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!

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 Gen 4 x4 PCIe SSD (Solid State Drive) is a fast drive with Read/Write specs of 5000MB/s Read / 4400MB/s Write for the 1TB capacity. Although its specifications indicate that it is faster than most PCIe SSDs and significantly faster than any SATA III-based SSD, we want to see if this speed increase will make a practical difference for gamers.

Our review sample came directly from TeamGroup and we will focus on the C440’s performance by comparing it with three other SSDs. We are not really sure why TeamGroup sent it to us because the fastest Intel platform Z490 is a PCIe Gen3 motherboard that only supports speeds of 3400MB/s Read / 3000MB/s Write unlike the Ryzen 5000 series platform which can handle double the Intel PCIe bandwidth.

We have six SSDs (Solid State Drives) in BTR’s flagship i9-10900K PC with more than 6TB of total storage for games, and yet we always need more capacity. Using a mechanical 7200 rpm HDD or a Solid State Hard Drive (SSHD) is out of the question because of how slowly they load games and levels compared to SSDs.

BTR uses two 1TB TeamGroup MP33 NVMe PCIe SSDs – one for AMD and one for NVIDIA. Primary storage for our 50-plus PC games and 25-plus VR games are provided by two enterprise SATA III SSDs: a 1.92TB SanDisk SSD and a 2TB Micron 1100 SSD. In addition, we also use a T-FORCE Vulcan SATA III 500GB SSD and a 1TB TeamGroup SATA III GX2 for additional storage. The very fastest SATA III SSDs generally max out around or below 560/500MB/s while the PCIe NVMe drives are much faster.

We have already benchmarked HDDs and SSHDs previously, and they are painfully slow in comparison to any SSD. So this time, we are just going to concentrate on our three fastest PCIe NVMe drives – the 1TB CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CARDEA Liquid 512GB SSD, and the 1TB MP33 SSD – as well as our fastest SATA SSD, the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB drive.

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $58.99 and the 1TB version is $105.99; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $82.99, but the 1TB version is $134.99; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $91.99. The C440 comes in just two capacities – 1TB at $189.99 and 2TB at $364.99. However, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 drive is currently discounted to $166.99 at Amazon, so you can see that high speed PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSDs are priced at a premium. So let’s see if the C440 it is worth its price premium – even on an Intel Z490 motherboard.

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 3866MHz. 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 tested the CARDEA Ceramic C440 using no PCIe drives attached, but the bandwidth the Z490 motherboard provides is the same whether we have no other drives connected or if we use our video card, a PCI soundcard, and 5 other SSDs.

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 CARDEA Ceramic C440 which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter as well as cloned from the TeamGroup MP33 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 CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• Unleash the ultimate power
• Beautiful and thin as a snowflake
• Top specification that breaks through the limit
• Aerospace ceramic material for better heat dissipation
• Trustworthy smart management technology
• Taiwan Utility Patent (number: M595313)
• Chinese Utility Patent (number: CN 210984280 U)
• 5 year limited warranty

Specifications

The specifications are also found on the TeamGroup website.

The key highlights are that the CARDEA Ceramic C440 Gen 4 x4 PCIe NVMe 1.3 SSD is fast, durable, uses little power, uses ceramic cooling technology, and is backed by TeamGroup’s 5-year warranty. Above all else, it is a very good looking SSD that would look incredible in an all-white build (but we think it also looks great in an all-black build).

Next we unbox the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD and take a much closer look at it, including without its heatsink.

Unboxing and a Closer Look

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe SSD arrives as a module that will fit most motherboards that support 2280 (W:22mm x L:80mm) PCIe M.2 drives.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 is a PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD. As befits most SSDs, it comes in a blister pack that gives some details and highlights T-FORCE’s new 5-year SSD warranty. Emphasis is placed on the super-slim white ceramic heat sink which will provide significant cooling improvement over a bare drive.

The other side of the pack gives some specifications that show it is certainly fast for a NVMe PCIe SSD. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 specs up to ten times faster than many SATA III based SSDs with Read speeds up to 5000MB/s and Write speeds up to 4400MB/s.

The Team Group CARDEA Ceramic C440 PCIe 1TB SSD modules are set onto a blue PCB with a very thin ceramic heatsink that measures approximately 5mm total width in thickness. A sticker warns that the 5 year warranty will be void if it is removed.

So we removed it anyway and you can see the controller and the memory modules. The C440 is powered by a Phison PS5016-E16 NVMe 8-channel controller PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 SSD controller using dual Arm Cortex R5 processors together with other processors. It’s buffer appears to use SKHynix DDR4 DRAM chips and Kioxia TLC for the NAND flash memory totaling 1TB.

3D NAND is used and the C440 supports S.M.A.R.T. function, garbage collection (GC), TRIM, LDPC error correction, and Data Protection for a long life, hopefully well-beyond TeamGroup’s 5-year warranty.

Make sure to use a magnetic screwdriver for installation. After installing the CARDEA Ceramic C440, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure the source and the target disks are both GUID or convert one of them so they are the same. It appears that the C440 requires using UEFI, not legacy, setting in the BIOS.

The white ceramic heatsink helps keep temperatures lower by transferring the heat to itself and then radiating heat better than the individual modules can. However, when we first installed it, we were totally shocked by the temperatures we were reading. Using an infrared thermometer we saw the ceramic heatsink temperatures reach temperatures above 75C! Well, evidently the adhesive wasn’t properly applied when we received it, and the heatsink even fell off of the SSD. We stuck it back on while it was still hot and it stuck, and temperatures returned to normal peaking in the very hottest area of the ceramic heatsink at ~60C which is acceptable.

We would definitely not recommend running the CARDEA Ceramic C440 without a heatsink since temperatures above 70C are too hot, and an SSD’s speed will throttle. We think that the CARDEA Ceramic C440 makes better use of its Ceramic heatsink than the CARDEA Liquid SSD does of its liquid filled chamber which appears to be primarily built for show. We also think the white ceramic heatsink looks awesome in either an all-white or even in an all-black 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 Team Group
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
• T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD
• 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 latest drivers. v27.20.100.9316
• 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 XV: 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 CARDEA Ceramic 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 relative performance across all four tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are generally listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD
2. T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
3. Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
4. T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III 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 we recently discovered that gives more information in one place than many other utilities. First is the system and disk information for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.

