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Avis à toutes les personnes à la recherche d'un écran gaming en 24,5 pouces ou 27 pouces : Amazon propose des prix intéressants sur la gamme BenQ MOBIUZ !
Au-delà de son look qui fait tout de suite penser à l'esprit gaming, notamment ce pied travaillé, ce sont les caractéristiques des écrans BenQ MOBIUZ qui m'ont semblé intéressantes !
Ces écrans LED proposent des caractéristiques similaires, dans les deux tailles, et c'est plutôt complet. Voici un récapitulatif :
Petit bémol tout de même : il faudra se satisfaire d'une résolution Full HD, alors que sur la version 27 pouces, une résolution plus élevée (QHD/2K) serait plus adaptée pour les jeux. En revanche, c'est suffisant sur un écran 24,5 pouces.
En complément, et toujours dans l'esprit gaming, sachez que le tapis de souris gaming Corsair MM800C RGB Polaris (contour lumineux) est disponible à 34,99 euros au lieu de 56,44 euros (si l'on regarde sur LDLC, il est à 79,95 euros).
The post Gaming : les écrans BenQ MOBIUZ sont en promotion sur Amazon ! first appeared on IT-Connect.
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La GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC a trouvé son chemin vers une boutique à Hong Kong. La belle a été achetée et son propriétaire publie quelques clichés.
Nvidia ne va probablement pas apprécier mais des clichés d’une version « personnalisée » de la GeForce RTX 4090 de Gigabyte viennent d’apparaitre sur la toile. La référence exacte est la GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC.
Cette fuite est étonnante car quelqu’un a réussi à acheter une GeForce RTX 4090 de Gigabyte plus de deux semaines avant sa date de sortie officielle. Il est rare de voir une telle vente mais elle permet de confirmer que les partenaires ont déjà du stock.
Il est important de souligner que malheureusement cette solution n’est pas exploitable. Pourquoi ? Nvidia ne propose pas encore de pilotes graphiques compatibles permettant de l’exploiter. Du coup la presse spécialisée, les passionnés ou encore les premiers acheteurs ne peuvent pas la tester. Ces pilotent très attendus seront rendus public le 12 octobre prochain date de commercialisation de la carte. La presse devrait cependant les récupérer d’ici la fin de la semaine.
Cette RTX 4090 s’accompagne d’un adaptateur en Y permettant de l’alimenter avec quatre PCIe 8 broches. La carte est équipée du nouveau connecteur à 16 broches. Elle embarque un GPU Ada Lovelace issu du processus de gravure 4N de TSMC. Cet AD102 propose 16 384 cœurs CUDA et s’accompagne de 24 Go de mémoire GDDR6X.
Le prix de ce modèle n’est pas connu mais nous devrions nous situer au-dessus des 1599 $ US.
Cet article La GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC de Gigabyte se fait flasher a été publié en premier par GinjFo.
CORSAIR, fabricant mondial leader d’équipements hautes performances pour les joueurs et les créateurs de contenu, ajoute aujourd’hui un excellent nouveau modèle à sa gamme de casques gaming : le HS55 WIRELESS CORE. Ce casque élégant propose deux façons de se connecter à l’audio : en sans fil 2,4 GHz à faible latence ou en Bluetooth. Grâce à sa construction légère complétée par des écouteurs en mousse à mémoire de forme, le HS55 WIRELESS CORE associe un confort optimal durable et un son de qualité sans fil.
Le HS55 WIRELESS CORE se connecte à une multitude d’appareils avec une grande polyvalence. Le mode sans fil 2,4 GHz à faible latence permet la connexion à un PC, un Mac ou une PS5 avec un signal sans fil d’une puissance infaillible sur une portée allant jusqu’à 15 m. Autre possibilité, le Bluetooth vous permet d’écouter le son des tablettes, appareils mobiles et autres dispositifs en toute simplicité. Les 24 heures d’autonomie de la batterie vous assurent de profiter de l’audio de vos jeux, de votre musique et d’autres contenus multimédia sans câbles gênants, tandis que la recharge rapide vous offre 6 heures d’utilisation en seulement 15 minutes de charge.
Le poids plume du HS55 WIRELESS CORE est idéal pour une utilisation en continu toute la journée et jusqu’au bout de la nuit. Les écouteurs en mousse à mémoire de forme revêtus de cuir synthétique vous plongent dans un bulle de confort, une sensation renforcée par l’arceau réglable au fil des heures d’écoute. Avec les commandes audio supra-aurales, les différents réglages (volume, silence, son latéral et préréglages EQ) restent à portée de doigt, pour procéder aux ajustements sans interrompre la moindre partie de jeu.
Le HS55 WIRELESS CORE offre les performances audio indispensables à tout gamer pour communiquer efficacement, en entrée comme en sortie. Deux transducteurs audio en néodyme de 50 mm haute qualité et personnalisés émettent un son excellent avec une gamme couvrant tous les sons à ne pas manquer sur le champ de bataille, et ils prennent en charge la technologie audio Tempest 3D sur PS5. Dirigez votre équipe avec assurance grâce à un microphone omnidirectionnel qui capte la voix haut et fort, ou rabattez-le pour le mettre instantanément en sourdine.
