets of tests. First up, the EX2 Elite dual performance tests starting with MB/s.

Next the EX2 Elite performance dual test results given in IOPS.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures the EX2 Elite SSD latency.

Next, the DELTA MAX dual performance tests starting with MB/s. Next, S.M.A.R.T. measures the DELTA MAX SATA III SSD latency. We check the performance tests in MB/s for the Vulcan SATA III SSD. Next the dual latency tests for the Vulcan SSD.Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD.Now the dual latency tests for the MP33 SSD. Next, the performance tests in MB/s for the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Now the dual latency tests for the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Here are the dual performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS. S.M.A.R.T. next measures latency for the CARDEA IOPS. Next, the performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440. Finally, the S.M.A.R.T. tool measures latency for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the PCIe CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest SSD, followed by the CARDEA IOPS, then the CARDEA Liquid, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and in last places, the SATA III SSDs – the Vulcan SSD, the DELTA MAX, and the EX2 Elite offer similar performance although they do not achieve their stated Read/Write speeds of 560/510 MBps.

TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. tool is a great place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show. Let’s begin with PCMark 10.

PCMark 10

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic tests, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 platform for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

Unfortunately, in comparison to PCMark 8, PCMark 10 misses several key elements including detailed storage testing, and it is not possible to test the Vulcan SATA SSD as an attached drive as with the older suite. We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended settings which are summarized after all of the screenshots are presented. The Express benchmark suite is best suited for office tasks while the Extended benchmarks are for power users.

To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results. All of the SSD results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons.

Express benchmarks

First up is the EX2 Elite SATA III Express score with 4969.

Next up, the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Express score with 5045. We did not test the Vulcan SATA III SSD, so the Team Group MP33 NVM2 PCIe 1TB SSD Express score is next with 5428 Here are the Liquid CARDEA Express results with 5475 Next up is the CARDEA IOPS NVMe Express score with 5610. Finally, we see the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe Express score with 5562.

Extended benchmarks

First up is the EX2 Elite SATA III Extended score with 3733.

Next, the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Extended score with 3530. Again, we did not test the Vulcan SSD, so the Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is next with 3699 on the Extended benchmark. Here is the CARDEA Liquid Extended score with 3741. The CARDEA IOPS Extended scores 3725. Finally, the CARDEA Ceramic Extended scores 3758. Here is the summary of the six drives that were tested.

The EX2 Elite beats the DELTA MAX in the Extended benches as well as the entry-level MP33 PCIe NVMe SSD.

Let’s check out PCMark 8 which uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD scores a bit higher than the DELTA MAX with 4965 including with a higher total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 250.30 MB/s. It took 58.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The Team Group MP33 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 5003 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 308.96 MB/s. It took 58.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB NVMe SSD scores 5100 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 679.87 MB/s. It took 57.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.0 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

CARDEA IOPS NVMe PCIe SSD scores 5102 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 706.48 MB/s. And of particular interest for gamers, it took 57.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.2 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The CARDEA Ceramic NVMe scores 5113 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 815.80 MB/s. For gamers, it took 57.0 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 130.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The individual benchmarks take much longer and they are more accurate and they are presented below without comment. Here is the summary chart comparing our six tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better.

Again the CARDEA Ceramic C440 leads the CARDEA IOPS and then the Liquid, then the the MP33, and finally well ahead of the Vulcan SATA III based SSD which is just ahead of the DELTA MAX except for Random Read which is slower. The EX2 is very competitive with the other two SATA III SSDs.

Next, the TeamGroup MP33 SSD results.

Here are the T-Force Liquid CARDEA summary results.

Here are our T-Force CARDEA IOPS SPECworkstation storage 3.0.4 summary scores.Finally up is the CARDEA Ceramic C440 summary.

Next we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

Now the Vulcan SATA III SSD results.

Here are the Team Group MP33 SSD results.

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Here are the CARDEA IOPS SSD results.

Finally we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD.

Now up, the Vulcan SATA SSD.

Next the MP33 SSD.

Here are the CARDEA Liquid results.

Here are the CARDEA IOPS SSD results:

Here are the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD results showing its results next.

Here is the summary chart highlighting the most often quoted Read/Write performance data. Higher is better.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First we test the 512MB T-Force EX2 Elite2 SATA III.

Next, we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD results are up next.

Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe results are below.

T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD is next.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD results are shown next.

Now the Vulcan SATA III SSD.

Here are the MP33 PCIe SSD results.

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Here are the CARDEA IOPS HD Tune benchmark results:

Here are the 512mB T-Force EX2 Elite SATA III AS SSD results showing the results in MB/s next to IOPS, and below, the copy speeds.

Here are the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III AS SSD results also showing MB/s next to IOPS and below them, copy speeds.

Next, here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA AS SSD results.

Here are the TeamGroup MP33 AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid AS SSD results.

Next are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS AS SSD results.

Finally, here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 AS SSD results.

Again, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 stands out even though it’s bandwidth is limited by Intel’s latest enthusiast motherboards which brings it’s performance just ahead of the IOPS. The CARDEA Liquid has a slower Write speed, but it is much faster than the MP33 or the Vulcan SATA SSD which again edges out the DELTA MAX and the EX2 SSD which is in last place. Game copy speeds are generally closer for all tested SSDs.

The T-FORCE EX2 Elite 512MB SATA III ATTO results are first.The T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III ATTO results are presented next.

Below are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA ATTO results.

Here are the TeamGroup MP33 ATTO results.

