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The realm of laptop storage is witnessing a big transformation with the appearance of PCIe 4.0, a know-how that was first embraced with the Eleventh-Gen intel processor, Ryzen 3000 processor, and gaming consoles just like the PlayStation 5. Nevertheless, the technological panorama is ever-evolving, and the subsequent milestone is PCIe 5.0. This new era of storage know-how guarantees staggering speeds, surpassing the capabilities of its predecessor. One instance and the one we shall be reviewing is TeamGroup’s T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD, with an M.2 2280 type issue and utilizing the PCI-Categorical 5.0 x4 interface connection and helps the most recent NVMe 2.0 protocol, it boasts learn and write speeds of 12,400 MB/s and 11,800 MB/s, respectively.
But, with nice pace comes nice duty, notably in warmth administration. Players and tech fans are acutely conscious that the elevated efficiency of PCIe Gen 5 SSDs typically results in important warmth era. It is a problem that can not be understated, as typical graphene thermal options could fall in need of successfully managing this warmth. Recognizing this principal challenge, the TeamGroup’s T-Power additionally has a separate twin cooler heatsink, the T-Power Darkish Airflow 1 SSD Cooler, complemented by a small fan designed to effectively dissipate warmth, sustaining SSD’s temperature inside optimum ranges and reaching the anticipated pace efficiency.
The T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD is priced at $259 for 2TB, and $149 for 1TB. It additionally comes with a 5-year guarantee and has an endurance of 600 TBW, 1,200 TBW, and a pair of,400 TBW for 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, respectively. Then again, the T-Power Darkish Airflow 1 SSD Cooler shouldn’t be but accessible to the general public.
On this evaluate, we’ll delve into the capabilities of the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD, specializing in the 2TB variant. Our aim is to totally consider whether or not this SSD can ship on its efficiency guarantees whereas sustaining easy operation with none hiccups. Moreover, we will even conduct checks with out the extra heatsink to find out if the SSD can nonetheless carry out reliably underneath these situations.
Specification
Interface | PCIe Gen 5 x 4 with NVMe |
DRAM Cache | LPDDR4 (4GB) |
Voltage | DC +3.3V |
Operation Temperature | 0°C to 70°C |
Storage Temperature | 40°C to 85°C |
Sequential Pace Write | 2TB Learn/Write: As much as 12,400/11,800 MB/s |
IOPS | 2TB Learn/Write: As much as 1400K/1500K IOPS Max |
Weights | 13g |
Dimensions | 80 x 22 x 3.7mm (LWH) |
Vibration | 80Hz to 2,000Hz/20G |
Shock | 1,500G/0.5ms |
MTBF | 1,700,000 Hours |
Packaging
To start our evaluation of the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD, we’ll first give attention to the packaging. Our evaluate unit arrived in two separate packages, one containing the SSD and the opposite housing the T-Power Darkish Airflow 1 SSD Cooler. The packaging of the Z540 SSD itself adheres to the distinct Pink and Black theme that’s according to T-Power’s gaming product line. The entrance of the field options important info just like the visible picture of the SSD, complemented by the presence of a patent seal and the storage capability.
Turning to the again, we discover extra detailed specs together with the anticipated efficiency pace, the 5-year guarantee, and the Operation temperature which is 0 ºC to 70 ºC. There may be additionally a cut-out gap that means that you can peak the precise SSD.
Inside, the SSD itself is neatly housed in a plastic container, a typical packaging alternative for T-Power merchandise. Adjoining to the SSD, there’s a clean house within the packaging which is a fairly widespread function in TeamGroup’s packaging design, typically seen of their product vary, and serves as a standardized component, despite the fact that it’s not used for extra parts on this particular mannequin.
Included inside the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD packaging is a graphene thermal sticker, an important component for efficient warmth administration. Curiously, this thermal sticker shouldn’t be pre-installed on the SSD which additionally signifies that the appliance of the thermal sticker is left to the person’s discretion and isn’t a compulsory step tied to the product’s guarantee.