Avec plusieurs options de connexion, un design léger remarquablement confortable et un son de grande qualité, le HS55 WIRELESS CORE coche toutes les cases pour une utilisation sans fil agréable d’un bout à l’autre de la journée.
Le casque gaming CORSAIR HS55 WIRELESS CORE est disponible dès maintenant sur la boutique en ligne de CORSAIR et auprès des distributeurs et des revendeurs agréés du réseau mondial CORSAIR.
Le casque gaming CORSAIR HS55 WIRELESS CORE est vendu avec une garantie de deux ans et est secondé par le réseau d’assistance clientèle mondial de CORSAIR.
Cet article Corsair dévoile le casque gaming HS55 WIRELESS a été publié en premier par GinjFo.
C'est un nouveau record. Le marathon caritatif du jeu vidéo, Z Event, a permis de récolter, lundi 12 septembre, plus de 10 millions d'euros pour différentes associations avec 57 streamers en ligne. Cet évènement illustre parfaitement l’essor du marché mondial des jeux vidéo qui devrait atteindre 219 milliards de dollars d’ici 2024. Mais lorsqu’il y a autant d’argent en jeu, les acteurs malveillants cherchent à en tirer profit.
The post Le gaming, un environnement de choix pour les cybercriminels first appeared on UnderNews.Suite à son officialisation par Nvidia, Gigabyte annonce plusieurs versions personnalisées de la GeForce RTX 4090. Nous avons deux modèles dans la gamme AORUS avec les XTREME WATERFORCE et MASTER et deux versions GIGABYTE à savoir les GAMING OC et WINDFORCE.
La nouvelle vitrine de Nvidia débarque au catalogue de Gigabyte. Le constructeur dévoile quatre versions personnalisées dont deux visent en particulier les joueurs. Estampillées AORUS elles profitent d’un design « Premium » et de fonctionnalités évoluées. Le système de refroidissement est une solution WINDFORCE.
Gigabyte évoque de nouveaux ventilateurs qui, face à des solutions classiques, offre une pression statique plus importante (jusqu’à 30 %) tout en étant plus silencieux de 3 dB. La dissipation de la chaleur est assurée par des ailettes angulaires tandis qu’une chambre à vapeur en contact direct exploite de multiples caloducs pour évacuer la chaleur.
A tout ceci s’ajoute un rétroéclairage RGB amélioré à triple anneau. Nous le retrouvons sur les modèles AORUS et GAMING OC. Enfin le LCD Edge View sur le côté des cartes AORUS permet d’afficher du texte, des images ou des gifs.
L’écran est aussi capable de proposer un monitoring en temps réel de la carte. Il est ainsi possible de suivre des données comme comme la consommation d’énergie, la température, le nombre de tours par minute, etc.
Cartes graphiques Aorus GeForce RTX 4090 Master et Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC et WindForce
Gigabyte annonce ses
pour le mois d’octobre prochain. Nous n’avons aucun tarif pour le moment. La série des GeForce RTX 4080 sera disponible de son coté en novembre.
Cet article GeForce RTX 4090, Gigabyte annonce ses versions GAMING OC, WINDFORCE et AORUS XTREME WATERFORCE / MASTER a été publié en premier par GinjFo.
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Les indiscrétions autour des GeForce RTX 40 series se poursuivent. Après une liste des différents modèles Gigabyte de la GeForce RTX 4090 voici des clichés d’un carton d’emballage.
L’annonce de la prochaine génération de GeForce RTX 40 series se rapproche. Nvidia va débuter leur existence commerciale avec plusieurs références haut de gamme dont la GeForce RTX 4090. Cette vitrine va naturellement trouver son chemin vers les catalogues des partenaires dont celui de Gigabyte.
Ceci explique la publication de ces clichés. Le constructeur se prépare au lancement officiel de la belle avec en stock des versions revisitées. Nous avons un visuel sur la boite d’emballage de la GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC. Il confirme l’utilisation d’une nouvelle police de caractères. Du coté de la carte en elle-même, un imposant système de refroidissement est présent. Il utilise trois ventilateurs et se veut plus long que le PCB. L’illustration de la boîte confirme la présence de 24 Go de GDDR6X.
NVidia devrait dévoiler la gamme des GeForce RTX 40 series la semaine prochaine à l’occasion de la GTC.
Cet article La GeForce RTX 4090 Gaming OC de Gigabyte se montre…du moins son carton d’emballage a été publié en premier par GinjFo.
Corsair leader mondial sur le marché des équipements hautes performances destinés aux gamers et créateurs de contenu, annonce aujourd’hui le lancement du clavier gaming mécanique CORSAIR K100 AIR sans fil, le clavier haute performance le plus fin jamais conçu par CORSAIR, le 4 octobre prochain. De son châssis en aluminium brossé à ses options de connectivité flexibles, compatibles avec de nombreux appareils, le K100 AIR offre une expérience moderne et haut de gamme qui répondra aux besoins des gamers comme des utilisateurs en quête de productivité.