S.M.A.R.T. also tests the drive with two sets of tests. First up, the performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440.

Next the performance dual test results given in IOPS for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.

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

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

Next we look at the dual latency tests for the MP33 SSD.

Next 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.

S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest SSD, followed by the CARDEA Liquid, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and in last place, the SATA III Vulcan SSD. TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. is a good place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show.

Let’s start 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 earlier suite.

We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended settings. 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 NVMe drives results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons.

Express benchmarks

First up is the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe Express score with 5562. Here are the Liquid CARDEA Express results with 5475

Here are the Team Group MP33 NVM2 PCIe 1TB SSD express scores 5428

Extended benchmarks

First up is the CARDEA Ceramic Extended score with 3758.

Here is the CARDEA Liquid Extended score with 3741.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 3699 on the Extended benchmarks

Here is the summary of the 3 drives that were tested, and the CARDEA Ceramic scores particularly well and leads the other SSDs.

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

PCMARK 8

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.

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.

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 CARDEA Ceramic C440 scores highest overall in PCMark 8 followed by the CARDEA Liquid, and then the MP33 SSD, and finally the Vulcan SATA III SSD.

AIDA64 v6.32

AIDA64 is the successor to Everest and it is an important industry tool for benchmarkers. AIDA64’s benchmark code is written in Assembly language, and they are well-optimized for AMD, Intel and VIA processors by utilizing the appropriate instruction set extensions. We use the Engineer’s version of AIDA64 courtesy of FinalWire. AIDA64 is free to to try and use for 30 days. We run the AIDA64 overall Disk Benchmark and the 4 individual Read tests for each drive, and we include the image for the tests and then summarize all of our drive results in a chart. These tests are very detailed, and since there are a lot of customization options available we run the default tests. We did not run the Read tests as they will destroy the data on the disks being tested.

1. The Linear Read test measure sequential performance by reading or writing all sectors without skipping any. It’s a linear view of the drives overall performance from its beginning to end.
2. The Random Read test measures the random performance by reading variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the drive and they are combination of both speed and access times as its position changes before each new operation.
3. The Buffered Read test measures the drive caching.
4. The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading 0.5 KB data blocks at random drive locations

The overall disk benchmark is relatively quick and we ran it twice which shows the variability built into this benchmark. However, the individual benchmarks take much longer and they are more accurate. The individual benchmarks are presented without comment.

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

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Now the Team Group MP33 SSD.Finally, the Vulcan SATA III SSD results.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 NVMe2 SSD is the fastest SSD according to Anvil’s Storage Utilities followed in order by the CARDEA Liquid SSD, the MP33 SSD, and the Vulcan SATA III SSD.

Higher scores denote faster drives and as usual, the Cardea Ceramic beats the CARDEA Liquid, followed by the MP33 SSD, and in last place, the Vulcan SATA drive.

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

Here are the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD results showing the results first with MB/s and then measured in IOPS:

Next the CARDEA Liquid.

Next the MP33 SSD.

Finally the Vulcan SATA SSD.

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

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 NVMe drives is the highest performing drive held back only by Intel’s limited PCIe bandwith. Because of this limitation, the Liquid CARDEA is just as fast in Read, but it is significantly slower in Write. The TeamGroup midrange NVME drive is still fast with Read, but it’s Write speeds are just ahead of the Vulcan SATA SSD that also has a very slow Read speed in comparison to any fast NVMe PCIe drive.

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.”

We can see the ranking again from TxBENCH summarized in the chart. The results are very similar to CrystalDiskMark.

Let’s look at our next synthetic test, HD Tune.

HD Tune

This free standalone synthetic test is old and it doesn’t represent real world performance but it does test some important drive metrics. There is also a pay-for HD Tune Pro which is up-to-date and offers more functionality. We tried the Pro trial recently just to make sure the free version is still relevant. HD Tune has the following functions, and it measures the performance of:

• Transfer Rate
• Access Time
• CPU Usage
• Burst Rate
• Random Access test
• Write benchmark

Hard Disk information includes partition information, supported features, firmware version, serial number, disk capacity, buffer size, transfer mode.

• Hard Disk Health
• S.M.A.R.T. Information (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
• Power On Time
• Error scan
• Temperature display

Here are the CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tune benchmark results:

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Next the MP33 SSD.

Finally the Vulcan SATA SSD.

Here are the HD Tune benches summarized in a chart.

There are no surprises. As before, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 which is held back by Intel’s limited Z490’s bandwidth is a little faster than the CARDEA Liquid SSD which in turn is significantly faster than the MP33 and much faster then the Vulcan SATA drive.

Next we benchmark using AS SSD.

AS SSD

AS SSD is designed for Solid State Drives (SSD). This tool contains synthetic and practice tests. The synthetic tests determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD without using operating system caches. In Seq-test the program measures how long it takes to read and write a 1GB file.

In the 4K test, read and write performance for random 4K blocks are determined. The 4K-64-thrd test are similar to the 4K procedure except that the read and write operations on 64 threads are distributed as in the usual start of a program. For the copy test, two large ISO file folders are created, programs with many small files, and a games folder with small and large files. These three folders are copied by the OS copy command with the cache turned on. AS SSD gives an overall score after it runs the benchmarks.

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

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

Here are the TeamGroup MP33 AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA AS SSD results.

Again, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 stands out even though it’s bandwidth is limited by Intel’s latest enthusiast motherboards.

Next up, ATTO.

ATTO

ATTO is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices including for SSDs and HDDs. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device.

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

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid ATTO results.

Next are the TeamGroup MP33 ATTO results.

Finally, here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA ATTO results.

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

Finally, 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. Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our ten 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 by the MP33 SSD and in last, the Vulcan SATA III SSD.

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.

Fortunately we are able to test 2 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 and the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe PCIe SSD. Total Loading times are 13.34 seconds.

Next the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Total Loading times are 15.295 seconds.

Next the MP3 SSD with total Loading times of 16.098 seconds.

