Apacer PT920 Commando 240GB PCIe SSD Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing and Availability

At the time of review, Apacer’s PT920 Commando 240GB PCIe SSD can be yours for £154.99 through CCL Computers. US readers can find it through NewEgg for $145.35. That’s only a small extra cost when compared to the Apacer Z280 M.2 module.

Conclusion

There is absolutely no doubt that the design of Apacer’s PT920 Commando will divide the waters. Some will think it is awesome while others will find it ridiculous. Whatever your preference is, there’s is no doubt that it looks good for what it is. It would fit a military-themed system well which isn’t a surprise when we consider the name.

The PT920 delivered the promised performance results which shouldn’t come as a surprise. That said, the 240GB capacity does set some limitations which we are used to from all other SSDs. There was a bit of jitter across the fillage scenarios, but nothing too serious. Overall, a good entry-level NVMe drive which beats any classic SATA drive in performance. Depending on the task, the drive even climbs quite high in some of the tests.

The cooling abilities of the casing is probably what most people wonder about. With the fact that it is passive and without direct contact, I didn’t have hopes that it would have any effect at all. But it did. The design is made to facilitate existing airflow and direct it over the SSD inside. While the impact wasn’t large, there was a drop of 4 degrees when compared to the base module. However, it could probably be lowered a whole lot more if Apacer connected the drive to the casing with some adhesive heat-transfer pads.

Pros

• Great step up from SATA drives, especially at random access
• MLC NAND
• Good endurance rating
• End-to-end Data Protection

Cons

• Requires settings changes for best performance
• Casing has no diret heat-transfer contact to the SSD

Neutral

• Design might not appeal equally to everyone

“Apacer’s PT920 Commando will match your military themed system. It delivers a solid performance and a good endurance.”

We would like to thank Apacer for this sample.