Avec son châssis d’une finesse incroyable (à peine 11 mm à l’endroit le plus fin) et son esthétique minimaliste et élégante à la fois, le K100 AIR s’intègre sans problème dans tout bureau ou station de travail. Les switchs de touche mécaniques CHERRY MX Ultra Low Profile offrent une qualité de frappe fiable et agréable que recherchent les utilisateurs, sans atteindre la hauteur d’un switch de touche de taille standard.
Le K100 AIR propose trois moyens d’être branché grâce à un un large éventail d’appareils différents : par la technologie SLIPSTREAM WIRELESS, par le mode Bluetooth à faible latence à trois appareils hôtes max., ou par USB filaire sur PC et Mac, pour atteindre un taux d’interrogation AXON de 8 000 Hz et ainsi des performances de gaming exceptionnelles. La batterie longue durée du clavier offre une autonomie de 50 heures en mode rétroéclairage RGB brillant ou jusqu’à 200 heures sans rétroéclairage, ce qui signifie que vous pouvez l’utiliser pendant plus d’une semaine sans le recharger.
Pour améliorer votre flux de travail, le K100 AIR vous permet de basculer rapidement entre les connexions sans fil sur votre PC, ordinateur portable, tablette et autres appareils d’une simple pression sur un bouton, pour réaliser de multiples tâches tout en bénéficiant de la sécurité du chiffrement 128 bit AES. Quatre touches de macro entièrement programmables vous permettent d’effectuer des macros et actions complexes ou de lancer des applications, tandis que les touches multimédias dédiées et la molette de contrôle du volume en aluminium programmables vous permettent de garder le contrôle. Lors de la connexion du K100 AIR avec d’autres appareils, le stockage intégré de 8 Mo permet de sauvegarder jusqu’à 50 profils, de façon à toujours disposer des macros et effets lumineux prédéfinis.
Le K100 AIR est personnalisable à l’infini, et permet de prendre en charge jusqu’à 20 calques d’éclairage RGB complexes à la fois, grâce à la technologie d’hyper-traitement CORSAIR AXON. Le puissant logiciel CORSAIR iCUE permet de profiter d’un contrôle RGB sans fil dynamique pour remapper des touches, programmer des macros et personnaliser votre configuration RGB CORSAIR à partir d’une seule interface intuitive.
Avec son esthétique, ses performances de haut niveau et sa connectivité avancée, le K100 AIR constitue un atout indéniable pour améliorer vos sessions gaming ou de travail.
Le clavier gaming mécanique sans fil CORSAIR K100 AIR sera lancé le 4 octobre 2022.
Cet article Corsair dévoile le K100 AIR, un clavier mécanique sans fil ultrafin a été publié en premier par GinjFo.
Of all the SSD brands that I have been reviewing in the last 12 months or so, very few have had the meteoric impact of TeamGroup (and their T-Force series of SSDs). That isn’t to say that the brand has not been around for a long time (originally established in the late 90s in fact) but they have been incredibly prolific in the PCIe Gen 4 generation of M.2 NVMe SSDs and their gamer-focused Cardea series has been especially popular in the PC gaming world. However, the Teamgroup T-Force Cardea A440 series being compatible with the PS5 SSD expansion has introduced this largely PC-known brand into the field of knowledge of many, many console gamers. The T-Force A440 brand splinters off into several different sub-series (Pro Special, etc) and today I want to review the T-Force Cardea A440 from TeamGroup, their 7000MB/s+ performing NVMe SSD that includes multiple heat dissipation options, Phison E18 architecture and has confirmed PS5 compatibility. In today’s review, I will be looking at the design of this SSD, the components, the effectiveness of the heatsink and benchmarks of PC and PS5 use. So, let’s not waste any more time, let’s find out if the T-Force Cardea A440 deserves your data?
The TeamGroup T-Force Cardea A440 started off in my eyes as ‘another Phison E18 SSD’, but very quickly became a genuinely stand out purchase indeed! Whatever way you look at it, the T-Force Cardea A440 drive is delivering exactly what it intends. In terms of performance, the 1TB SSD benchmarked 7000MB/s Seq Read and 6000MB/s sequential write straight out the gate and 860K IOPS without breaking a sweat. In terms of hardware, it arrives with exactly the top tier Controller+NAND+Mmeory combo that I would want to see in the PCIe4 storage tier. And in terms of Value, the SSD arrives at a competitive price point over many of its peers, whilst still proving two very useful heat dissipated options at no additional cost. Add PS5 dependant factors, such as the 6,500MB/s repeated console benchmark and a heatsink that happens to align very well with the PS5 designs cooling system and you can see how TeamGroup have gone from relative obscurity with console gamers to suddenly being a commonly mentioned name! PC users might be able to find a few better choices out there than the T-Force Cardea A440 in 2022 (with a T-Force Cardea PCIe 5 SSD reportedly making its way in H2 of the year and PCs having the better capability to harness 1 Million 4K IOPS SSDs above this one), but for the middle of the road PC gamers and PS5 gamers, the T-Force Cardea A440, there are very few better SSDs in the market right now you can choose over this one.