Finally the Vulcan SATA III SSD with a total Loading times of 16.214 seconds. Here is the chart comparing the total loading times of each SSD plus each of its 5 levels. Lower times in seconds are better which means the game or level will load more quickly.

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 Liquid, the MP33 and the SATA III Vulcan SSD. 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.

File Copying

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 (which is exceptionally intense in VR) from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up VR on multiple PCs.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 20.5 seconds.

The Liquid CARDEA which is a slightly faster drive took almost twice longer then the ZERO Z340 at 40.9 seconds for the same copy.

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, or less than 20 seconds slower than the CARDEA Liquid, but the CARDEA Ceramic is still 3 times faster at copying this same folder.

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. You have time to make a cup of tea.

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

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.

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 four 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 Liquid SSD, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and finally by the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA III SSD. 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 prefer an internal PCIe NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is a great choice for a fast drive even when its bandwidth is curtailed by the PCIe bandwidth limitations of current Intel enthusiast motherboards. We can sum up our synthetic benchmarks by stating that the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest PCIe NVMe drive we tested with the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid following behind. Third fastest, is the TeamGroup NVMe MP33 SSD, and finally the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA III SSD is in last place.

A gamer will only realize the CARDEA Ceramic C440 fast PCIe Gen 4 x4 speeds on current Ryzen 5000 platforms and on the next generation of Intel’s 11th CPU platforms, and we plan to upgrade at which time we will retire our MP33 SSDs and replace them with a pair of C440s. But 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 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, a CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration.

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 never happen using a fast NVMe PCIe SSD like the CARDEA Ceramic C440.

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $58.99 and the 1TB version is $105.99; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $82.99, but the 1TB version is $134.99; the Team Group MP33 1TBB SSDs are $91.99. The C440 comes in just two capacities – 1TB at $189.99 and 2TB at $364.99. However, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 drive is currently discounted to $166.99 at Amazon.

It is clear that high speed PCIe Gen 4 x4 prices are priced at a premium, but $32 is not excessively more expensive to pay for the CARDEA C440 over the CARDEA Liquid based on performance even if the Intel motherboard cannot allow it to reach its rated speeds. The C440 is blazing fast and when we upgrade our platform to a next-gen Intel platform or to a Ryzen 5000 platform, we will buy a second 1TB C440 to replace each of our MP33 SSDs as boot drives.

Pros

• The CARDEA Ceramic is significantly faster than any internal SATA III SSD and it faster than the CARDEA Liquid SSD.
• The white ceramic heatsink looks awesome in an all-white or black build and it works well to cool individual component hotspots
• 5-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Fast game/level loading speeds and good file copy speeds
• High speed thin drive

Cons

• We wish the blue PCB was available in black

This has been an enjoyable exploration comparing three other SSDs with the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD. The performance of this drive is exceptional for very quick transfer of data or for storing, playing, and launching games – even when constrained by Intel’s limited bandwidth.

The Verdict

We feel that the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 deserves BTR’s “Recommended” Award as a thin, very good-looking, and very fast PCIe Gen 4 x4 PCie NVMe SSD. It’s currently expensive and has a price premium, but it is currently discounted to $166.99 at Amazon. If you have a Ryzen 5000 platform, you will be able to make full use of its rated speed of 5000MB/s Read / 4400MB/s Write unlike with our Z490 Intel platform that limits it to 3400MB/s Read / 3000MB/s Write.

As a fast NVMe PCIe SSD, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 is a great way to store, launch, and play games and it looks great. However, SSD prices change daily so we suggest checking for sales to get the best bang for buck. We recommend the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 4 x4 M.2 PCIe SSD as a great choice for a gamer who wants a flashy and all-white thin fast drive with a 5-year warranty.

We are working on our next hardware review that will be a surprise and we cannot say any more about it other than there will be two related reviews – and we will not neglect VR. Stay tuned.

Happy Gaming!

The CARDEA ZERO Z340 Gen 3×4 PCIe NVMe M.2 512GB SSD Review

The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 M.2 Gen 3×4 PCIe SSD (Solid State Drive) is a fast drive with Read/Write specs of 3400/2000MB/s for the 512GB capacity. Although its specifications indicate that it is significantly faster than any SATA III-based SSD, we want to see if this speed increase will make a practical difference for gamers.

Our review sample came directly from Team Group and we will focus on the ZERO Z340’s performance by comparing it with nine other drives. We have six SSDs (Solid State Drives) in BTR’s flagship PC with more than 3TB of total storage for games, and yet we always need more capacity. Using a HDD or a Solid State Hard Drive (SSHD) is out of the question because of how slowly they load games and levels compared to SSDs.

BTR previously used two identical 480GB Team Group L5 LTE SATA III SSDs as boot drives – one for AMD and one for NVIDIA – which have been recently upgraded to two 1TB Team Group MP33 NVMe2 PCIe SSDs. Primary storage for our 50 PC games and 25 VR games are provided by enterprise SATA III SSDs: a 1.92TB SanDisk SSD and a 2TB Micron 1100 SSD.

In addition, we also use a T-FORCE Vulcan SATA III 500GB SSD and a 512GB SATA III DELTA MAX for additional storage, plus two 2TB Seagate FireCuda SSHDs which are relegated to backup duty. We also use two portable USB 3.2 Gen2 SSDs for fast file transfers and to move games between our two desktop and two notebook PCs.

The fastest four SSDs in BTR’s collection are M.2 PCIe SSDs: the CARDEA ZERO 340 (with Read/Write speeds of 3400/2000MB/s), a T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB SSD (also with 3400/2000MB/s), the MP33 SSDs (1700/1400MB/s), and a 480GB Kingston A-1000 SSD (1500/900MB/s). The SATA III SSDs generally max out around or below 560/500MB/s. The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found on sale for $49.99; the DELTA MAX 500GB SATA III SSD is $89.99; the Kingston A1000 480GB NVMe SSD is overpriced at $106 but it has been replaced by the A2000; while the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $110; the Team Group MP33 512GB SSDs are $68.99; the 480GB Team Group L5 SSD is $59.98; and a 2 TB FireCuda SSHD sells for $129 which is a 7200 rpm Seagate HDD coupled with 8 GB of flash drive.