Shifting to the packaging of the T-Power Darkish Airflow 1 SSD Cooler, it’s introduced in a cardboard field, sustaining the signature Pink and Black theme. The heatsink, named ‘AF1’, sounds generic and should function a common thermal resolution, probably appropriate with a spread of SSD fashions within the T-Power lineup.
On the again, there are detailed specs, notably specializing in the scale and dimensions of the heatsink. Vital particulars for customers to find out if the heatsink will match accurately of their system, particularly in relation to their CPU cooler.
Upon opening the field, you might be introduced with a number of objects important for organising your SSD with the heatsink.
Included within the package deal is a screw, particularly designed for eradicating the quilt of your SSD slot, facilitating a smoother set up course of.
Essential to the performance of the heatsink are the 2 thermal pads. These pads play a significant position in sandwiching the SSD inside the heatsink. For optimum thermal administration, it’s required to place these pads on each the back and front of the SSD guaranteeing efficient warmth dissipation and maximizing the cooling effectivity.
It additionally comes with additional SSD screws in case your motherboard doesn’t include an easy-snap SSD.
The T-Power 5Z40
Shifting on to the SSD itself, the again encompasses a label in black and white, detailing the product specs. Curiously, the SSD shouldn’t be single-sided as there are parts on the again as properly.
The absence of a pre-installed thermal sticker permits for an unobstructed view of those parts, which we’ll discover in additional element within the subsequent part of our article.
Making use of the graphene thermal sticker enhances the SSD’s aesthetic attraction. It encompasses a modern black matte end with hanging gold copper textual content, including a contact of class to its design.
The T-Power Darkish Airflow 1 SSD Cooler is provided with a single fan, consisting of 9 copper blades that play an important position in cooling the heatsink’s two particular person tube traces.
On the alternative facet, there is no such thing as a fan, which is deliberately designed for the outflow of air from the fan.
Trying on the high of the heatsink, the T-Power brand is prominently displayed, alongside a fantastically crafted design that includes 4 tube pipe ends. This design not solely aids in environment friendly cooling but in addition provides a visible attraction to the heatsink. The wire connection is conveniently made for CPU traces.
The underside a part of the heatsink homes the quilt, which must be unscrewed to put in the SSD. This cowl additionally performs a task in securing the SSD, sandwiching it between the 2 thermal pads talked about earlier. A possible concern arises when re-screwing the quilt, as there’s a threat of by chance hitting the SSD parts if not performed fastidiously. A suggestion for T-Power could possibly be to incorporate a reminder or guideline for customers to train warning whereas securing the quilt.
Upon eradicating the quilt, we get a better take a look at the 2 particular person pipes and the copper parts, that are essential for absorbing warmth from the SSD. This intricate design highlights the cautious consideration given to each performance and aesthetics within the heatsink’s development.
Options or Parts
As for the options, we’ll focus on right here the parts that energy the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD, specializing in its technical capabilities and digital structure.
The T-Power Cardea Z540 is powered with the Phison PS5026-E26-52 SSD controller. This controller is constructed on a 12nm course of and is an ARM 32-bit Cortex-R5 processor, that includes 5 cores that’s answerable for the next-gen pace. A major facet of this controller is its inclusion of a DRAM Cache. Because of this the Z540 shouldn’t be a DRAMless SSD, the DRAM Cache makes use of the SK hynix (H9HCNNNCPUMLXR-NEE), a famend producer within the reminiscence chip business. This chip offers 4GB of LPDDR4-4266MHz cache DRAM Reminiscence that gives substantial buffer for information processing and excessive frequency to deal with massive volumes of information shortly and efficientlly. Concerning the facility management of the SSD, it makes use of the Phison PS6121-45 (UG2324C2 QTP96). Nevertheless, detailed details about this particular energy controller shouldn’t be available.