Includes two different heat dissipation options (Heatshield and surrounding custom heatsink)Impressive on-board cache recoveryGood Price Point vs WD & Seagate OptionsGenuinely Impressive Performance for the price tagPS5 Compatibility ConfirmedCardea Series is pretty varied4K Random IOPS exceeded the stats provided by the brand (a rare treat)The 1TB rated 6,550MB/s on the PS5The Heatsink aligns with the PS5 Vent panels internally, which will be beneficial for airflow
The retail package is a little underwhelmingGraphene Heatsink/Shield is single-use
The retail box of the T-Force Cardea A440 is pretty much what you might expect. Arriving in a petite package that still shouts quite loudly from all angles that THIS is a very high-performance SSD! The retail package itself does not include any paperwork relating to the setup, warranty or troubleshooting, instead providing that kind of information on the rear of the box.
Opening the retail box, we find the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD and both heat dissipation options held in a plastic moulded shell. It is a bit flimsy, but I’ll be damned if I could get the SSD out easily – it was held in there INCREDIBLY well! SSDs, unlike their more mechanical alternatives in HDDs, are far less susceptible to shock damage in transit, however, it is still quite a light amount of protection. Though, to be fair, 80-80% of all SSDs arrive in this fashion, so the T-Force Cardea A440 is hardly a stand up villain on this one!
The larger heatsink additional extra stands out particularly tall against the SSD itself and gives you some idea how coversome this panel is going to be when deployed. The flexible heatshield is packaged underneath the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD.
The 1TB model of the T-Force Cardea A440 is a single-sided (SR or Single Rank) SSD, so the rear of the SSD simply has the manufacturers label that denotes the model number, serial number, firmware revision, etc.
Laying the entire contents out, it is actually quite a good-sized bundle and the inclusive option of two different heat dissipation solutions with the T-Force Cardea A440 (whilst the drive still arrives at a very competitive price vs similar performing drives in the market) has to be respected and applauded. Though some less experienced or tentative buyers might have preferred one of the heatsinks to be applied at the factory level instead (personally, I would prefer the option to choose and do it myself – so I approve!).
The two heat dissipation options that the T-Force Cardea A440 arrive with are quite distinct and are suited to very different deployments. PC users will welcome the larger and angular designed heatsink, whereas PS5 users might want to consider the thinner/shorter stacked heat shield, as the larger heatsink will not fit inside the PS5 expansion bay with the aluminium plate cover in place.
A closer look at the heat shield dissipation panel shows that it is a thin, metallic strip that is designed to adhesively stick to the SSD top (where the controller is located, important) and draw heat away from the components as much as possible. However, this panel is single-use and aside from the adhesive being considerably less efficient if re-use is attempted, the shape and smoothness of the heatshield will be impaired and contact with the SSD components will be lessened with repeated use.
The traditionally larger and angular slit designed heatsink on the other hand will be much more familiar to PC users and is arguably more effective than the heatshield in sustained use. Branded with the T-Force logo and branding, this is definitely the stronger heat management option that the T-Force Cardea A440 arrives with.
Additionally, the T-Force Cardea A440 larger heatsink option can be deployed and re-deployment over and over, with the thermal panels it arrives with being reusable and easily replaceable. Also, the heatsink is a surrounding design, so it sits under and on top of the T-Force Cardea A440, with a thermal pad on either side to help conductivity into the metal of the heatsink. Certainly the preferred choice.
When installed, the heatsink completely covers the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD and interestingly, although the heatsink is too tall to fit into the PS5 M.2 slot with the cover it, the slits and angle of the heatsink align with the PS5 vents. I am unsure if this was an intentional design choice (as this heatsink has been around for quite a while) but it’s an unexpected bonus indeed.
Overall, although I will get onto the hardware architecture of the T-Force Cardea A440 shortly, I have to give props to Teamgroup for selling this package at a lower price than alternatives from Samsung, WD and Seagate (which arrive 15-20% more expensive for heatsink included options), whilst still providing a high performance SSD.
When installing the T-Force Cardea A440 into the PS5 M.2 Expansion storage bay, the difference in height between these two SSDs is immediately apparent! The thinner heatshield covers the SSD and leaves a significant area of space for active airflow (what there IS of it in the PS5 M.2 bay under that metal cover anyway).
Heatsink Version |
Heatshield Version |
Whereas the chunkier and taller heatsink installed with the T-Force Cardea A440 prevents the cover from being used and means that this heatsink will partially live in the airflow channel of the PS5’s vents and central cooling fan. Now, for the SSD – this is GREAT NEWS! A cooler SSD is (especially the controller) the considerably better it will operate. However, the PS5 cooling system is a quite delicately designed system that uses negative pressure (pulling air in one way and pushing out the other, forming a small vacuum) and if the heatsink got especially hot, that means that air entering the PS5 might well be a few degrees higher than normal. This is not the end o the world and not something we have been able to explore fully, but some users would prefer to have the cover on to ensure the PS5 does not get even 1 degree hotter than it needs to.