Compare these prices to the CARDEA ZERO 340 512GB drive which is a $94.99 drive currently at $79.99 on sale at Newegg. Team Group has a special promotion for July and a contest giveaway that anyone can enter – click on the banner or here for the link. Scroll to the bottom for the contest giveaway rules.

BTR’s test setup uses Windows 10 64-bit featuring an Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 4.8GHz for all cores as set in the ASRock Z390 Extreme 4 motherboard’s BIOS, and 16 GB of T-FORCE XTREEM DDR4 at 3866MHz. The settings and hardware are identical except for the ten drives being tested, and the graphics are powered by a RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition (FE).

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 CARDEA ZERO Z340 SSD which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter, 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 CARDEA ZERO Z340 SSD taken directly from Team Group’s website.

FEATURES

• High speed read/write performance
• Ultra-thin and lightweight structure
• Patented graphene cooling technology
• All-around smart management technology
• Taiwan Utility PATENT (number: M591304)
• 5-year limited warranty

Specifications

The specifications are also found on the Team Group website. The key highlights are that the CARDEA ZERO Z340 M.2 PCIe SSD is fast, durable, uses little power, uses graphene cooling technology, and is backed by Team Group’s 5-year warranty.

Next we unbox the CARDEA ZERO Z340 M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD and take a much closer look at it without its heatsink.

Unboxing and a Closer Look

The T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 M.2 2280 512GB PCIe SSD arrives as a module that will fit most motherboards that support 2280 (W:22mm x L:80mm) PCIe M.2 drives. It is a PCIe Gen3 x4 SSD. As befits most SSDs, it comes in a blister pack that gives some details and highlights T-FORCE’s new 5-year SSD warranty. Emphasis is placed on the super-slim graphene and copper heat sink which will provide a 9% cooling improvements over a bare drive. The other side of the pack gives some specifications that show it is certainly fast for a NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD. The CARDEA ZERO Z340 specs about four times faster than SATA III based SSDs with Read speeds up to 3400MB/s and Write speeds up to 2000MB/s. The Team Group CARDEA ZERO Z340 M.2 PCIe 512GB SSD modules are set onto a blue PCB with a very thin graphene/copper heatsink. A sticker warns that the 5 year warranty will be void if it is removed. So we removed it anyway and you can see the controller and the memory modules next to the super thin .2mm copper/graphene heatsink that we pealed off. It uses a clear sticky adhesive that also allowed us to replace the heatsink afterward. Turning it over reveals additional modules.The picture below shows the CARDEA Liquid SSD on top next to its heatsink with the CARDEA ZERO Z340 below it and alongside it. The CARDEA Liquid SSD has all of its modules on one side of the PCB next to the liquid heatsink. Make sure to use a magnetic screwdriver for installation. After installing the CARDEA ZERO Z340, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure the source and the target disks are both GUID or convert one of them so they are the same. The graphene/copper heatsink helps keep temperatures lower by transferring the heat to itself and then radiating heat better than the individual modules can. Above we show the very highest peak temperature we recorded by focusing on the SSD’s Graphene heatsink under extreme stress testing.

Without the heatsink, some of the individual components temperatures rose slightly. Even under stress, above 70C is probably too warm, and a SSD’s speed will throttle if it gets too hot. We think that the CARDEA ZERO Z340 makes better use of its graphene heatsink than the CARDEA Liquid SSD does of its liquid filled chamber which is primarily built for show.

Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7-8700K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost is locked on to 4.8 GHz for all six cores. Coffee Lake DX11 CPU graphics.
• ASRock Z390 Extreme 4 motherboard (Intel Z390 chipset, latest BIOS, 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 Team Group
• RTX 2060 Super Founders Edition 8GB, stock clocks, on loan from NVIDIA
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe2 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 512GB NVMe2 SSD
• Team Group PD1000 External/Portable 512GB 3.2 USB Gen 2 SSD, supplied by Team Group
• Team Group PD400 External/Portable 240GB 3.2 USB Gen 2 SSD, supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX 500GB SATA III SSD, supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB SATA III SSD, supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD, supplied by Team Group
• Kingston A1000 480GB NVMe PCIe SSD, supplied by Kingston
• Team Group L5 LITE 3D 480 GB SATA III SSD
• 2TB Seagate 7200 rpm SSHD (Solid State Hard Drive)
• Edifier R1280T active desktop speakers
• Grado SR60e headphones
• Monoprice Crystal Pro 4K

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia’s GeForce 446.14 WHQL drivers. High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display
• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 10 64-bit Home edition, version 1909, latest updates
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• MSI’s Afterburner to set the RTX 2060 Super power/temp limit to maximum
• IOmeter
• HD Tach
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• Crystal DiskMark

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• World of Warcraft (PCMark 8)
• Battlefield 3 (PCMark 8)

Synthetic Benching Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020
• AIDA64
• PCMark 8
• PCMark 10
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the CARDEA ZERO Z340

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 relative performance across all nine tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are generally listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 512GB PCIe NVME2 SSD
2. T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 500GB PCIe NVMe2 SSD
3. Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe2 PCIe SSD
4. Kingston A1000 480GB NVMe2 PCIe SSD
5. T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD
6. T-FORCE DELTA MAX 500GB SATA III SSD
7. Team Group L5 LITE 3D 480GB SATA III SSD
8. Team Group PD240 240GB USB 3.2 Gen 2 portable SATA III SSD
9. Team Group PD1000 512GB USB 3.2 Gen 2 portable NVMe2 SSD
10. Seagate FireCuda 2TB SSHD (solid state hard drive)

We will generally present a more detailed comparison of our three fastest NVMe2 drives – the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 versus the CARDEA Liquid, and versus the Team Group MP33. The other drives will have their results summarized in a chart. Let’s start 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 attached drives as with the earlier suite. We installed Windows 10 on the PD1000 and used it as our boot drive over USB 3.2 but did not install nor benchmark PCMark 10 on the portable 240GB Team Group SSD. We use PCMark 10’s Extended settings.