The storage functionality of this machine is powered by chips from Micron, particularly the 3PC2D NY181 (511-230823086) mannequin, which is a 232-Layer TLC NAND. In our check unit, there are 4 such chips, collectively offering a complete storage capability of two,000GB.
On the reverse facet, there are two further chips, an identical to those talked about.
On one other nook of the SSD’s bottom, there are further chips. Whereas these may not seem notably particular, they’re important digital parts that contribute to the general performance of the SSD.
Efficiency
To guage the efficiency of this SSD, we’ll topic it to a collection of benchmark checks utilizing our lineup of benchmarking packages. It will assist us decide whether or not the SSD lives as much as its guarantees and establish any potential issues which will come up. Initially, we’ll check the SSD with out the put in heatsink fan to evaluate its dealing with and thermal efficiency on this baseline situation. Ought to the SSD battle or fail on this state of affairs, we’ll forego additional checks with out the heatsink and as a substitute focus our benchmarking efforts on the SSD with the heatsink put in. Beneath are the main points of the check setup we shall be utilizing:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 12-Core Processor with Inventory Cooler
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE X670 GAMING X AX
- RAM Reminiscence: T-Power Delta Alpha RGB DDR5-6000 Gaming Reminiscence
- Working System: Home windows 11 Professional
The testing surroundings is at room temperature of 31°C with out air con however cooled solely by an ordinary fan.
With out the T-Power Darkish Airflow I SSD Cooler
Earlier than commencing our checks, we’ll test the preliminary temperature of the SSD. As noticed, the beginning temperature is comparatively excessive, standing at 52°C. Nevertheless, this temperature continues to be inside the operational limits for this SSD, which vary from 0°C to 70°C.
Throughout our testing with Crystal Disk Mark, the SSD initially carried out as anticipated, reaching the anticipated learn and write speeds whereas sustaining a temperature inside operational limits. Nevertheless, in subsequent checks, the temperature of the SSD started to rise considerably, finally exceeding the protected operational threshold of 70°C. This extreme warmth led to a noticeable drop in efficiency. To forestall potential injury to the SSD, we abruptly halted the benchmarking course of.
This challenge of overheating underneath heavy masses shouldn’t be distinctive to the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD alone; it’s a typical drawback amongst many PCIe 5 SSDs. In our checks with out the heatsink, it struggled to handle warmth successfully, with temperatures hovering as excessive as 83°C. This clearly signifies that the SSD shouldn’t be geared up to deal with intense workloads with out enough cooling. Due to this fact, if you’re contemplating buying the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD PCIe 5.0, it’s extremely advisable to go for the model bundled with the heatsink. This extra cooling resolution is important to make sure steady efficiency and to forestall overheating throughout demanding duties.
Nevertheless, it’s noteworthy that underneath regular workload situations, the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD maintains a way more steady temperature vary. The SSD operates between 52°C to 60°C, which is properly inside the protected operational limits.
With Combo T-Power Darkish Airflow I SSD Cooler
After making use of the T-Power Darkish Airflow I SSD Cooler heatsink, the preliminary temperature started to indicate its magic, the preliminary temperature is at 37°C.
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark is a well known benchmarking device used for testing the efficiency of solid-state drives (SSDs) and exhausting disk drives (HDDs). Famend for its simplicity and accuracy, this device measures the sequential and random learn/write speeds of the storage machine. Additionally it is generally used because the benchmarking rating for a lot of the manufacturer-rated pace.
The SSD confirmed exceptional efficiency throughout a spread of duties. For sequential reads and writes for big information (1MB at queue depth 8 and thread rely 1), it achieved learn speeds of 12,378.19 MB/s and write speeds of 11,820.96 MB/s. This efficiency was constant for sequential operations with reasonably massive information (128KB at queue depth 32 and thread rely 1), the place it recorded learn speeds of 12,341.10 MB/s and write speeds of 11,822.22 MB/s. Within the random learn/write check with smaller information (4KB) at excessive queue depth (32) and a number of threads (16), it scored 5,229.49 MB/s for learn and three,512.87 MB/s for write, indicating sturdy efficiency underneath extra demanding situations. Lastly, within the check simulating typical person situations (random 4KB information at a single queue and thread), it delivered learn and write speeds of 88.92 MB/s and 317.07 MB/s, respectively, showcasing its effectiveness in on a regular basis computing duties.