Next, the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid ATTO results.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS ATTO results are presented below.

Finally, the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 ATTO results are presented last.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

Here are the EX2 Elite SATA III HD Tach results with an average read of 350.2MB/s for the Quick bench and 350.2MB/s for the Long bench.

The DELTA MAX SATA III HD Tach results give an average read of 273.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 272.8MB/s for the Long bench. Here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA HD Tach results with an average read of 346.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 346.3MB/s for the Long bench. Next, the TeamGroup MP33 HD Tach results with an average read of 766.3MB/s for the Quick bench and 791.9MB/s for the Long bench. Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid with an average read of 1529.9MB/s for the Quick bench and 1474.7MB/s for the Long bench. Below are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS HD Tach results with an average read of 1508.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 1470.1MB/s for the Long bench. Finally, here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tach results with an average read of 1600.1MB/s for the Quick bench and 1553.4MB/s for the Long bench. Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our five drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 again scores the fastest in HD Tach, and the Cardea Liquid is next followed closely by the IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD while the SATA III SSDs take the last two places where the EX2 is faster than either the Vulcan SSD or the DELTA MAX .

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they load significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker. We tested 3 games using the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test as well as 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer benchmark.

Let’s start with the Stormbringer benchmark – first with the EX2 Elite SATA III. Total Loading times are 17.471 seconds.

Next up, the Stormbringer benchmark with the DELTA MAX SATA III. Total Loading times are 16.483 seconds. Now the Vulcan SATA III SSD with total loading times of 16.214 seconds. Below are the MP3 SSD results with total Loading times of 16.098 seconds.Next, the CARDEA Liquid SSD‘s total Loading times are 15.295 seconds. Here are the Stormbringer benchmark results with the CARDEA IOPS SSD. Total Loading times are 15.288 seconds. Below are the Stormbringer benchmark using the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe PCIe SSD and the total Loading times are 13.34 seconds. Below is the summary chart comparing the total loading times for each SSD including each of its 5 levels. Lower times in seconds are better which means the game or level will load more quickly and you will not have to wait as long to begin or to get back into the game.

The EX2 is the slowest SSD for loading levels.

Let’s also use the newer Endwalker benchmark using the EX2 Elite SATA III. Total Loading times are 17.794 seconds.

We also used the Endwalker benchmark with the MP33 NVMe SSD . Total Loading times are 16.389 seconds.

For Endwalker, our slowest game-loading SSD, the EX2 Elite, takes about 1.4 seconds longer to load than our entry-level PCIe NVMe SSD. All of the SSDs we tested load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest followed by the CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the MP33 and finally by the SATA III SSDs.

Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, or perhaps after this new generation of consoles have moved away from hard disk drives, we may see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are capable of on Windows. However, faster is better when a gamer is waiting to get back into a game. Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another.

First we copy a 22.8GB folder containing Alien Isolation from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs. Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty it and refill it.

22.8GB File Copy

The EX2 Elite 512MB SATA III SSD took 2 minutes and 22.0 seconds. to copy 22.8GB

The DELTA MAX took 2 minutes and 27.7 seconds. to copy 22.8GB It took about 2 minutes and 22.5 seconds to copy the same Alien Isolation 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop using the Vulcan SSD. The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is weak in Read but rather fast for Write evidenced by taking 1 minute and 9.3 seconds (69.3 seconds) for the Alien Isolation Copy. The Liquid CARDEA took 40.9 seconds for the same copy. The CARDEA IOPS took 25.6 seconds. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 20.5 seconds or about 5 seconds faster than the IOPS. Next, we try something more time consuming when we copy multiple folders totaling 44.2GB from from Steam’s common files to a desktop folder.

44.2GB File Copy

The EX2 Elite 512MB SATA III SSD took 6 minutes and 59.0 seconds. to copy 44.2GB

The DELTA MAX took 7 minutes and 4.0 seconds. to copy a 44.2GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is somewhat inconsistent in its copy speeds for large files taking 4 minutes, 8.7 seconds.

The Liquid CARDEA which is a slightly faster drive took 3 minutes 21 seconds for the same copy.

The CARDEA IOPS took 3 minutes and 33.0 seconds.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 1 minute and 44.2 seconds which means it is blazing fast compared to our other tested SSDs.

Even when the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is constrained by the Intel platform’s limited bandwidth, it still excels at copying compared to any of our other tested SSDs. The IOPS comes in second place well ahead of the CARDEA Liquid and MP33 PCIe SSDs which are in turn faster than either SATA III SSD which are relatively slow unless compared with any HDD.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but our tests are far more precise.

Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker. Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer’s benchmark. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

All five SSDs load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid C440 is undisputedly the fastest followed closely by the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and finally by the T-FORCE Vulcan and the DELTA MAX and EX2 Elite SATA III SSDs. Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are really capable of reaching.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is the fastest drive even when its bandwidth is curtailed by the PCIe bandwidth limitations of tenth generation Intel enthusiast motherboards. Generally the CARDEA IOPS slots into second place just ahead of the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Next fastest is the TeamGroup NVMe MP33 SSD, and finally the T-FORCE Vulcan, EX2 Elite, and DELTA MAX SATA III SSDs are grouped closely together.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide similar game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid drives. Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

We would suggest that 500GB is the minimum storage capacity for a gamer that includes the operating system, and 1TB is much better to have for a primary drive. It is not mandatory to have a SSD if you only use your PC for gaming and have a lot of patience. Games do not perform significantly better on SSDs since most developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games may take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal SATA III drive or even from an external USB 3.0 SSD.