To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results that you want to compare. The fastest three NVMe2 tested drives’ results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons. First up is the CARDEA ZERO Z340 score with 8429. Here are the CARDEA ZERO Z340 online results.The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 8987, the highest PCMark 10 score of our tested drives. The CARDEA Liquid 500GB SSD system scores 8973 which is ranked second by PCMark 10. Here is the summary of the nine drives that were tested, and surprisingly the CARDEA ZERO Z340 doesn’t score particularly well. Let’s check out PCMark 8 which uses better dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

Here is the online validation.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 5039 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 410.40 MB/s. It took 58.0 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load. The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 500GB SSD scores 5076 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 599.03 MB/s. It took 57.4 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.The CARDEA Liquid scores highest with PCMark 8 followed by the CARDEA ZERO Z340 and then the MP33 SSD.

AIDA64 v6.0

AIDA64 is the successor to Everest and it is an important industry tool for benchmarkers. AIDA64’s benchmark code is written in Assembly language, and they are well-optimized for AMD, Intel and VIA processors by utilizing the appropriate instruction set extensions. We use the Engineer’s version of AIDA64 courtesy of FinalWire. AIDA64 is free to to try and use for 30 days. We run the AIDA64 overall Disk Benchmark and the 4 individual Read tests for each drive, and we include the image for the tests and then summarize all of our drive results in a chart. These tests are very detailed, and since there are a lot of customization options available we run the default tests. We did not run the Read tests as they will destroy the data on the disks being tested.

1. The Linear Read test measure sequential performance by reading or writing all sectors without skipping any. It’s a linear view of the drives overall performance from its beginning to end.
2. The Random Read test measures the random performance by reading variable-sized data blocks at random locations on the drive and they are combination of both speed and access times as its position changes before each new operation.
3. The Access time tests are designed to measure the data access performance by reading 0.5 KB data blocks at random drive locations.
4. The Buffered Read test measures the drive caching.

image The overall disk benchmark is relatively quick, but the individual benchmarks take much longer. Here are the CARDEA ZERO Z340 Read Test Suite benchmark results.

Below are the CARDEA ZERO-Z340’s detailed individualized Read tests: Here is the summary chart comparing our nine tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better. Although the ZERO Z340 and the CARDEA Liquid trade blows and the MP33 and A1000 NVMe2 SSDs lead the pack, the PD1000 external SSD is ahead of the SATA III based SSDs which are in turn faster than the external PD400 which is again much faster than the SSHD.

Let’s check out another benchmark suite, Anvil’s Storage Utilities.

Anvil’s Storage Utilities

Anvil’s Storage Utilities is a tool designed to benchmark and evaluate the Read and Write performance of SSDs and HDDs. It gives overall bandwidth as well separate Read and Write scores, the response times, and IOPS capabilities.

The Team Group MP33 NVMe2 SSD is the second fastest drive just edging out the ZERO Z340. The Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 SSD is the fastest SSD according to Anvil’s Storage Utilities.Here is the Anvil’s Storage Utilities summary. Higher scores denote faster drives.

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

CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0

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

Here are the CARDEA Z340 SSD results: Here is the summary chart highlighting the most often quoted Read/Write performance data. Higher is better. The NVMe2 drives are the highest performing drives; the CARDEA ZERO Z340 trade blows with the Liquid CARDEA as the fastest drives followed by the MP33 and the Kingston A1000 drives. The PD1000 is faster than the SATA III drives represented by the T-FORCE Vulcan, Delta Max, and Team Group L5 LTE SSDs. The Team Group external PD400 is the slowest SSD but it is much faster than the FireCuda 2TB SSHD.

Let’s look at our next synthetic test, HD Tune.

HD Tune

This free standalone synthetic test is old and it doesn’t represent real world performance but it does test some important drive metrics. There is also a pay-for HD Tune Pro which is up-to-date and offers more functionality. We tried the Pro trial recently just to make sure the free version is still relevant.

HD Tune has the following functions, and it measures the performance of:

• Transfer Rate
• Access Time
• CPU Usage
• Burst Rate
• Random Access test
• Write benchmark

Hard Disk information includes partition information, supported features, firmware version, serial number, disk capacity, buffer size, transfer mode.

• Hard Disk Health
• S.M.A.R.T. Information (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)
• Power On Time
• Error scan
• Temperature display

Here are the CARDEA Z340 HD Tune benchmark results:

Here are the HD Tune benches summarized in a chart.There are no surprises. This time the CARDEA ZERO Z340 is faster than the CARDEA Liquid SSD which in turn is faster than the MP33 and then the A1000. The PD1000 is slower than the internal PCIe NVMe2 drives, but it is faster than the SATA III drives. The PD400 is competitive with the other internal SATA III SSDs.

Next we benchmark using AS SSD.

AS SSD

AS SSD is designed for Solid State Drives (SSD). This tool contains synthetic and practice tests. The synthetic tests determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD without using operating system caches. In Seq-test the program measures how long it takes to read and write a 1GB file.

In the 4K test, read and write performance for random 4K blocks are determined. The 4K-64-thrd test are similar to the 4K procedure except that the read and write operations on 64 threads are distributed as in the usual start of a program. For the copy test, two large ISO file folders are created, programs with many small files, and a games folder with small and large files. These three folders are copied by the OS copy command with the cache turned on. AS SSD gives an overall score after it runs the benchmarks.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 AS SSD results. Here is the summary.

The SSHD or HDD tests appear to take forever with AS SSD and they score very low compared with any SSD. The CARDEA Z340 is just behind the CARDEA Liquid.

Next up, ATTO.

ATTO

ATTO is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices including for SSDs and HDDs. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device.

T-FORCE CARDEA Z340 ATTO results.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices. 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.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Z340 HD Tach results with an average read of 706.0MB/s.

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

The CARDEA ZERO Z340 is the fastest in HD Tach, and the NVMe SSDs and the PD1000 are ahead of the other SATA III SSDs while the SSHD sits in last place.

We can sum up our synthetic benchmarks by stating that the Liquid CARDEA is the fastest PCIe NVMe drive with the CARDEA ZERO Z340 following closely behind and in some individual tests, winning. Next are the NVMe MP33 and then the A1000 SSDs. The PD1000 is generally faster than SATA III drives represented in descending order of performance by the T-FORCE Vulcan, DELTA MAX, and Team Group L5 LTE 3D SSDs. The entry-level Team Group USB 3.2 PD400 is the slowest SSD but it is still much faster than the FireCuda 2TB SSHD which is always in distant last place.