AS SSD Benchmark
The AS SSD Benchmark is a specialised device designed solely for testing the efficiency of Strong State Drives (SSDs). In contrast to different benchmarking software program that is likely to be appropriate for varied forms of storage units, AS SSD Benchmark focuses on the distinctive traits and efficiency metrics pertinent to SSDs. It measures the sequential and random learn/write speeds, in addition to the entry time of the SSD, offering a complete overview of its efficiency.
The AS SSD benchmark revealed the SSD’s efficiency in varied learn and write situations. For sequential operations, which measure massive file switch speeds, the SSD achieved a learn pace of 9,169.06 MB/s and a write pace of 10,055.14 MB/s. Within the 4K check, designed to guage efficiency with small information, it scored 80.37 MB/s for learn and 277.37 MB/s for write. The 4K-64Thrd check, assessing the drive’s skill to deal with a number of small file requests concurrently, yielded learn and write speeds of three,196.77 MB/s and 4,445.68 MB/s, respectively. The SSD additionally demonstrated distinctive entry instances, with 0.014 ms for reads and 0.041 ms for writes. General, the SSD collected a complete rating of 12,104, with particular person learn and write scores of 4,194 and 5,729, highlighting its robust efficiency throughout several types of information operations.
ATTO Disk Benchmark
ATTO Disk Benchmark assess the efficiency of each conventional exhausting drives and solid-state drives (SSDs). Its major perform is to measure the info switch charges of storage units throughout varied file sizes and lengths, offering an in depth efficiency profile.
The SSD demonstrated a progressive enhance in efficiency throughout varied file sizes. Beginning with a small file dimension of 512 bytes, it achieved a pace of 15.38 MB/s. Because the file dimension elevated, there was a notable climb in pace, reaching a big milestone of 1.85 GB/s for 32KB information. The SSD reached its peak efficiency with file sizes of 128 KB for write operations, reaching speeds round 10.97 GB/s, and for learn operations, it peaked at file sizes of two MB, hitting speeds of roughly 11.19 GB/s. Notably, each learn and write speeds stabilized and maintained their most charges at file sizes of two MB, demonstrating the SSD’s skill to deal with bigger information transfers effectively.
3D Mark Benchmark
3D Mark Benchmark is predominantly acknowledged for its sturdy capabilities in assessing the efficiency of graphics playing cards and gaming PCs. Nevertheless, it additionally contains checks that may consider the efficiency of solid-state drives (SSDs) in gaming-related situations. By simulating a spread of demanding gaming environments, 3D Mark offers insights into how properly a storage machine can deal with the extraordinary learn and write calls for of recent gaming.
The SSD showcased its capabilities in gaming-related situations. It achieved a median bandwidth of 773.45 MB/s and a median entry time of 39 microseconds. When examined with widespread video games, the bandwidth diverse: 1,480.03 MB/s for ‘Battlefield V’, 1,105.62 MB/s for ‘Name of Obligation Black Ops 4’, and 649.62 MB/s for ‘Overwatch’, with respective entry instances of 51, 60, and 36 microseconds. The SSD’s efficiency in recording gameplay confirmed a bandwidth of 271.18 MB/s and an entry time of 31 microseconds. For sport set up, it recorded a pace of 356.54 MB/s and an entry time of 37 microseconds, whereas for saving sport information, it reached 311.41 MB/s with an entry time of 23 microseconds. Remarkably, in shifting sport information, it achieved a excessive pace of 5,173.69 MB/s with an entry time of fifty microseconds. The overall rating attained in these checks was 4,560, underscoring the SSD’s effectivity in dealing with varied gaming-related duties.
PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark
PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark is a complete device designed to guage the general efficiency of a pc’s storage system, together with solid-state drives (SSDs) just like the T-Power Cardea Z540. In contrast to benchmarks focusing solely on pace metrics, PCMark 10 assesses how properly a drive performs in on a regular basis duties. It simulates quite a lot of real-world situations, equivalent to booting up the working system, launching purposes, and conducting file transfers, to offer a practical evaluation of the drive’s efficiency in widespread use instances.
The SSD achieved a rating of 4,635, indicating sturdy general efficiency. It exhibited an general bandwidth of 717.2 MB/s, which demonstrates its effectivity in dealing with information transfers. Moreover, the SSD confirmed an general entry time of simply 35 microseconds, reflecting its fast responsiveness in accessing information.
PCMark 10 Information Drive Benchmark
The PCMark 10 Information Drive Benchmark is a specialised element of the PCMark suite, particularly designed to evaluate the efficiency of secondary storage drives, equivalent to SSDs used for information storage, just like the T-Power Cardea Z540. This benchmark focuses on how properly a drive handles workloads associated to storing and accessing information, somewhat than the working system or purposes. It simulates varied real-world duties, together with file saving, enhancing, and transferring, to guage the drive’s effectivity and responsiveness in dealing with data-centric operations.
The SSD scored 9,802 with an general bandwidth of 1,374.6 MB/s and 15 microseconds.
PCMark 10 Fast System Drive Benchmark
The PCMark 10 Fast System Drive Benchmark is a streamlined model of the Full System Drive Benchmark, a part of the excellent PCMark 10 suite. It’s designed to shortly assess the efficiency of major storage drives, equivalent to SSDs, in dealing with widespread system-level duties.
The SSD scored 5,898 with an general bandwidth of 696.9 MB/s and 21 microseconds.
PassMark PerformanceTest Disk Mark
PassMark PerformanceTest Disk Mark is a flexible benchmarking device designed to guage the efficiency of storage units equivalent to exhausting drives, solid-state drives (SSDs), and exterior drives. It offers a complete evaluation of assorted points of a drive’s efficiency, together with learn and write speeds, information switch charges, and entry instances.
The SSD achieved an excellent rating of 71,142, which locations it within the 99th percentile in comparison with related units globally, a transparent indication of its superior efficiency. Breaking down the scores, it confirmed spectacular leads to sequential learn and write checks, with 10,558 MB/s and 10,047 MB/s respectively. For the IOS 32KQD20 check, which measures the enter/output operations per second for 32K blocks at a queue depth of 20, it scored 4,143. Within the IOPS 4KQD1 check, designed to evaluate smaller file operations at a queue depth of 1, the SSD achieved a rating of 131. These outcomes place the SSD considerably larger than the worldwide minimal rating of three and near the utmost of 209,786, highlighting its distinctive efficiency throughout varied metrics.
Black Magic Design Disk Pace Check
The Black Magic Design Disk Pace Check is a efficiency measurement device particularly tailor-made for video professionals and content material creators. It excels in evaluating the power of storage units like SSDs to deal with high-resolution video information. This benchmark measures the learn and write speeds of drives, such because the T-Power Cardea Z540 SSD, within the context of video file processing and rendering. It’s notably precious for figuring out whether or not a storage machine can deal with the demanding throughput necessities of duties like enhancing 4K or 8K video.
Tailor-made for evaluating efficiency in video-related duties, the SSD displayed spectacular capabilities. It achieved a write pace of 10,038 MB/s, demonstrating its proficiency in dealing with high-resolution video information, an important facet of video manufacturing and content material creation. Moreover, the SSD recorded a learn pace of seven,536.9 MB/s.
Comparability
To achieve a clearer perspective on the efficiency of the T-Power Cardea Z540 in comparison with different SSDs we now have evaluated, we invite you to look at the detailed benchmark chart supplied under. This chart presents a direct comparability, showcasing how the Z540 measures up towards its opponents throughout a spread of efficiency metrics.
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