If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD. Windows 10 is becoming more and more painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs may often saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games may slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SATA III SSD. So let’s recap pricing.

The TeamGroup Elite EX2 is currently $51.99 at Amazon and priced at $86.99 for the 1TB capacity. The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE is currently $120.99 at Amazon or $72.99 for the 512GB version but they offer RGB lighting. The 512GB T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $49.99 and the 1TB version is $99.99; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $76.99 at Amazon and the 1TB version is $139.49 at Newegg; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $86.99. or $53.99 for the 512GB version. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is a Gen 4 x4 drive currently priced $119.99 at Amazon as a 5000MBps/ 4400MBps drive; there is no 512GB version.

It’s clear that the EX2 is a decent choice for a gamer who has been holding out and still using a hard drive, but TeamGroup offers multiple other SATA III options with good prices. Look for a sale. Because of today’s close pricing and competition, choosing a SATA III SSD makes little sense over a PCIe-based SSD as a primary drive, but they offer excellent storage capabilities. Based on performance and price, we will recommend a 1TB EX2 Elite SATA SSD for storage especially if it is on sale, but not a 512GB drives because it is just too small to hold many games plus the operating system. We recommend that if a PCIe-based SSD is an option, pick it over SATA.

Pros

• 3-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Fast game/level loading speeds and reasonable file copy speeds

Cons

• Price. Buy it on sale
• The Elite EX2 doesn’t meet its specifications for Read/Write

The Verdict

Stay tuned as Rodrigo is currently working on his Win 10 versus Win 11 performance analysis.

Happy Gaming!

Our friends at team group have just launched two new SSDs for gamers and for creators. Here is their press release:

September 10, 2021, Taipei _For many years, global memory provider TEAMGROUP has excelled in product development by pushing boundaries and achieving breakthroughs. Today its sub-brands T-CREATE and T-FORCE launched two new SSDs for creators and gamers seeking the top upgrade: the blazingly fast T-CREATE CLASSIC Thunderbolt3 External SSD that supports Thunderbolt and USB interfaces, and the T-FORCE CARDEA Z44L PCIe4.0 SSD, which features a TEAMGROUP-patented and -designed ultra-thin graphene heat sink.

Offering multi-interface support and advanced cooling technology for stable, high-speed transfer rates, these two new products will transform the storage experience for creators and gamers alike and make a splash in the SSD market.

With Thunderbolt3 completely surpassing the top speeds of USB interfaces, Thunderbolt3 storage devices have become increasingly prevalent. For creators seeking an SSD that is compatible with a variety of interfaces and platforms and can transfer large files at high speeds, the T-CREATE CLASSIC Thunderbolt3 External SSD with its multi-interface support meets all the criteria.

The SSD features a single Type C connector that supports Thunderbolt3 and 4, as well as USB3.2 Gen2 interfaces. Just plug and play, and it will automatically detect the interface type without needing time-consuming configuring. It is also fully compatible with Mac OS and Windows systems, allowing creators to present their work without worrying about restrictions on different operating systems when they are out making proposals and accessing their data. This single SSD supports multiple mainstream interfaces and platforms, making file transfers between machines effortless and providing creators unprecedented freedom and convenience.

The CLASSIC Thunderbolt3 External SSD can reach speeds of up to 900 MB/s when using the USB interface. Unleash the performance of PCIe Gen3x4 by connecting it to a Thunderbolt3 port, which allows it to reach speeds of up to 2,700 MB/s^[1][2]. In just 15 seconds, it can transfer up to 25GB of multimedia files. The SSD’s glacier silver aluminum heatsink has a classic and elegant design, providing high durability and excellent cooling purposes during high-speed data transfers. The largest capacity version comes in at 4TB of storage, meeting the needs of a wide variety of creators.

In addition to meeting the needs of creators, TEAMGROUP also revealed a new product under the series equipped with patented ultra-thin graphene heat sinks, the T-FORCE CARDEA Z44L PCIe4.0 SSD, bringing a new force of PCIe 4.0 to the gaming storage market. The CARDEA Z44L comes with a super-thin graphene heat sink containing multiple patented technologies that improves heat dissipation by up to 9%.^[3] Built with outstanding materials for thermal conductivity, it gives gamers excellent flexibility for their builds and is fully compatible with all motherboard heat sinks.

The CARDEA Z44L supports the latest PCIe Gen 4×4 interface and can deliver read/write speeds of up to 3500/3000 MB/s^[4], 7 times faster than typical SATA SSDs. Moreover, its carefully selected 3D-TLC NAND flash memory and SLC Cache design allow it to maintain exceptional stability at the extremely high transfer speeds of PCIe 4.0. Available in 500GB and 1TB variants, T-FORCE’s powerhouse SSD, the CARDEA Z44L, is the smart choice for gamers looking to easily upgrade their PCIe Gen 3 SSD to Gen 4.

?Learn more?

T-CREATE CLASSIC Thunderbolt3 External SSD

https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/classic-thunderbolt3-external-ssd

T-FORCE CARDEA Z44L PCIe4.0 SSD

https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/cardea-z44l

[1] This is the maximum speed when connecting to a Thunderbolt interface. When connecting to a USB interface, it goes up to 900MB/s; actual performance varies by the capacity, host machine, user application, and other factors.

[2] This speed is from the recorded data of tests conducted by TEAMGROUP’s technology lab using a 2019 MacBook Pro.