Finally we look at file copy speeds.

File Copying

File copy speeds are important to most gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. The CARDEA ZERO Z340 was tested by copying a 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop and it took 1 minute and 20 seconds (80 seconds).

The Liquid CARDEA which is a slightly faster drive took 25 seconds longer then the ZERO Z340 at 105 seconds for the same copy. The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is more inconsistent in its speeds for large files. It took about 165 seconds to copy the same 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop.

The PD1000 is the fastest SSD that we have tested by copying the same 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop. It only took 45 seconds to copy 22.6GB from desktop to program files.

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 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. 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 Liquid is the fastest followed closely by the CARDEA ZERO Z340. 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.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place. A gamer who wants to have the very fastest PC will prefer an internal PCIe NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA ZERO Z340 SSD is a great choice for a fast drive. But for gaming and for regular tasks, any SSD will provide similar 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 better as a primary drive. The CARDEA ZERO-Z340 is $79.99 for the 512GB capacity and $139.99 for the 1TB version.

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 external SSD. If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, a CARDEA ZERO Z340 SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration.

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 never happen using a fast NVMe2 SSD like the CARDEA ZERO Z340.

Pros

• The CARDEA ZERO Z340 SSD is significantly faster than any internal SATA III SSD and it compares very favorably in performance with the $31 more expensive CARDEA Liquid SSD.
• The copper/graphene heatsink looks good and works practically to cool individual component hotspots
• 5-year warranty backed by Team Group support
• Fast game/level loading speeds and good file copy speeds
• High speed ultra-thin drive

Cons

• None

This has been an enjoyable exploration comparing nine drives with the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO-Z340 512GB PCIe NVMe2 SSD. The performance of this drive is suitable for very quick transfer of data or for storing, playing, and launching games.

The Verdict

We feel that the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 deserves BTR’s “Editor’s Choice” Award as an ultra-thin, good-looking, and very fast PCIe 3×4 NVMe2 SSD. It’s currently well-priced at Newegg for $79.99 while the flashy but similarly-performing Liquid CARDEA NVMe 512GB drive is $111.22. The more midrange Team Group MP33 512GB NVMe SSDs cost $68.99 while the cheapest 480GB SATA III SSD in our comparison is $59.99.

As a fast NVMe PCIe SSD, the CARDEA ZERO Z340 is a great way to store, launch, and play games and we could not notice any difference with gaming or in any other situations even after comparing it directly with the thirty-one dollar more expensive Liquid CARDEA NVMe SSD. The graphene/copper heatsink on the ZERO Z340 looks and functions well although it is not as flashy as the CARDEA Liquid solution.

SSD prices change daily so we suggest checking for sales to get the best bang for buck. Currently the CARDEA ZERO 340 512GB drive is $94.99 MSRP but on sale for $79.99 drive at Newegg. Team Group has a special USA promotion for July and a contest anyone can enter with three lucky winners – click on the banner for the contest details or here for a link.

We recommend the T-FORCE CARDEA ZERO Z340 3×4 M.2 PCIe SSD as an great choice for a gamer who wants a fast drive with a 5-year warranty.

We are returning next to VR and well measure the latency of Vive’s Wireless adapter before we overclock our i9-10900K to the max. We could only manage a 5.1GHz all-cores overclock using an ASRock Z490 Steel Legend motherboard with some serious throttling when the CPU is fully loaded. How high can we go on a EVGA Z390 FTW? Stay tuned.

Happy Gaming!

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD (Solid State Drive) is a midrange $129.99 1TB NVMe drive. Although its specifications indicate that it is significantly faster than SATA III-based SSDs, we want to see if this speed increase will make any practical difference for gamers. Our review sample came directly from Team Group and we will focus on the MP33’s performance by comparing it with seven other drives.

Three of BTR’s eight test drives are SATA III based SSDs, one is a portable 240GB USB 3.1 SSD, and one is a 2TB solid state hard drive (SSHD). The fastest two SSDs in BTR’s library are M.2 PCIe SSDs – a fast T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB and an entry-level 480GB Kingston A-1000.

BTR uses two identical 480GB Team Group L5 LTE SATA III SSDs as boot drives – one for AMD and one for NVIDIA – together with a 1.92 TB SanDisk SATA III SSD and a 2 TB Micron 1100 SATA III SSD for our primary game storage. In addition, we also use a T-FORCE Vulcan SATA 500GB and a Delta Max 512GB SATA III SSDs for additional storage whereas previously we used a 2TB Seagate FireCuda Solid State Hard Drive (SSHD) for additional storage of BTR’s benching suite of more than 50 PC games plus many VR games.

BTR’s test setup uses Windows 10 64-bit, featuring an Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 4.8GHz for all cores as set in the EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard’s BIOS, and 16 GB of T-FORCE XTREEM DDR4 at 3866MHz. The settings and hardware are identical except for the four drives being tested, and the graphics are powered by a RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition (FE). BTR’s January review of the CARDEA Liquid SSD and of the DELTA MAX SSD were set up using the same drivers and conditions, so we will reuse those results for this evaluation.

We benchmark with all of our drives at less than 90% capacity, and in addition, all of the drives have been in use for months except for the MP33 SSD which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter as well as being used for storage, so our testing tends to give more real world performance results.

Here are the features and specifications of the MP3 M.2 PCIe SSD taken directly from the Team Group website.

FEATURES

• Using new generation of 3D flash memory: Capacity, performance, and durability are greatly improved
• PCI-e interface – Supports latest NVMe 1.3 protocol
• M.2 2280 specification: Supports the next-generation platforms of Intel and AMD. Suitable for both desktop and notebook
• Supports SLC Caching technology. Greatly enhance computing performance
• Product warranty – 5-year product warranty. Free technical support service

Specifications

The MP33 specifications are also found on the Team Group website.

The key highlights are that the MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD is fast, durable, uses little power, and is backed by Team Group’s 5-year warranty.

Next we unbox the Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD.

