ADATA XPG Spectrix S20G M.2 2280 Gen 3×4 SSD Review

ADATA is one of the leading names when it comes to high-performance memory and storage. Actually, they're even a strong competitor when it comes to laptops, PC cases and peripherals these days too! However, I'll be focusing on their storage division for now. I have their new XPG Spectrix S20G M.2 2280 Gen 3x4 SSD in for review. It's packed full of features, and promises RGB thrills, fast read and write speeds, so it's sure to appeal to those planning a new Gaming PC or even a nice upgrade to their existing system. ADATA XPG Spectrix S20G M.2 2280 Gen 3x4 SSD The drive features a PCIe Gen3x4 interface, with support for both SLC Caching and Host Memory Buffer. That means it should deliver random read/write speeds of 160K/190K IOPS. You can benefit from LDPC (Low-Density Parity-Check) error correcting code technology to detect and fix a wider range of data errors, as well as AES 256 encryption; it'll ensure data security and integrity. With read speeds of 2500MB/s and write speeds of 1800MB/s, it's as fast as we can hope for from a Gen 3 drive, so it shouldn't feel like it's holding us up, even when loading larger files and games. Features Play Xtreme: The XPG SPECTRIX S20G is an SSD for gaming from start to finish and its style reflects that. It has a distinctive and prominent RGB X-shaped design that outshines the competition. RGB light effects can be customized using software. Plus, a brushed finish gives the SSD a formidable yet stylish look that will intimidate and impress.Leave your opponents in the dust: Using the PCIe Gen3x4 interface and with support for SLC Caching and Host Memory Buffer, you will outperform your opponents with random read / write speeds of 160K / 190K IOPS.Backed by a 5-year warranty: All components of the SPECTRIX S20G have passed meticulous controls, tests and certifications. It is also backed by a 5-year warranty. Specifications Capacity500GB / 1TBForm factorM.2 2280NAND Flash3D NANDDimensions (L x W x H)80 x 22.1 x 7.55mm / 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.3inchWeight10.4g / 0.37ozInterfacePCIe Gen3x4Sequential Read (Max)Up to 2500MB/s1Sequential Write (Max)Up to 1800MB/s14KB Random Read IOPS(Max)160K14KB Random Write IOPS(Max)190K1Operating temperature0°C - 70°CStorage temperature-40°C - 85°CShock resistance1500G/0.5ms MTBF 2,000,000 hours Warranty25-year limited warranty What ADATA Had to Say "The XPG SPECTRIX S20G is a gaming SSD through and through and its styling reflects this. It sports a distinctive and prominent x-shaped RGB design that outshines the competition. The RGB light effects can be customized via software. What's more, a hairline-brushed finish gives the SSD a formidable yet elegant look that will intimidate and impress.Accelerate your gaming experience with the NVMe 1.3-compliant SPECTRIX S20G. Built with 3D NAND Flash and sporting read/write speeds of 2500/1800MB/s, load games faster and enjoy smoother gameplay. It works with all the latest Intel and AMD platforms for no-hassle compatibility." - ADATA A Closer Look Aesthetics are clearly very important to ADATA, as their latest XPG M.2 SSD is quite a stunner. It uses a two-tone design that blends brushed aluminium with a frosted plastic. Of course, the aluminium looks great already, but the frosted plastics are going to light up when the drive is power on. There are quite a lot of ARGB lights in this drive, which can be customised, or just left to do their rainbow party tricks by default. The XPG logo is stamped onto the metal, so this part won't be RGB lit, but I'm happy with that, I think it looks great. It's not all just RGB though, there is actually a heatsink in all this, which will ensure the drive can maintain its performance. It's got a good weight to it too, which is usually a good size for an M.2 drive. More materials in the heat sink should help it cope when the drive is under heavy load. That being said, this is a Gen 3 drive, and ensuring maximum performance shouldn't be difficult anyway. Around the back, it's just a boring technical sticker, but hey, you're not going to see this side once it's installed. The LEDs come on very bright, throwing out a lot of colour to the whole PC case; pretty impressive given it's only a small drive! Of course, it's fully customisable, so you can set a fixed colour or effect. However, I think it looks great on the default settings, very colourful! Preparation The drive will be formatted as NTFS with default settings, as most users will do. The quick format option isn’t used as that might affect the performance the first time data is written. Modern operating systems all take care of the TRIM command in the background and it isn’t something to worry about for regular users. However, for