[3] The experimental data is based on T-FORCE internal laboratory’s test result. Under the same condition, the temperature test data is according to the comparison of the non-heat spreader M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD and the T-FORCE CARDEA Z44L Solid State Drive. The relevant test environment is simulated under a fanless environment using mask. The actual speed may vary depending on the software and hardware conditions of the platform.

[4] This product is compatible with Intel and AMD platforms, and the performance result is tested on a motherboard that supports PCIe 4.0 interface by the T-FORCE internal laboratory. The actual speed may vary depending on the software and hardware conditions of the platform.

? About TEAMGROUP ?

As a leading provider of memory storage products and mobile applications to the consumer market, Team Group Inc. is committed to providing the best storage, multimedia and data sharing solutions. All TEAMGROUP’s memory module products come with a lifetime warranty, repair and replacement services. Team Group Inc., also listed company at stock exchange market in January, 2019. In 2016, TEAMGROUP established T-FORCE gaming series which includes all the gaming memory module. In 2020, TEAMGROUP established T-CREATE brand for creative users. For more information, please visit the TEAMGROUP website at www.teamgroupinc.com or follow our social media including
Facebook: www.facebook.com/teamgroupinc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/teamgroupinc
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teamgroupinc

Cryptocurrency mining has not only adversely affected the video gaming supply, some coins such as Chia require plotting that prematurely kill most consumer SSDs. Chia was created as an alternative to burning a lot of energy with GPUs or ASICS. The issue is that Chia plotting requires limiting the amount of plots created that use consumer grade SSDs for their temporary space. Endurance is how much data can be written to the SSD before it wears out. In Chia this is important because a plotting SSD will generally be at 100% duty cycle 24/7. In fact, PNY significantly reduced the endurance rating for their XLR8 CS3030 M.2 NVMe SSD this year.

PNY announced today the launch of the LX2030 and LX3030 line of ultra high endurance SSDs to offer ever higher levels of endurance designed for “proof of space and time” applications like Chia plotting. The PNY LX drives takes advantage of Lifextension technology to offer a Chia plotting TBW rating as high as 54,000 (LX3030 2TB). Here is a related video from Phison that discusses the technology behind optimizing SSD’s for plotting.

Of course, these SSDs also have applications beyond plotting and increased endurance is a good thing for consumers and we would like to review them for our readers. Here is PNY’s press release:

PARSIPPANY, N.J., July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — PNY announced today the launch of the LX2030 and LX3030 line of ultra high endurance SSDs to the company’s assortment of solid state drives. The new LX families of SSDs offer high levels of endurance designed for “proof of space and time” applications like Chia (XCH) Plotting.

Designed for Plotting

The PNY LX2030 and LX3030 M.2 NVMe SSDs are the ideal solution for “proof of space and time” applications like plotting Chia Coin. Unlike “proof of work” models like bitcoin which consume large amounts of power by requiring the miners to do complex mathematical calculations, “proof of space and time” applications utilize the unused space on a users’ systems, making it a more energy efficient and environmentally conscious model. To secure the blockchain, the data needs to be first created in a process called “plotting”, which is only required once per plot file. This process is write intensive, so a desirable SSD for plotting has high sustained write bandwidth and endurance (TBW, or terabytes written). Typically this level of write performance and endurance was only seen on enterprise class SSDs.

Lifextension Technology

The PNY family of LX drives take advantage of Lifextension technology to offer a Chia plotting TBW rating of up to 54,000 in the LX3030 2TB. To deliver such a high Plotting TBW, the LX series of PNY SSDs utilize an advanced AI Engine, LDPC and Flash I/F to improve NAND endurance, making them the best unit cost for plotting. Without sacrifice, you are able to take full advantage of Lifextension technology and the up to 18X better endurance by adding an LX drive to your system.

Statement From CHIA Team

“I’m very excited that PNY has partnered with Phison to deliver the first SSD for Chia plotting. The LX3030 is tuned for the Chia plotting workload, which requires a high amount of sustained bandwidth. Users can be at ease knowing they won’t wear out the drive easily – the LX3030 1TB can create 2PB of plots before wearing out! All of this in an M.2 80mm form factor for broad compatibility. The entry LX2030 will be great for small form factor systems and 4-6 core desktops and laptops, like the NUC build.” Jonmichael Hands, VP Storage Business Development at Chia

Engineered to Perform

The PNY LX2030 and LX3030 are engineered with the precision and quality our customers have enjoyed with the CS families of SSDs. We’ve taken the most advanced NAND flash and refined the LX family of SSDs to achieve a higher threshold for endurance and reliability. PNY’s extensive testing and rigorous validation process ensures compatibility across various platforms and multiple operating systems.

LX SSD Product Specification

• Chia Plotting TBW:
  • LX3030 2TB: 54,000
  • LX3030 1TB: 27,000
  • LX2030 2TB: 10,000
• Chia Plotting Read and Write Performance
  • LX3030 – Read: 3,200MB/s & Write: 2,400MB/s
  • LX2030 – Read: 3,200MB/s & Write: 1,000MB/s
• Form Factor: M.2 2280

Product Availability

PNY LX2030 and LX3030 M.2 NVMe Gen3 x4 SSDs are available immediately; Contact a PNY account manager for details or through www.pny.com.

Keep Current on PNY Technologies and XLR8 Gaming news.

