TeamGroup Z540 M.2 PCIe SSD & DARK AirFlow I SSD Cooler Review

A Closer Look

The latest TeamGroup Z5 SSD comes with a bare PCB design, making it easier for those fitting an aftermarket cooler, like the one we will be installing today. However, it also comes with a Graphene heatsink layer that you can apply if you need it.

As you can see, it uses the fantastic Phison E26 controller, which we see on pretty much all the fastest Gen5 drives. Here you can also see the SKHynix LPDDR4 4GB DRAM cache (H9HCNNNCPUML), and there’s a blank spot on the reverse of this for a second DRAM module which will be present on the 4TB variant of this drive.

There are two 1TB NAND Flash 232-layer 3D TLC modules on here too, with space on the reverse for an additional two that are again used for the 4TB variant. I suspect the 1TB version will use 512GB modules, rather than a single 1TB.

It’s interesting to see this drive without a heatsink out of the box. The Graphene layer is used either on the bare drive, or as a transition layer for those using a motherboard heatsink. However, this gorgeous M.2 cooler is what I’ll be using. It features a 40mm PWM fan on one side.

There are two heatpipes passing through the cooler in two U-shapes, so you have four vertical section that pass through 14 aluminium heatpipes.

A nice T-Force logo on the top.

It’s pretty robust despite the size, with a fairly significant mounting block that would likely provide ample cooling performance passively. However, the addition of the active fan is going to improve cooling significantly.

It is easy enough to install, just four screws on the side to open it, sandwich the drive in between, and screw it back together.

It’s the ready to plug into your M.2 slot, and you hook up the PWM fan header. Now, let’s get cracking with the benchmarks!