More variety: Adata launches PCIe 5.0 SSD with alternative SSD controller
So far, every SSD with PCIe 5.0 has had the E26 Phison controller, but now the first SSD with an Innogrit controller arrived. We're still not fully convinced.
The tiny fan can be seen under the housing of the Adata SSD.
(Image: c't)
SSDs with PCI Express 5.0 usually look very similar under the heat sink: All models available to date use the E26 controller from Phison; the speed of the SSD is determined almost solely by the NAND flash used. There are three levels: 10 GByte/s, 12 GByte/s and 14 GByte/s, each as the maximum read rate.
Adata now uses a different controller for its PCIe 5.0 SSD Legend 970 Pro: Innogrit's IG5666. This should score points above all due to its lower energy consumption, but is not inferior in terms of speed.
Components
The Innogrit controller has eight NAND channels, which it can address at 2400 megatransfers per second (MT/s); it also uses eight ARM cores of the Cortex-R5 type. The chip manufacturer TSMC produces the controller using 12-nanometer technology –, which means it has a lot in common with the Phison E26. It remains unclear which NAND flash Adata uses in the Legend 970 Pro: An Adata logo is emblazoned on the flash components, however the company only purchases its chips. The two DRAM components come from Samsung, and the controller has a total of 2 GB of cache at its disposal.
Overheating is prevented not only by a thick heat sink, but also by a small fan. This is unregulated, so it always blows at the same speed and therefore at the same volume. We measured a decent 3.5 sone, more than double the fan of the Legend 970 without Pro – and only bearable in the long term in an insulated case. At least the fan gets its power directly from the SSD, whereas the previous model still had to be supplied via a Molex connector.
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Measured values
Adata promises 14 GByte/s for reading and up to 11 GByte/s for writing. However, the latter value only applies to the version with 4 TByte storage space; the 2 TByte SSD we have is specified with 10 GByte/s writing. For accesses to random addresses, Adata states 1.8 million (read) and 1.3 million IOPS (write).
We were unable to achieve the specified write speeds during the first measurements, and later tests also repeatedly produced a significantly lower value. Only on one of our AMD test systems did the Legend 970 Pro consistently achieve just under 10 GB/s when writing. When reading, it was regularly only slightly below the specifications at 13.8 GByte/s. When accessing random addresses, the SSD managed just under 1.7 million IOPS when reading, while when writing it was slightly above the specified value with just over 1.3 million IOPS.
Compared to the fastest SSDs with the E26 controller, the Legend 970 Pro is ahead in some benchmarks and behind in others. It writes large files more slowly and has a head start when reading random addresses. However, the differences in the practical PCMark 10 benchmark are clearer: With only 3600 points in the endurance test, it is far behind the frontrunner, the Corsair MP700 PRO SE, which achieved 5029 points. In the test for suitability as a system drive, it achieves 3597 points, also significantly lower than the leading Crucial T705 with 5482 points.
The Adata Legend 970 Pro is not yet available in Germany, so we do not yet have any prices. It is possible that some of the flaws can be eliminated by a firmware update before the market launch. Nevertheless, it is good that an alternative to the same old PCIe 5.0 SSDs with Phison controllers is finally in sight.
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