Unboxing

The Team Group MP33 M.2 2280 1TB PCIe SSD comes as a bare module that will fit most motherboards that support 2280 (W:22mm x L:80mm) PCIe M.2 drives. As befits a budget product, it comes in a blister pack that give some details and highlight Team Group’s new 5-year SSD warranty.

The other side of the pack gives some specifications that show it is certainly fast but not blazing fast for a NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD.

The MP33 claims to be three times faster than SATA III based SSDs with Read speeds up to 1800MB/s and Write speeds up to 1500MB/s.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD design is very basic on a blue PCB with no heatsinks. A sticker warns that the 5 year warranty will be void if it is removed … so we removed it anyway and you can see the Phison controller and the memory modules.

Turning it over just reveals more blue PCB.

Make sure to use a magnetic screwdriver to remove and install the screw that holds down the MP33 as it is tiny and quite easy to lose. After installing the MP33 SSD, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure the source and the target disks are both GUID or convert one of them so they are the same.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD is very thin and it can easily fit behind a videocard or it can be displayed in another slot.

Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7-8700K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost is locked on to 4.8 GHz for all six cores. Coffee Lake DX11 CPU graphics.
• EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard (Intel Z370 chipset, latest BIOS, PCIe 3.0/3.1 specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x), supplied by EVGA
• T-FORCE XTREEM 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, dual channel at 3866MHz), supplied by Team Group
• RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition 8GB, stock clocks, on loan from NVIDIA
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe PCIe SSD, Supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD, Supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX 500GB SSD Supplied by Team Group
• Team Group PD400 External/Portable 240GB SSD, Supplied by Team Group
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SSD Supplied by Team Group
• Kingston A1000 480 GB NVMe PCIe SSD, supplied by Kingston
• Team Group L5 LITE 3D 2.5″ 480 GB SSD
• 2TB Seagate 7200 rpm SSHD (Solid State Hard Drive)
• Edifier R1280T active desktop speakers
• Monoprice Crystal Pro 4K
• ETEKCITY LaserGrip 774 infrared thermometer

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia’s GeForce 431.60 WHQL drivers were used. High Quality, prefer maximum performance, single display.
• VSync is off in the control panel.
• AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied.
• All results show loading time in seconds.
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 10 64-bit Home edition.
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions at time of publication.
• MSI’s Afterburner, latest version.
• IOmeter
• HD Tach
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• Crystal DiskMark
• Windows Explorer File copying
• MSI Afterburner to set the RTX 2060 Super’s power and temp limits to their maximums

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• World of Warcraft (PCMark 8)
• Battlefield 3 (PCMark 8)

Synthetic Benching Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020
• AIDA64
• PCMark 8

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD

Benchmarking SSDs are not an exact science as there is usually some variability between runs. However, by using multiple real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD’s relative performance across all eight of our tested drives.

First, we will will look at synthetic benchmark suites to highlight the differences between our drives and we shall start with PCMark 10.

PCMark 10

UL (formerly Futuremark) is well-respected as 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 is UL’s seventh major update to the PCMark series. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 platform for a complete package of vendor-neutral and easy-to-use benchmarks for home or office environments.

Unfortunately, in comparison to PCMark 8, PCMark 10 is missing key elements including detailed storage testing, and it is not possible to test attached drives as with the earlier suite. We use PCMark 10’s Extended settings.

To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results of each SSD you want to compare remembering that the MP33, the CARDEA Liquid and the Kingston A-1000 are the M2 PCIe SSDs, and the T-FORCE Vulcan would be the overall fastest SATA-based SSD followed by the Delta Max and then the L5 LTE SSDs. The PD400 is a portable USB SSD and the FireCuda 2TB drive is a solid state hard drive (SSHD) hybrid.

The results are presented in approximate order of the fastest to the slowest drive ending with the portable USB SSD and the solid state hard drive (SSHD). All of the eight SSD results screenshots are presented without comment. Open the images in separate tabs for easy comparison.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 8987, the highest PCMark 10 score of our eight tested SSDs.

Here are the online MP33 results.

The CARDEA Liquid 500 GB SSD system scores 8973 which is second as ranked by PCMark 10 even though it is the fastest SSD.

The same PC with the Kingston A1000 480 GB SSD scores 8863 which is ahead of the 480GB Team Group PC score, but it is a bit behind the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SSD results.

The system with the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SSD scores 8880.

The system with the T-FORCE Delta Max 500GB SSD scores 8849

The same system with the Team Group 480 GB SSD scores 8831.

The FireCuda 2TB SSHD scores 7883.

Here is the summary of the eight drives that were tested using PCMark 10.

PCMark 10’s Gaming results are mostly dependent on the graphic card, not the storage and there is some variability with the results. The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe SSD scores highest followed by the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid which gets the second highest score. Next is a SATA SSD the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SSD PC followed by the M.2 PCIe Kingston A-1000 and then the DELTA MAX with the Team Group L5 LTE SSD as the slowest tested SSD.

There isn’t a lot of difference in overall performance between the SSDs nor is it easy to see exactly where one scores higher by looking at the individual tests. Fortunately, PCMark 8 is a better storage test and it is up next.

PCMARK 8

PCMark 8 has an excellent storage test which actually uses real world timed benchmarks that include loading World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 as well as timing how long it takes to load popular Adobe and Microsoft apps.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 5039 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 410.40 MB/s. And for gamers, it took 58.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

Here is the MP33 Online score.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 500GB SSD scores 5076 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 599.03 MB/s. And for gamers, it took 57.4 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The Kingston A1000 480 GB SSD scores 5032 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 401.30 MB/s. Of primary interest to gamers, it took 58.0 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.6 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SSD scores 4985 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 295.60 MB/s. And most importantly for a gamer, it took 58.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.2 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE Delta Max 500GB SSD scores 4962 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 252.94 MB/s. And for gamers, it took 58.4 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The Team Group L5 480 GB SSD scores 4959 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 253.36 MB/s. Most importantly for a gamer, it took 58.6 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.8 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid stands out from other M.2 form factor SSDs (Solid State Drives) by using a clear cover that holds a colored liquid acting as an attractive and unique type of heatsink. Boasting fast M.2 SSD speeds, the CARDEA Liquid SSD is designed to be the focus of a PC that is meant to be displayed.