When I deployed the TeamGroup T-Force Cardea A440 SSD into the PS5, the console’s own internal benchmark (which is marked considerably different to popular PC benchmark tools such as AJA, BlackMagic, ATTO, CrystalDisk or PC Mark) gave us a very reassuring 6,557MB/s Read rating. Repeated testing of this SSD (i.e 3 more reformats for the benchmark ALL gave us between 6500-6550MVB/s – VERY impressive indeed, especially when you know that this is the 1TB drive and most 1TB SSDs we have tested on the PS5 have given us around 6000-6100MB/s at most.
After the benchmark is completed, the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD and it’s available storage immediately appeared in the PS5 storage manager for us. No delays, no formatting, just STRAIGHT into storage. Lovely stuff.
So, the PS5 benchmark of the T-Force Cardea A440 is good, but how does it compare with similarly built SSDs in the market?
To put the T-Force A440 Cardea SSD PS5 Performance Benchmark into a little perspective, here is how it compares against the Addlink A95, Adata XPG Gammix S70, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus and Gigabyte Aorus 7000s – four SSDs that are all PS5 supported and VERY similar architecture very little difference between the others in this tier, it is a solid benchmark. The T-Force Cardea A440 managed to hit the same highs as three other Phison E18 SSDs, all the while arriving $20-30 cheaper in most cases. Again, absolute music to my ears!
 |
 |
| Addlink A95 PS5 Benchmark – 6556MB/s | XPG GAMMIX S70 PS5 Benchmark – 6235MB/s |
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| Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus – 6557MB/s | Gigabyte Aorus 7000s PS5 Benchmark – 6557MB/s |
Full PS5 Testing of the T-Force A440 Cardea is all available as a playlist over on the NASCompares YouTube channel. But for now, let’s carry on with looking at the hardware of the A440, how it conventionally benchmarks and how it compares with currently favourite PS5 SSDs like the WD Black and Seagate Firecuda 530,
| So that is the physical design of the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD. But what about the hardware components themselves? Does the T-Force Cardea A440 cut the mustard in terms of current generation hardware and protocols? Let’s find out. |
As you might expect from an M.2 NVMe SSD that boldly promises performance of over 7,000MB/s sequential read (ie BIG data), the hardware specifications and architecture of the T-Force Cardea A440 are quite modern. Indeed, for all the big talk of the Seagate Firecuda 530 hardware (still currently the ‘score to beat’ PCIE Gen4 m.2 NVMe right now) being top tier, the T-Force Cardea A440 is pretty darn similar on the spec sheet! Below is how it looks:
| Brand/Series | T-FORCE CARDEA A440 |
| PCIe Generation | PCIe Gen 4 |
| NVMe Rev | NVMe 1.4 |
| NAND | MICRON 3D TLC 96L NAND |
| Max Capacity | 2TB |
| Controller | Phison E18-PS5018 |
| Warranty | 5yr |
I know a lot of the above will seem needlessly technical, so below we can bring the most important considerations into sharper focus.
The first big, BIG thing to remember here is the controller, that Phison E18. An SSD is much like a microcosm version of a whole computer. The Controller is equivalent to the CPU, and Phison are one of the bigger 3rd party SSD controller manufacturers in the world! I say 3rd party, because some long-running storage brands like Samsung and WD have most of their development and hardware engineering ‘in-house’ and use their own branded controllers. Whereas some brands source some/all components for their SSDs from 3rd parties – which is not necessarily a bad thing for both them and the industry (there are pros and cons on either side). Phison has been at the cutting edge of this subject for years now and the E18 was first revealed last year in 2020, but due to the pandemic making storage trends unpredictable and semi-conductor shortages, most SSDs that utilized the Phison E18 eventually arrived in 2021. This controller is one of the biggest reasons that the T-Force Cardea A440 can actually back up it’s promises about the 7,000MB/s+ Sequential Read (sequential data = big chunks of data). However, that is not the only reason.
The NAND on the T-Force Cardea A440 is where the data lives! SSDs (as you no doubt know) do not use moving parts as found in traditional hard drives and instead uses cells that are charged and data is read/written to them in this process. The quality of the NAND and the layers used will make a big difference to the durability and performance of an SSD and although the T-Force Cardea A440 does not provide the best SSD in the industry at this tier right now (that, once again, goes to the Seagate Firecuda 530 at 176 layer 3D TLC NAND), it is bigger than most, arriving at 96 Layers of 3D TLC NAND. Although the majority of modern PCIe M.2 SSD use 3D TLC NAND (avoid QLC NAND like the PLAGUE btw!), most are still at 64 layers or so, so this is a big jump up for the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD.
