The new incarnation of super-fast SSD

We are testing the ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade drive - this is a special version of the ADATA XPG Gammix S70 model, which is to attract a larger group of customers. How is it different and is it really worth choosing?

• ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade is one of the top SSDs for PCI-Express 4.0 - the proposal will interest demanding customers who expect the best possible performance.
• The drive is based on the design of the ordinary ADATA XPG Gammix S70 model, but the manufacturer has used a smaller heat sink, thanks to which the carrier will also fit in laptops and PlayStation 5.
• The manufacturer provides a 5-year warranty on the drive with a limited data writing - the TBW parameter should be sufficient for most everyday applications.

SSD drives for PCI-Express 4.0 are becoming more and more popular among customers - such designs offer great performance and are available at increasingly better prices. Example? For example, the ADATA XPG Gammix S70 model, which in tests surprised us with its great performance, and has recently become much cheaper. This is one of the most interesting models under PCIe 4.0.

However, we come back to the topic, because recently a similar model appeared in ADATA's offer - the XPG Gammix S70 with the note Blade. The manufacturer praises the drive as a good proposition for compact computers, laptops, and PlayStation 5 consoles, i.e. devices where there is not much space for an SSD drive. What changed? Will the new model repeat the success of its predecessor? We were so interested in the medium that we decided to download it from the editorial office and test it in practice. ADATA XPG Gammix S70 vs S70 Blade - what's the difference between drives?

Currently, the manufacturer's offer includes three series of SSDs for PCI-Express 4.0: XPG Gammix S50 Lite, XPG Gammix S70 and XPG Gammix S70 Blade. Below you will find a comparison of the media specifications:

What's the difference between the XPG Gammix S70 and S70 Blade? The manufacturer used the same components, which should translate into the same performance. The difference between the drives comes down to a heat sink - the new model is clearly smaller, so it should fit into more compact devices. The whole puzzle is solved! ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade - drive prices

Interestingly, the new drive is available at significantly higher prices (so far only two capacitive versions are available on the market).

• ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade 1 TB - $ 130
• ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade 2 TB - $ 330

Are you curious if the ADATA XPG S70 Blade drive is really worth the extra charge. Let's check it! ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade 1 TB - a look at the SSD drive

We got the XPG Gammix S70 Blade model with a capacity of 1 TB.

As we mentioned in the introduction, the XPG Gammix S70 Blade is based on the same components as the regular XPG Gammix S70 - the board has an 8-channel Innogrit Rainier IG5236 controller, Micron 3D TLC NAND memory chips (branded ADATA), and the whole thing is supported by 1 GB of memory DDR4 DRAM and dynamically allocated buffer that acts as high-speed SLC NAND memory.

By default, no heat sink is installed on the disk, but due to the amount of generated heat, we strongly recommend that it be mounted under an additional cooling (e.g. in an M.2 slot with a heat sink - such solutions are common on modern PC motherboards).

The manufacturer also took care of the equipment without additional cooling. The set includes a metal plate (to stick), which is to support heat dissipation. It is true that this solution is not as efficient as the large, massive heat sink from the S70 model, but it should not cause problems in devices where there is not much space for an SSD drive (e.g. in laptops and PS5 console).

The manufacturer declares that the S70 Blade carrier offers the same performance as the regular S70 model - sequential transfers are to reach 7400/5500 MB / s, and the number of random operations is 740,000 / 750,000 IOPS (read and write respectively). Theoretically, it should be one of the more efficient models under PCI-Express 4.0.

It is worth mentioning a few words about the strength of the carrier. The manufacturer gives a 5-year warranty on the drive, which has been limited by the quite high  TBW  of 740 TB (with everyday computer use it will be difficult to use this limit - to reach it you need to save 40 TB of data every day for 5 years). Pros

• Great performance in sequential operations,
• Great performance in real tests,
• No significant drops in performance after filling,
• It will fit in smaller devices,
• 5-year warranty with high TBW.

• Performance with random operations could be better,
• Requires additional cooling,
• A bit higher price than the regular XPG Gammix S70.