[UPDATED at 6 AM PT on 01/30/20. MSRP of the 512GB version is $100.90 and $169.99 for the 1TB version.] Currently, the 512GB version we are reviewing is unavailable anywhere we looked and our review sample came directly from Team Group. We will focus on the CARDEA Liquid SSD performance to see if it can match its eye-pleasing design by comparing it with six other drives. Three of the drives are 500GB SATA III based SSDs, one is a portable 240GB USB 3.1 SSD, one is a 2TB solid state hard drive, and the fastest in BTR’s library until now is the 480GB Kingston A-1000 NVMe M.2 SSD.

BTR uses two identical 480GB Team Group L5 LTE SATA III SSDs as boot drives – one for AMD and one for NVIDIA – together with a 1.92 TB SanDisk SATA III SSD and a 2 TB Micron 1100 SATA III SSD for our primary game storage. In addition, we also use a T-FORCE Vulcan SATA 500GB SATA III SSD for additional storage whereas previously we used a 2TB Seagate FireCuda Solid State Hard Drive (SSHD) for additional storage.

BTR’s test setup uses Windows 10 64-bit, featuring an Intel Core i7-8700K overclocked to 4.8GHz for all cores as set in the EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard’s BIOS, and 16 GB of T-FORCE XTREEM DDR4 at 3866MHz. The settings and hardware are identical except for the four drives being tested, and the graphics are powered by a RTX 2060 SUPER Founders Edition (FE). BTR’s October review of the PD400 GB SSD and January review of the DELTA MAX SSD were set up using the same drivers and conditions, so we will reuse those results for this evaluation.

We benchmark with all of our drives at less than 90% capacity, and in addition, all of the drives have been in use for months except for the CARDEA Liquid SSD which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter as well as being used for storage, so our testing tends to give more real world performance results.

Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE CARDEA LIQUID SSD taken directly from the T-FORCE website.

FEATURES

Details and specifications can be found on the Team Group website.

The key highlight is that the CARDEA Liquid M.2 PCIe SSD is very good-looking when it is displayed as a focus of a well thought-out PC built for display. Besides good-looking, it is fast, durable, uses little power, and it is backed by Team Group’s 5-year warranty. Please note that the heatsink is only warrantied for 1 year.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid SSD.

PCMARK 8

• Up to 290,000 IOPS; Capacities Up to 960GB
• Ultimate Storage Upgrade for HD Video, PC Enthusiasts, Gaming and More

Kingston Digital, Inc., at Computex today announced KC1000 NVMe PCIe SSD. Shipping in mid-June, the M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD is over 2x faster than SATA-based SSDs and over 40x faster than a 7200RPM hard-disk drive. KC1000 is built for the power user, providing a low-latency performance boost for resource-demanding applications including high-resolution video editing, data visualization, gaming and other data intensive workload environments where traditional storage solutions are unable to keep pace.

The KC1000 delivers up to 290,000 IOPS and will ship in mid-June in 240GB, 480GB and 960GB capacities. These high-performance SSDs support the PCIe Gen3 x4 interface and the latest NVMe protocol. KC1000 provides accelerated boot and load speeds and increases sequential read/write performance, as well as offering improved endurance and energy efficiency. It is perfect for users seeking instant, breakthrough performance improvements for:

• High-resolution video editing
• Virtual and augmented reality applications
• CAD software applications
• Streaming media
• Graphically intensive video games
• Data visualization
• Real-time analytics

KC1000 is backed by a limited five-year warranty and legendary Kingston support.

Kingston KC1000 NVMe PCIe SSD Features and Specifications:

• Form Factor: M.2 2280
• Interface: NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 Lanes
• Capacities¹: 240GB, 480GB, 960GB
• Controller: Phison PS5007-E7
• NAND: MLC
• Sequential Read/Write²:

240GB: up to 2700/900MB/s

480GB, 960GB: up to 2700/1600MB/s

• Maximum 4K Read/Write²:

240GB: up to 225,000/190,000 IOPS

480GB, 960GB: up to 290,000/190,000 IOPS

• Random 4K Read/Write:

240GB, 480GB: up to 190,000/160,000 IOPS

960GB: up to 190,000/165,000 IOPS

• PCMARK^®Vantage HDD Suite Score: 150,000
• Total Bytes Written (TBW)³:

240GB: 300TB and .70 DWPD⁵

480GB: 550TB and .64 DWPD⁵

960GB: 1PB and .58 DWPD⁵

• Power Consumption: .11W Idle / .99W Avg / 4.95W (MAX) Read / 7.40W (MAX)

write

• Storage Temperature: -40°C to 85°C
• Operating Temperature: 0°C to 70°C
• Dimensions:

80mm x 22mm x 3.5mm (M.2)

180.98mm x 120.96mm x 21.59mm (with HHHL AIC – standard bracket)
181.29mm x 80.14mm x 23.40mm (with HHHL AIC – low-profile bracket)

• Weight:

10g (M.2)
76g (with HHHL AIC – standard bracket)
69g (with HHHL AIC – low-profile bracket)

• Vibration operating: 2.17G Peak (7-800Hz)
• Vibration non-operating: 20G Peak (20-1000Hz)
• MTBF: 2,000,000
• Warranty/support⁴: Limited 5-year warranty with free technical support

¹ Some of the listed capacity on a Flash storage device is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage. As such, the actual available capacity for data storage is less than what is listed on the products. For more information, go to Kingston’s Flash Memory Guide at Kingston.com/flashguide.

² Based on “out-of-box performance” using a SATA Rev. 3.0 / PCIe Gen 3 motherboard. Speed may vary due to host hardware, software, and usage. IOMETER Random 4K Random Read/Write is based on 8GB partition.

³ Total Bytes Written (TBW) is derived from the JEDEC Client Workload (JESD219A)

⁴ Limited warranty based on 5 years or “SSD Life Remaining” which can be found using the Kingston SSD Manager (Kingston.com/SSDManager). A new, unused product will show a wear indicator value of one hundred (100), whereas a product that has reached its endurance limit of program erase cycles will show a wear indicator value of one (1). See Kingston.com/wa for details.

⁵ Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD)

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