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About PNY Technologies and XLR8 Gaming
Established in 1985, PNY Technologies®, Inc. celebrates over 35 years of business excellence as a leading manufacturer and supplier of Flash Memory Cards, USB Flash Drives, Solid State Drives, Computer Memory Upgrade Modules, Cables, NVIDIA® GeForce® Consumer Graphics Cards, NVIDIA® Quadro® Professional Graphics Cards, NVIDIA® Tesla supercomputing inferencing cards, NVIDIA® DGXTM Systems, and PNY GPU powered servers and workstations. The company’s photography-videography, mobility, 3D gaming-visualization, and business solutions are widely available from major retail, e-tail, and wholesale outlets internationally. Headquartered in the USA, PNY maintains facilities in North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

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(1) The PNY logo is a registered trademark of PNY Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2021 PNY Technologies, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Eighteen months ago, BTR reviewed a 500GB T-FORCE DELTA MAX which visually stands out from other SATA III solid state drives (SSD). It’s mirrorlike black surface uses an addressable RGB (ARGB) module to transform its top surface into “water flowing” lighting in multiple colors. The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE RGB SSD is designed to give discriminating PC gamers a color choice to make this SSD the focus of a beautifully lit all-white build PC. The DELTA MAX SSD has a dual control interface, providing 5V and USB 10-pin ports for synchronized lighting effects. In addition, it features 3D NAND flash memory that protects player data and with a smart management system that helps prolong its lifespan. We will focus on performance to see if it matches up to its eye-pleasing design and we will compare it with six other SSDs.

The DELTA MAX SSD is a fast 1TB SATA III drive with Read/Write specs of 560MBps Read/510MB/s Write. Although its specifications indicate that it is slower than PCIe NVMe SSDs, we want to see if it will make a practical difference for gamers and if SATA III is relevant to high-end PC gaming.

Our 1TB DELTA MAX review sample came directly from TeamGroup, and we will focus on its performance by comparing it with five other SSDs. Besides benchmarking the DELTA MAX, we are going to focus on our other four fastest PCIe NVMe drives – the 1TB CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CAEDEA IOPS SSD, the CARDEA Liquid 512GB SSD, and the 1TB MP33 SSD – as well as our fastest SATA III SSD, the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB drive.

The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE is currently $112.49 at Amazon and the black version is also $112.49, the lowest price we have seen in weeks. The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $53.99 and the 1TB version is $92.69; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $84.99, but the 1TB version is $139.49; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $89.99. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is a Gen 4 x4 drive currently premium priced $160.99 at Amazon as a 5000MBps/ 4400MBps drive. However, the 1TB CARDEA IOPS drive is priced at $129.99. and it is a Gen3 x4 PCIe M.2 2280 SSD with Read/Write Speed up to 3400/3000 MB/s

BTR’s test setup uses Windows 10 64-bit featuring an Intel Core i9-10900K overclocked to 5.1/5.0GHz for all cores as set in the EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard’s BIOS, and 16 GB of T-FORCE XTREEM DDR4 at 3600MHz. The settings and hardware are identical except for the four drives being tested, and the graphics are powered by Intel’s integrated CPU graphics.

We benchmark with all of our drives at less than 80% capacity, and in addition, all of the drives have been in use for months except for the DELTA MAX which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter as well as cloned from another SSD, so our benchmarking tends to give more real world performance results over using brand new drives. Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE DELTA MAX taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• Translucent Aurora White
• Largest translucent area for you to switch at will
• Smart optimization
• The world’s first dual control interface
• Supports multiple lighting control software
• Taiwan Utility Patent (number?M583110)
• Taiwan Invention Patent (number?I697761)
• United States Patent (number?US10803713B1)
• China Utility Patent (number?CN 209766039 U)

Specifications

The specifications are also found on the TeamGroup website and it is the same for either the black or the white DELTA MAX. TeamGroup’s SATA SSDs comes with a 3-year warranty while their NVMe PCIe SSDs have 5 years.

The difference between the two DELTA MAX SSDs are in their surface color.

The original DELTA MAX SSD we reviewed was glossy black while this one is Aurora White. The White DELTA MAX obviously will go best in an all-white build, but we think it fits nicely in a mostly black build also.

The only lighting differences are that the ever-changing colors are a bit more intense on the regular DELTA MAX than with the White edition (below).

Above all else, both DELTA MAX are very good looking SSDs that would look good in any build but the White edition would look great especially in an all-white build.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE DELTA MAX and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing and a Closer Look

The DELTA MAX 1TB SATA SSD comes in a small box with a warning that it is “for MB with 5V ADD/USB 9pin Header“. You must have either option available or it will not light up. If you don’t plan to light it up, this SSD is more expensive for performance than non-RGB SSDs. The White Edition of the DELTA MAX uses a “White Edition” outer cover over the standard edition box.

The rear side of the outer box (which is the same as the inner box) gives some specifications that show it is certainly fast for a SATA III SSD with Read speeds up to 560MB/s and Write speeds up to 510MB/s. The ARGB lighting is compatible with Razer, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock lighting control software.

The DELTA MAX arrives well-protected by its packaging.

Here is a closer look at the DELTA MAX SSD White edition which looks great with an all-white surface with its stylized T-FORCE logo in silver. The top surface is not as easy to smudge with fingerprints as the regular black glossy edition, but a small micro fiber cloth is included to polish it.

The back of the SSD comes with a warning label not to remove it.

Both the regular and the White edition use an additional micro USB connection beside the SATA and SATA power cables and it is used for the RGB lighting depending on how you connect it to your motherboard.

