SSD by stefan @ 2021-09-19
The Phison PS5012-E12S-based drive paired with Toshiba 96-layer TLC packages is able to deliver great performance for a PCIe 3.0 drive; the installed heatsink allows the drive to keep temperatures at bay and avoid throttling, while the five year warranty is very nice to have!
We would like to thank at first Silicon Power for supplying their XPOWER XD80 PCIe Gen 3x4 1TB SSD for testing and reviewing.
"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."
Speed Ahead of The Competition
Featuring SLC Caching and DRAM Cache Buffer, the XD80 peels rubber with blazing read/write speeds up to 3,400/3,000MB/s, respectively. Its high-speed PCIe Gen3x4 interface leaves traditional SATA III SSDs behind in the dust, giving hardcore gamers the competitive edge, they need to secure the win.
Eliminate Lag While Keeping It Cool
With NVMe 1.3 support, the XD80 delivers higher performance, lower latency, and lower power consumption for the smoothest gameplay without any lag. The durable aluminum heatsink provides maximum heat dissipation and thermal management. In fact, compared to SSDs without a heatsink, the XD80 keeps temperatures as much as 20% lower, maintaining its stability.
Better Performance with RAID Technology
To push beyond standard limits, the XD80 supports RAID technology and comes in massive storage capacity options up to 2TB. Even during the most highly demanding games, it will maintain system stability and data integrity to deliver maximum and reliable performance.
A Powerful System Upgrade with Room For More
With an M.2 2280 (80mm) form factor, the XD80's compact size allows for easy installation, while also saving space for other components. Coupled with its blazing speed and massive storage capacity options, it makes for an easy upgrade that's ready to handle the most intense gaming sessions.
Capacity: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB
Dimensions: 22.0mm x 80.0mm x 4.8mm
Weight: 11g
Interface: PCIe Gen3x4
Performance Read(max.): up to 3,400MB/s*
Performance Write(max.): up to 3,000MB/s*
System Requirements: 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): 2,000,000 hours
Shock Resistance Test: 1500G/0.5ms
Certification: CE, FCC, BSMI, Green dot, WEEE, RoHS, KCC
Warranty: 5 years
Quite recently, Silicon Power has revealed a new range of SSDs from their XPOWER series, with capacities ranging from the usual 256GB up to 2TB. These models come with a headspreader similar to the XPOWER Zenith DDR4 memory line and not an easy-removable sticker; while it does look really good and helps driving down the temperatures, people having motherboards with integrated cooling systems will experience some difficulties removing this particular layer.
The drive is shipped inside a very simple cardboard/plastic packaging, which highlights the drive design, but also the aspect that the product is covered by a 5-year warranty:
On the back, we will note a small product description in multiple languages, addresses of the worldwide Silicon Power offices but also email contacts for support. We have also observed the product code name and serial number:
After removing the cardboard layer, we have noted a separate plastic casing, which keeps the drive away from harm during transit:
The XD80 1TB drive has the top side of the PCB completely covered by an aluminum heatsink, with the XPOWER design and dark grey brushed aluminum finish:
On the back, we will note placeholders for additional components (higher capacity drives) but also a large sticker with the product code name and serial number:
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:
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The Phison PS5012-E12S-based drive paired with Toshiba 96-layer TLC packages is able to deliver great performance for a PCIe 3.0 drive; the installed heatsink allows the drive to keep temperatures at bay and avoid throttling, while the five year warranty is very nice to have!
After filling up the pseudo-SLC cache, the drive will drop a little regarding write performance, but will be able to recover quite quickly:
The XD80 1TB drive is excellent for system upgrades (PCs and laptops), while the slim heatsink should not create any clearance issues. At the time of writing, the drive could be found online for about 124 Euros.
We would like to thank again to Silicon Power for making this review possible!