We would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying their UD70 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB SSD for testing and reviewing.

 

 

About Silicon Power:

 

"Founded in 2003 by a group of enthusiastic data storage industry experts, Silicon Power is committed to delivering outstanding product and service quality. Headquartered and with our own state-of-the-art production site in Taipei, we have become a leading manufacturer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, portable hard drives, solid state drives, DRAM modules and industrial-grade products. As an international player with four branch offices around the globe, we continuously strive to offer the perfect data storage solution for all requirements of modern digitalized life. With a strong focus on combining innovative technology and award-winning design, we live up to our brand promise to reliably preserve and protect your most valuable data.

Because memory is personal."

 

Product Features:

3D QLC NAND: More Storage, Less Space

With 3D QLC NAND storage technology, the UD70 PCIe Gen 3x4 incorporates a much higher memory cell density, allowing for greater storage capacity on a smaller footprint – up to 2TB. Plus, NVMe 1.3 support, read speeds up to 3,400MB/s, and write speeds up to 3,000MB/s make this M.2 2280 SSD a force to be reckoned with. As an overall cost-efficient option, the UD70 is truly an all-around performer that's perfect for DIY system builders, casual gamers and video editors, and simply those who are looking to upgrade their PC.

Keep It Cool: Dual Self-Cooling System

The UD70 is specially engineered with a dual self-cooling system that operates via active state power management (ASPM) and autonomous power state transition (APST). In addition, thermal throttling effectively monitors and controls the temperature to prevent sudden speed drops or damage of stored data caused by high temperature. With these advanced mechanisms in place, the UD70 will always keep its cool to sustain a safe and optimal level of performance, which translates to a longer and more reliable lifespan.

Powered by Multiple Technologies For Optimum Performance

The UD70 supports SLC Caching and DRAM Cache Buffer to improve sequential read/write and random read/write performance. Built-in low-density parity check (LDPC) coding, End-To-End (E2E) data protection, and RAID engine data protection all work to provide enhanced data transmission accuracy and access reliability, while AES 256-bit encryption ensures data security.

A System Upgrade With Room For More

With an M.2 2280 (80mm) form factor, the UD70's compact size allows for easy installation in laptops, small form factor PC systems, and some ultrabooks. And with 3 different capacity options (500GB, 1TB, 2TB), it's an easy upgrade that can greatly expand your system's storage potential based on your needs and budget, while also saving space for other components.

 

Product Specifications:

 

Capacity: 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

Dimensions: 22.0mm x 80.0mm x 3.5mm

Weight: 8g

Interface: PCIe Gen 3x4

Performance Read(max.): up to 3,400 MB/s

Performance Write(max.): up to 3,000 MB/s*

System Requirement: Computer with M.2 slots supporting PCIe interface and one of the following operating systems: Windows 8.1 or Windows 10

Operating Temperature: 0°C - 70°C

MTBF (est): 1,800,000 hours

Shock Resistance Test: 1500G/0.5ms

Certification: CE, FCC, BSMI, Green dot, WEEE, RoHS, KCC

Warranty: 5 years*

*The SSD warranty is based on the TBW or Warranty period.

 

With the UD70 series, Silicon Power is proposing another interesting M.2 NVMe drive, utilizing a Phison controller, RAM cache and QLC 96-layer ICs for storage. The manufacturer is also advertising an optimized power management feature for keeping the drive cool (active state power management and autonomous power state transition), in order to be used successfully on laptops with less than ideal cooling systems as well.

 

The product is shipped inside a cardboard enclosure with a small window, for being able to see how the drive does really look like and not a drawing. Here we will note that Silicon Power has mentioned NVMe 1.3 standard support, the total storage capacity but also the fact that it sports a 5-year limited warranty:

 

 

 

On the back side we will note some technical specifications such as the power rating, details regarding the Silicon Power offices but also the product internal code name and serial number:

 

 

 

For additional safety, the drive is kept steady inside a transparent plastic mold:

 

 

 

As we have seen with other Silicon Power M.2 SSDs, the frontal area of the PCB is entirely covered by a large sticker, which also helps with faster heat evacuation; on it we will note the product internal code name, the product name but also the capacity and serial number:

 

 

Surprisingly, on the back side of the PCB we are noticing place holders for four additional NAND ICs and a RAM cache but none of which are populated:

 

 

The removal process of the top sticker is an easy task and by this way we will expose the drive components: four NAND ICs, a controller but also a RAM cache

 

 

The main controller is a Phison PS5012-E12S-32, with support for QLC flash and PCI Express 3.0 x4 interface. It is using no less than eight flash channels and is produced on 28nm at TSMC:

 

 

For RAM caching we will spot a single DDR3-L 1866 IC with a capacity of 256MB, which will be mainly used by the controller in order to store the map tables:

 

 

The four NAND Flash chips use the QLC technology and are manufactured by Micron:

 

 

Test Bench:

 

CPU: Intel I5 9700K Retail

CPU Cooler: Deepcool Captain 240 EX RGB AIO

Motherboard: Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming

RAM: Patriot Memory Viper RGB Series DDR4

Video: KFA2 GeForce GTX 1060 OC 6GB

Power Supply: Cooler Master 850W

SSD: OCZ Vector 150

Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840

 

 

The drive has arrived unformatted; we did proceed with the usual steps in order to format it as NTFS:

 

 

With the help of AIDA64, we could extract more information regarding the drive:

 

The Tests

 

HDTach Short Test

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HDTach Long Test

 

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CrystalMark HDD Test Suite

 

AIDA64 Disk Test Suite

 

PCMark05 HDD Test Suite

 

 

CrystalDisk Test Suite (Random)

 

HDTune Test Suite

Blank SSD

 

PCMark Vantage HDD Test Suite

 

PCMark 7

 

Anvil [Read]

Anvil [Write]

 

Extra Tests:

 

AS SSD Benchmark

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AS SSD Benchmark (IOPS)

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ATTO Disk Benchmark

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PCMark 8

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The Tests

 

HDTach Short Test

Filled SSD

 

HDTach Long Test

 

Filled SSD

 

CrystalMark HDD Test Suite

 

AIDA64 Disk Test Suite

 

PCMark05 HDD Test Suite

 

 

CrystalDisk Test Suite (Random)

 

HDTune Test Suite

Filled SSD

 

PCMark Vantage HDD Test Suite

 

PCMark 7

 

Anvil [Read]

 

Anvil [Write]

 

Extra Tests:

 

AS SSD Benchmark

Filled SSD

AS SSD Benchmark (IOPS)

Filled SSD

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Filled SSD

PCMark 8

Filled SSD

 

 

 

The UD70 mainstream SSD from Silicon Power is QLC-based but also uses DRAM caching and a Phison PS5012-E12S-32 controller, succeeding to keep writing speeds over 100MB/s after the SLC pseudo-cache has been fully occupied. With the SLC cache emptied, it can reach the rated speeds without any issues at all, making it an ideal upgrade for mainstream desktops/laptops which need a performance jump from regular 2.5’’ SSDs.

 

By using the HD Tune Pro write tests, we can check out the drive behavior after the SLC cache has been fully filled up:

 

 

 

This drive is kept cool with additional functions at the firmware level such as active state power management or the autonomous power state transition, which not only allows the unit to function in computers with less than ideal airflow (such as laptops) but also maximizes its lifespan.

 

The UD70 drive can be found in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB flavors; the 1TB model can be picked up for about 120 Euros (at the time of the review).

 

Silicon Power UD70 PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 1TB SSD is Recommended for:

 

 

 

We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!