The first cable is to connect to the 5V ADD motherboard header connector and its other end uses a micro-USB connector to the DELTA MAX SSD. The second connects to a motherboard’s USB 9-pin header. We used our EVGA Z370 FTW’s 9-pin USB header to access the built-in lighting mode.

After installing the SSD, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first. Make sure to plug it in to the motherboard and the extra USB Type C connector to the SSD and enjoy the light show. We think that either the white or the black SSD looks awesome in any PC.

Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-10900K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost is locked on to 5.1/5.0GHz for all eight cores. Comet Lake DX11 CPU graphics.
• EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard (Intel Z390 chipset, latest BIOS with Resizable BAR enabled, PCIe 3.0/3.1/3.1 – USB 3.0 Type-C specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x)
• T-FORCE XTREEM 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, dual channel at 3866MHz), supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• ANTEC HCG1000 Extreme, 1000W gold power supply unit
• DEEPCOOL Castle 360EX AIO 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower (plus 1 Noctua 140mm fan)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Intel’s drivers. v30.0.100.9466
• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition; latest updates v10.01904 Build 19042.
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter
• HD Tach
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• Crystal DiskMark
• S.M.A.R.T. Tool (TeamGroup)

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• World of Warcraft (PCMark 8)
• Battlefield 3 (PCMark 8)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers benchmark – loading times of five levels each

Synthetic Benching Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020
• AIDA64
• PCMark 8
• PCMark 10
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• TxBENCH

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the DELTA MAX SSD

Benchmarking SSDs are not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all six tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are generally listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SS
2. T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD
3. Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
4. T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
5. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
6. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD

We did not set up Windows on the Vulcan SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized in multiple charts. Let’s start first with TeamGroup’s own S.M.A.R.T. utility to get some information on each SSD.

S.M.A.R.T.

This TeamGroup S.M.A.R.T. utility is one that we recently discovered which gives more information in one place than many other disk tools.

First is the system and disk information for the DELTA MAX

S.M.A.R.T. also tests the drive with two sets of tests. First up, the DELTA MAX dual performance tests starting with MB/s.

Next the DELTA MAX performance dual test results given in IOPS.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures the DELTA MAX SATA III SSD latency.

We look at the performance tests in MB/s for the Vulcan SATA III SSD. Finally we look at the dual latency tests for the Vulcan SSD.Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD. Next up, we look at the dual latency tests for the MP33 SSD.

Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Next we look at the dual latency tests for the CARDEA Liquid SSD.

Next the dual performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures latency for the CARDEA IOPS.

Next, the performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440. Next, S.M.A.R.T. measures latency for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the PCIe CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest SSD, followed by the CARDEA IOPS, then the CARDEA Liquid, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and in last places, the SATA III Vulcan SSD and the DELTA MAX offer similar performance although they do not reach their stated Read/Write speeds of 560/510 MBps.

TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. tool is a great place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show. Let’s begin with PCMark 10.

PCMark 10

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic tests, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 platform for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

Unfortunately, in comparison to PCMark 8, PCMark 10 is missing key elements including detailed storage testing, and it is not possible to test the Vulcan SATA SSD as an attached drive as with the older suite. We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended settings which are summarized after all of the screenshots are presented.

The Express benchmark suite is best suited for office tasks while the Extended benchmarks are for power users To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results that you want to compare. All of the SSD results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons.

Express benchmarks

First up is the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Express score with 5045.

We did not test the Vulcan SATA III SSD, so the Team Group MP33 NVM2 PCIe 1TB SSD Express scores 5428

Here are the Liquid CARDEA Express results with 5475

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS NVMe Express score with 5610.

Next up is the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe Express score with 5562.

Extended benchmarks

First up is the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Extended score with 3530.

Again, we did not test the Vulcan SSD, so the Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 3699 on the Extended benchmark.

Here is the CARDEA Liquid Extended score with 3741.

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS Extended score with 3725.

Next up is the CARDEA Ceramic Extended score with 3758.

Here is the summary of the five drives that were tested.

Let’s check out PCMark 8 which uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD scores a bit higher than the DELTA MAX with 4965 including with a higher total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 250.30 MB/s. It took 58.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load making it slightly faster than the DELTA MAX.

The Team Group MP33 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 5003 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 308.96 MB/s. It took 58.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB NVMe SSD scores 5100 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 679.87 MB/s. It took 57.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.0 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

CARDEA IOPS NVMe scores 5102 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 706.48 MB/s. And of particular interest for gamers, it took 57.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.2 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

CARDEA Ceramic NVMe scores 5113 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 815.80 MB/s. And of particular interest for gamers, it took 57.0 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 130.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

Here are the Sandra disk benchmarking tests in a single chart summarizing the performance results of our six drives. Higher denotes better performance except for Access time where lower is better.

The individual benchmarks take much longer and they are more accurate and they are presented below without comment. Here is the summary chart comparing our six tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better.

Again the CARDEA Ceramic C440 leads the CARDEA IOPS and then the Liquid, then the the MP33, and finally well ahead of the Vulcan SATA III based SSD which is just ahead of the DELTA MAX except for Random Read which is slower..

Next the TeamGroup MP33 SSD results.

Next are the T-Force Liquid CARDEA summary results.

Here are our T-Force CARDEA IOPS SPECworkstation storage 3.0.4 summary scores.Finally up is the CARDEA Ceramic C440 summary.

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

Next the Vulcan SATA III SSD results.

Now the Team Group MP33 SSD.

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Next we test the CARDEA IOPS SSD.