Much like the Controller on the T-Force Cardea A440 being the ‘CPU’, it also has an area of memory. The T-Force Cardea A440 SSD uses 1GB DDR4 memory on board and this in conjunction with the SSD provides a massive body of data handling resources for getting your data moving through the SSD and out of the m.2 NVMe PCIe 4 interface. The amount of memory scales in conjunction with the 1TB or 2TB SSD you use, with 2GB of DDR4 at the on the 2TB tier, 1GB DDR4 on the 1TB, etc.
As mentioned, all available capacities of the T-Force Cardea A440 arrive at 2280 in length. This is quite normal for the 1TB and 2TB versions, but the fact that the 2TB can arrive on single-sided SSD boards is very impressive. Physical storage NAND is distributed evenly in order to space out the storage and allow even cooling, NAND wear and performance.
Finally, there is the M.2 NVMe connection. Not all m.2 SSDs are created equal and although M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe look similar, they provide massively different performance and connectivity. However, the T-Force Cardea A440 takes it one step further, by using a newer generation of PCIe Connectivity. In short, M.2 NVMe SSDs are connected to the host PC/Console system via PCIe protocol (think of those slots that you almost always use for your graphics cards, but a much, MUCH smaller connector). These allow much larger bandwidth (ie maximum speed) for the connected storage media, Much like regular PCIe slots, they have different versions (i.E PCIe Gen 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) and also a multiplying factor (x1, x2, x4, etc). Up until around 18 months ago, the best M.2 NVMes were M.2 PCIe Gen 3×4 (so a maximum 4,000MB/s possible). However, never generation SSD like the T-Force Cardea A440 use PCIe Gen 4×4 (a potential 8,000MB/s possible) and it is only now that SSD controllers and NAND production has reached a point where it can catch up and fully saturate (i.e fill) this connection.
Overall, you really cannot fault the hardware inside/onboard the T-Force Cardea A440, as it is still (less than 6 months after release) higher performing in sequential Read and Write than many other M.2 NVMe PCIe 4 SSDs released in that time. Before we go into the full testing, however, it is worth taking a moment to look closely at the reported performance benchmarks of the T-Force Cardea A440, as although the performance seems stellar, there are areas such as IOPS and endurance when compared with its main rivals that are worth taking into consideration.
Before we conduct our own testing on this SSD, Let’s take a closer look at the reported specifications and benchmarks first. The T-Force Cardea A440 SSD arrives in multiple capacities (below). The Prices currently are a little inconsistent (with each higher capacity tier actually having a higher price per GB – quite unusual) likely due to the hardware shortages, the Pandemic, Chia has affected SSD availability in the last 18 months and most recently the announcement that PS5 supports this SSD and it has increased the current price of both models around 10% (which still keeps it less than the WD Blacck and Segate Firecuda in price at the time of writing). Below is a breakdown of how each T-Force Cardea A440 SSD compares:
| Brand/Series | T-FORCE CARDEA A440
|
Seagate Firecuda 530
500GB – $149.99, 1TB – $239.99, 2TB – $489.99, 4TB – $949.99 |
WD Black SN850
|
| PCIe Generation | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 | PCIe Gen 4 |
| NVMe Rev | NVMe 1.4 | NVMe 1.4 | NVMe 1.4 |
| NAND | MICRON 3D TLC 96L NAND | 3D TLC Micron B47R 176L | BiCS4 96L TLC |
| Max Capacity | 2TB | 4TB – Double Sided | 2TB |
| Controller | Phison E18-PS5018 | Phison E18-PS5018 | WD_BLACK G2 |
| Warranty | 5yr | 5yr | 5yr |
| 500GB Model | N/A | ZP500GM3A013 | WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Price in $ and $ | N/A | $139 / £119 | $119 / £99 |
| 1TB Model | TM8FPZ001T0C327 | ZP1000GM3A013 | WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Price in $ and $ | $179 / £139 | $239 / £199 | $249 / £169 |
| 2TB Model | TM8FPZ002T0C327 | ZP2000GM3A013 | WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Price in $ and $ | $349 / £289 | $419 / £379 | $399 / £339 |
| 4TB Model | N/A | ZP4000GM3A013 | N/A |
| Price in $ and $ | N/A | $949 / £789 | N/A |
| 500GB Model | N/A | ZP500GM3A013 | WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Total Terabytes Written (TBW) | N/A | 640TB | 300TB |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) | N/A | 1,800,000 | 1,750,000 |
| DWPD | N/A | 0.7DWPD | 0.3DWPD |
| 1TB Model | TM8FPZ001T0C327 | ZP1000GM3A013 | WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Total Terabytes Written (TBW) | 700TB | 1275TB | 600TB |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) | 1600000 | 1,800,000 | 1,750,000 |
| DWPD | 0.38DWPD | 0.7DWPD | 0.3DWPD |
| 2TB Model | TM8FPZ002T0C327 | ZP2000GM3A013 | WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Total Terabytes Written (TBW) | 1400TB | 2550TB | 1200TB |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) | 1600000 | 1,800,000 | 1,750,000 |
| DWPD | 0.38DWPD | 0.7DWPD | 0.3DWPD |
| 4TB Model | N/A | ZP4000GM3A013 | N/A |
| Total Terabytes Written (TBW) | N/A | 5100TB | N/A |
| Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) | N/A | 1,800,000 | N/A |
| DWPD | N/A | 0.7DWPD | N/A |
There are clear throughput improvements as you rise through the capacity tiers (not unusual), as does the rated 4K IOPS. Though one area worth focusing on a little is that TBW (terabytes Written) and DWPD (Drive writes per day), as this drive is rated a pinch higher than the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black SN850 in terms of NAND lifespan on daily writes, likely down to that Micron 96 Layer 3D TLC NAND used, rather than the 96L/128L used by those used by competitors. This is an important point because the brand has significantly less pedigree in-home/business SSD media than the likes of Samsung, WD and Seagate and people will want to know they are going to get a product that lasts!