these reviews, I will add a waiting period between each benchmark to make sure that the TRIM command has been fully executed and finished. After all, we want a clear picture of the drive’s performance with minimal interference from the operating system. Data We will start with a typical benchmark analysis of the formatted drive with various fillage scenarios. However, depending on how a drive is built, the performance may differ depending on how much data it is already storing. The drive will be tested empty and at 25%, 50%, and 75% space usage for this area. We're using Anvil’s Storage Utilities, AS SSD Benchmark, and CrystalDiskMark for this part of the review. Application and Gaming Besides the synthetic fill tests, the drive is tested with PCMark 10’s storage benchmark to get real-world performance results for various gaming and application usages. Drive Conditioning Durability is a vital factor in NAND-based drives as the chips can only be rewritten so often before they’ll stop working properly. Modern SSDs come with wear-level algorithms to increase the lifetime and reduce this factor as much as possible. Where appropriate, we will test this using Anvil’s Storage Utilities. Following this conditioning process, all of the previous benchmarks will be run again in the same scenarios and the same order. Hardware MSI MEG Z490 GodlikeIntel Core i9-9900KSNvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TiCrucial Sport 4 x 8GB 3200MHz DDR4Toshiba OCZ VX500 512GB SSDbe quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 (1200W)Noctua NH-D15S Software Anvil's Storage UtilitiesAS SSD BenchmarkATTO BenchmarkCrystalDiskMarkPCMark 10 Storage BenchmarkWindows 10 64 bit Anvil's Storage Benchmark Anvil’s Storage Utilities is a complete benchmark solution used to test any writeable storage drive. AS SSD Storage Benchmark The AS SSD software determines the performance of Solid State Drives (SSD). The tool contains five synthetic and three practice tests. The synthetic tests determine the sequential and random read and write performance of the SSD, and they aren’t using the operating system cache. The copy tests are cached and as such not viable results at this time. ATTO Disk Benchmark The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customise your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. CrystalDiskMark CrystalDiskMark is a small HDD and SSD benchmark utility that allows you to measure a drive’s sequential and random performance. All results are MB/s, and higher is better. PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark PCMark 10 also features a storage benchmark test now, replacing the older PCMark 8 benchmark, so it's only fitting that we include this in our reviews too. It gives a general overall score, the higher, the better! PCMark 10 Score - 1407 (Great!) 25%, 50% & 75% Fillage Testing 25% 50% 75% How Much Does it Cost? At the time of writing, both the XPG SPECTRIX S20G 1TB SSD and the 500GB model are showing as out of stock on Amazon. However, more should be on the way fairly soon, and I think we all know this is the new normal with PC hardware due to COVID, Brexit, and a few other factors. Of course, you can check for up to date stock and pricing on Amazon UK here. Overview ADATA has a rock-solid reputation when it comes to storage, and they've won plenty of awards from us here at eTeknix and the press worldwide for their superb products over the years. I'm happy to report I'll be adding another one to their collection, as this drive was right on the money and delivered the performance they promised. Performance ADATA say this drive will deliver 2500 MB/s read and 1800 MB/s write. Well, it did a little better than that. Actually, I got 2502.92 MB/s read and 1874.29 MB/s write. I know that's not much faster, but hey, faster is faster! Much to my own amusement, the drive performed even better when it was filled to 75%, so again, I really can't fault the performance; it's perfect. Build Quality This is a really good quality drive, Gen 3 drives have been with us for ages now, so they're dialled in as good as they're ever going to get. All the latest safety features, encryption technologies, etc are here. Plus, they're using good quality chips, ensuring great durability. ADATA puts a five-year warranty on this drive, so they clearly have confidence in its longevity. The addition of a thick heatsink and some gorgeous ARGB lighting take this drive to the next level and it really stands out from the crowd. Should I Buy One? Flawless performance, exceptionally cool styling and competitive prices make this a welcome addition to the ADATA range, and with a five-year warranty, you can buy it with peace of mind. ADATA XPG Spectrix S20G M.2 2280 Gen 3x4 SSD Review