Finally we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD.

Let’s check out what is probably the most popular benchmark for ranking SSDs and HDDs, CrystalDiskMark.

CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1

CrystalDiskMark is a HDD benchmark utility for your drives that measure sequential and random read/write speeds. Here are some key features of “CrystalDiskMark”:

• Measure sequential reads/writes speed
• Measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed
• Results given in IOPS or MB/s

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

Second up, the Vulcan SATA SSD.

Now the MP33 SSD.

Next the CARDEA Liquid.

Here are the CARDEA IOPS SSD results showing the results first in MB/s and then measured in IOPS:

Here are the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD results showing its results next.

Here is the summary chart highlighting the most often quoted Read/Write performance data. Higher is better.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD results are next.

Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe results are below.

T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD is next.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD is first.

Here are the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III AS SSD results showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Next here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA AS SSD results.

Here are the TeamGroup MP33 AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS AS SSD results showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 AS SSD results also showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Again, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 stands out even though it’s bandwidth is limited by Intel’s latest enthusiast motherboards which brings it’s performance just ahead of the IOPS. The CARDEA Liquid has a slower Write speed, but it is much faster than the MP33 or the Vulcan SATA SSD which again edges out the DELTA MAX. Game copy speeds are much closer for all tested SSDs.

The T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III ATTO results are first.

Next are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA ATTO results.

Next are the TeamGroup MP33 ATTO results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid ATTO results.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS ATTO results are next.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 ATTO results are last.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

Here are the DELTA MAX SATA III HD Tach results with an average read of 273.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 272.8MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA HD Tach results with an average read of 346.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 346.3MB/s for the Long bench.

Next are the TeamGroup MP33 HD Tach results with an average read of 766.3MB/s for the Quick bench and 791.9MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid with an average read of 1529.9MB/s for the Quick bench and 1474.7MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS HD Tach results with an average read of 1508.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 1470.1MB/s for the Long bench.

Finally, here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tach results with an average read of 1600.1MB/s for the Quick bench and 1553.4MB/s for the Long bench. Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our five drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest in HD Tach, and the Cardea Liquid is next followed closely followed IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD while the SATA III SSDs take the last two places where the Vulcan SSD is faster than the DELTA MAX .

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker.

We tested 3 games using the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test as well as 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer benchmark.

Let’s start with the Stormbringer benchmark first with the DELTA MAX SATA III . Total Loading times are 16.483 seconds.

Next the Vulcan SATA III SSD with total loading times of 16.214 seconds.

Next the MP3 SSD with total Loading times of 16.098 seconds.Next the CARDEA Liquid SSD‘s total Loading times are 15.295 seconds.

Let’s start with the Stormbringer benchmark first with the CARDEA IOPS SSD. Total Loading times are 15.288 seconds.

Next, the Stormbringer benchmark with the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe PCIe SSD and the total Loading times are 13.34 seconds. Below is the chart comparing the total loading times for each SSD plus each of its 5 levels. Lower times in seconds are better which means the game or level will load more quickly and you will not have to wait as long to begin or to get back into the game.

Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test. Lower (faster setup in seconds) is better.

All of the SSDs load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest followed by the CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the MP33 and finally by the SATA III SSDs.

Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, or perhaps after the next generation of consoles move away from hard disk drives, we may see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are capable of. However, faster is better when a gamer is waiting to get back into a game.

Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. First we copy a 22.8GB folder containing Alien Isolation from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs.

Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty it and refill it.

22.8GB File Copy

The DELTA MAX took 2 minutes and 27.7 seconds. to copy 22.8GB
It took about 2 minutes and 22.5 seconds to copy the same Alien Isolation 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop using the Vulcan SSD.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is weak in Read but rather fast for Write evidenced by taking 1 minute and 9.3 seconds (69.3 seconds) for the Alien Isolation Copy.

The Liquid CARDEA took 40.9 seconds for the same copy.

The CARDEA IOPS took 25.6 seconds.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 20.5 seconds or just 5 seconds faster than the IOPS.

Next we try something more time consuming when we copy multiple folders totaling 44.2GB from from Steam’s common files to a desktop folder.

44.2GB File Copy

The DELTA MAX took 7 minutes and 4.0 seconds. to copy a 44.2GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is more inconsistent in its speeds for large files taking 4 minutes, 8.7 seconds.

The Liquid CARDEA which is a slightly faster drive took 3 minutes 21 seconds for the same copy putting it into contention with the IOPS, but both are slower then the CARDEA Ceramic.

The CARDEA IOPS took 3 minutes and 33.0 seconds.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 1 minute and 44.2 seconds.

Even when the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is constrained severely by the Intel platform’s limited bandwidth, it still excels at copying compared to any of our other tested SSDs. The IOPS comes in second place well ahead of the CARDEA Liquid and MP33 PCIe SSDs which are in turn faster than either SATA III SSD.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker.

Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer’s benchmark. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

All five SSDs load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid C440 is undisputedly the fastest followed closely by the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and finally by the T-FORCE Vulcan and the DELTA MAX SATA III SSDs.

Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are really capable of.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is the fastest drive even when its bandwidth is curtailed by the PCIe bandwidth limitations of current Intel enthusiast motherboards. Generally the CARDEA IOPS slots into second place just ahead of the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Next fastest is the TeamGroup NVMe MP33 SSD, and finally the T-FORCE Vulcan and DELTA MAX SATA III SSDs.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide similar game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid drives.

Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

SSD technology is still improving and it seems that SSD pricing remains reasonable as speeds increase. SSD technology has become much more accessible, and it appears that gamers need more and more capacity as games are getting quite large. We would suggest that 500GB is the minimum capacity for a gamer, and 1TB is much better as a primary drive.

It is not mandatory to have a SSD if you use your PC only for gaming and have a lot of patience. Games do not perform better on SSDs since developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games may take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal or even an external USB 3.0 SSD. If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD.

Windows 10 is becoming more and more painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs may often saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games may slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SATA III SSD.

The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE is currently $112.49 at Amazon and the black version is also $112.49 – the lowest price we have seen in weeks. The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $53.99 and the 1TB version is $92.69; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $84.99, but the 1TB version is $139.49; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $89.99. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is currently $160.99 at Amazon which is premium priced as a Gen 4 x4 PCIe 5000MBps/4400MBps drive. However, the 1TB CARDEA IOPS drive is priced at $129.99.

It is clear that high speed PCIe Gen 4 x4 prices are priced at a premium but even Gen 3 PCIe SSDs are generally more expensive than SATA III drives. From a pure performance perspective, PCIe-based SSDs are the way to go but SATA III SSDs give good bang for buck especially when used as storage drives. The DELTA MAX SSDs are priced higher because of their unique RGB “look” and if a gamer is going to hide their SSD, the Vulcan SATA SSD is a better choice. But if you want to show off an all-white build, there is no better choice than the DELTA MAX White edition.

Pros

• The DELTA MAX White edition is a fast SATA III SSD designed to be displayed in a all-white PC
• 3-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Fast game/level loading speeds and good file copy speeds
• The DELTA MAX ARGB lighting works with multiple motherboard RGB controllers

Cons

• Price. You are paying for the “look” of a unique SSD.
• The DELTA MAX doesn’t meet its specifications for Read/Write

This has been quite an enjoyable exploration comparing our other SSDs with the Team Group DELTA MAX SSD. It will replace the 500GB Vulcan SSD in BTR’s flagship PC for additional storage. It is an extra treat placing the DELTA MAX SSD in BTR’s PC as a visual focus rather than retiring it to the back of the PC as is usual with SSDs.

The Verdict

Stay tuned as Rodrigo is working on his first Adrenalin driver performance analysis and we will return to VR after a latency review comparing AMD and NVIDIA’s low latency modes.

Happy Gaming!

Our friends at TeamGroup have made a new announcement launching the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD and here is their press release:

April 8, 2021, Taipei ? Leading memory provider TEAMGROUP challenges the SSD industry’s highest speeds today with its launch of the CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD under its gaming sub-brand T-FORCE. It features extreme read and write speeds up to 7000 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively, and comes with two patented heat sinks that gamers can install and match to their needs. The SSD’s blazing speeds will help players unleash their skills and venture into gaming worlds faster than ever.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD supports the PCIe Gen 4×4 specification and the latest NVMe 1.4 standard and is backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 interface ports. Not only does it support high read/write speeds of up to 7000/6900 MB/s, but it is also available with large capacities of 1 or 2 TBs.

The classic matte black CARDEA A440 features two of the industry’s first interchangeable, patent-certified thermal modules. The layered and unique beveled surface of the “aluminum fins” is specially designed to increase the heat dissipation area and can reduce SSD temperature by up to 15%^[1]. The “ultra-thin graphene heat sinks” consist of the best materials for thermal conductivity and can dissipate heat by up to 9%^[2]. TEAMGROUP’s CARDEA A440 provides the best heat dissipation solution. Gamers no longer need to worry about encountering thermal throttling when running games at full speed, causing slowdowns. They can freely enjoy the ultimate gaming experience.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD uses the latest RRL (Read Recovery Level) technology, which can improve the SSD’s lifespan. Its optimized NVM Sets segmentation mechanism and PLM (Predictable Latency Mode) reduces latency and read and write wear. The CARDEA A440 SSD not only features remarkable specifications but also heat dissipation technology and excellent durability, providing the most stable experience for users and helping them realize their full gaming potential.

?T-FORCE CARDEA A440 will be available for sale worldwide in May, 2021.

?PRECAUTIONS?

[1] With TEAMGROUP’s patented gaming fin type cooling module, either natural convection or forced air cooling (e.g. fan) can enhance heat dissipation. Long and rigorous test and burn-in test by the internal laboratory have proven that it can lower the temperature by up to 30? in open space and 10? in closed space, which provides more stable performance and extends the service life of the SSD.

[2] The experimental data is based on T-FORCE internal laboratory’s test result. Under the same condition, the temperature test data is according to the comparison of the non-heat spreader M.2 PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD and the T-FORCE CARDEA A440 Solid State Drive. The relevant test environment is simulated under a fanless environment using mask. The actual speed may vary depending on the software and hardware conditions of the platform.

Learn More

T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD

https://www.teamgroupinc.com/en/product/cardea-a440

About TEAMGROUP

As a leading provider of memory storage products and mobile applications to the consumer market, Team Group Inc. is committed to providing the best storage, multimedia and data sharing solutions. All TEAMGROUP’s memory module products come with a lifetime warranty, repair and replacement services. Team Group Inc., also listed company at stock exchange market in January, 2019. In 2016, TEAMGROUP established T-FORCE gaming series which includes all the gaming memory module. In 2020, TEAMGROUP established T-CREATE brand for creative users.

For more information, please visit the TEAMGROUP website at www.teamgroupinc.com or follow our social media including:

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