However, despite the use of the Phison E18 controller and 96 layer NAND, the reported IOPS on each capacity is actually a noticeable degree lower than those reported by their competitors. Indeed, the T-Force Cardea A440 is one of the few E18 SSDs that does not cross into the reported 1 Million IOPS mark, maxing out at 700-800K. This is still very impressive anyway, but it does make me wonder where the disparity stems from. Indeed, when you look at the bulk of PCIe 4×4 M.2 NVMe 1.4 SSD, that feature the E18 controller and 96L (or higher) on board, it really only leaves about 4 other SSDs in the market today that this can be compared against. The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, the MSI Spatium M480, the ADATA Gammix S70 and (current leader) the Seagate Firecuda 530. Of those, the only one that seemingly ‘out specs’ the T-Force Cardea A440 is the Seagate Firecuda 530. However, the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD has been available in the market for almost 3-4 months longer and has certainly embedded itself in the market at that time a fraction more. Below is how these two drives compare:
| Brand/Series | T-FORCE CARDEA A440
|
Seagate Firecuda 530
500GB – $149.99, 1TB – $239.99, 2TB – $489.99, 4TB – $949.99 |
WD Black SN850
|
| 500GB Model | N/A | ZP500GM3A013 | WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | N/A | 7000MB | 7000MB |
| Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | N/A | 3000MB | 4100MB |
| 1TB Model | TM8FPZ001T0C327 | ZP1000GM3A013 | WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | 7000MB | 7300MB | 7000MB |
| Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | 5500MB | 6000MB | 5300MB |
| 2TB Model | TM8FPZ002T0C327 | ZP2000GM3A013 | WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | 7000MB | 7300MB | 7000MB |
| Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | 6900MB | 6900MB | 5100MB |
| 4TB Model | N/A | ZP4000GM3A013 | |
| Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | N/A | 7300MB | N/A |
| Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB | N/A | 6900MB | N/A |
| Brand/Series | T-FORCE CARDEA A440 | Seagate Firecuda 530 | WD Black SN850 |
| 500GB Model | N/A | ZP500GM3A013 | WDS500G1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Random Read (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | N/A | 400,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Random Write (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | N/A | 700,000 | 680,000 |
| 1TB Model | TM8FPZ001T0C327 | ZP1000GM3A013 | WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Random Read (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | 650000 | 800000 | 1,000,000 |
| Random Write (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | 700000 | 1000000 | 720,000 |
| 2TB Model | TM8FPZ002T0C327 | ZP2000GM3A013 | WDS200T1X0E-00AFY0 |
| Random Read (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | 650000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Random Write (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | 700000 | 1,000,000 | 710,000 |
| 4TB Model | N/A | ZP4000GM3A013 | |
| Random Read (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | N/A | 1,000,000 | N/A |
| Random Write (Max, IOPS), 4 KB QD32 | N/A | 1,000,000 | N/A |
Yes, that is a LONG table, but you can immediately see that the Seagate Firecuda 530 raises the stakes on all of the key specifications. Although there are a number of micro reasons for this, the 176L NAND is the biggest factor here. Yes, that is why the Firecuda 530 commands a higher price tag. Additionally, the WD Black arrives at a better price point, higher IOPS in most tiers and the fact it does this whilst still hitting that 7,000MB/s certainly gives pause for thought. However, for many, the additional cost for higher durability they may never need, peak performance their core system will not reach and IOPS rating that their larger file handling will never utilize will mean that holding out for the Firecuda or WD Black SN850 is not in their interest. Both SSDs (on paper at this stage!) are fantastic examples of where consumer and prosumer SSDs are evolving towards. Though we cannot remove the fact that the T-Force Cardea A440 arrives at an excellent price point, even WITH two inclusive heat dissipation options included. The Seagate and WD versions of their drives with inclusive heatsinks will increase their prices 10-15%, thereby even further increasing the disparity in price here. Let’s get the T-Force Cardea A440 on the test machine!
The T-Force Cardea A440 was selected for this test and it was tested using multiple benchmark tools, from a cold boot, in the 2nd storage slot (i.e not the OS drive). Each test was conducted three times (full details of this are shown in the YouTube Review of the T-Force Cardea A440 over on NASCompares):
Test Machine:
Using CrystalDisk, we got a good measure of the drive and verified that this PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD was indeed using the 4×4 lane. Additionally, the temp averaged out around 43C between each test being conducted, but at it’s peak, the T-Force Cardea A440 SSD and larger heatsink hit 53C.
The first tests were conducted using the ATTO disk benchmark software. The first was a 256MB test file size and below is a breakdown of the transfer rates and IOPS. The 2nd Test was a 1GB test file and finally, the last test was with a 4GB test file. The system was given 1-minute cool downtime between tests, no screen recording software was used (remove overhead) and a heatsink was used throughout (no reboots)
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ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #1
256MB File PEAK Read Throughput = 5.59GB/s
256MB File PEAK Write Throughput = 5.47GB/s
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ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #2
1GB File PEAK Read Throughput = 6.59GB/s
1GB File PEAK Write Throughput = 5.47GB/s
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ATTO Disk Benchmark Test #3
4GB File PEAK Read Throughput =6.58GB/s
4GB File PEAK Write Throughput = 5.47GB/s
Next, although the ATTO tests were quite good, but I wanted something clearer, so I moved on to the Crystal Disk Mark testing to see how well it would handle our latest barrage of tests. The first test was the 1GB file testing, which measured both sequential and random, as well as the read and write IOPS. Tests were conducted on a 1GB, 4GB and 16GB Test File. I also included a mixed 70/30 read and write tasks to give a little bit more of a realistic balanced workload. These tests were conducted with 1-minute cooling break in between
CRYSTALDISK MARK 1GB TEST
CRYSTALDISK MARK 4GB TEST
CRYSTALDISK MARK 16GB TEST
Next, I switched to AS SSD benchmark. A much more thorough test through, I used 1GB, 3GB and 5GB test files. Each test includes throughput benchmarks and IOPS that are respective to the larger file sizes (important, if you are reading this and trying to compare against the reported 4K IOPS from the manufacturer).
AS SSD Benchmark Test #1
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AS SSD Benchmark Test #2
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AS SSD Benchmark Test #3
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Ordinarily, I would introduce tests like BlackMagic and AJA into the mix here, but even a short burst of testing on an NVMe like this would over saturate the cache memory on board. Nevertheless, in the short term we still could ascertain the reported performance on 1GB, 4GB and 16GB file testing was:
1GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 6001MB/s Read & 5715MB/s Write
4GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 5994MB/s Read & 5703MB/s Write
16GB AJA File Test Results (Peak) = 6015MB/s Read & 5654MB/s Write
Overall, the T-Force Cardea A440 was certainly able to provide some solid performance, as well as potentially exceed the test figures here on a more powerful machine. Given the reported Read and Write statistics that the brand has stated publically, I think there is enough evidence here to back up those claims. IOPs were actually higher than those provided by the brand, which was a very pleasant surprise, but again, we were testing very large file types, so this would have to be taken in context.
The TeamGroup T-Force Cardea A440 started off in my eyes as ‘another Phison E18 SSD’, but very quickly became a genuinely stand out purchase indeed! Whatever way you look at it, the T-Force Cardea A440 drive is delivering exactly what it intends. In terms of performance, the 1TB SSD benchmarked 7000MB/s Seq Read and 6000MB/s sequential write straight out the gate and 860K IOPS without breaking a sweat. In terms of hardware, it arrives with exactly the top tier Controller+NAND+Mmeory combo that I would want to see in the PCIe4 storage tier. And in terms of Value, the SSD arrives at a competitive price point over many of its peers, whilst still proving two very useful heat dissipated options at no additional cost. Add PS5 dependant factors, such as the 6,500MB/s repeated console benchmark and a heatsink that happens to align very well with the PS5 designs cooling system and you can see how TeamGroup have gone from relative obscurity with console gamers to suddenly being a commonly mentioned name! PC users might be able to find a few better choices out there than the T-Force Cardea A440 in 2022 (with a T-Force Cardea PCIe 5 SSD reportedly making its way in H2 of the year and PCs having the better capability to harness 1 Million 4K IOPS SSDs above this one), but for the middle of the road PC gamers and PS5 gamers, the T-Force Cardea A440, there are very few better SSDs in the market right now you can choose over this one.
Includes two different heat dissipation options (Heatshield and surrounding custom heatsink)Impressive on-board cache recoveryGood Price Point vs WD & Seagate OptionsGenuinely Impressive Performance for the price tagPS5 Compatibility ConfirmedCardea Series is pretty varied4K Random IOPS exceeded the stats provided by the brand (a rare treat)The 1TB rated 6,550MB/s on the PS5The Heatsink aligns with the PS5 Vent panels internally, which will be beneficial for airflow
The retail package is a little underwhelmingGraphene Heatsink/Shield is single-use
| PROs of the T-Force Cardea A440 | CONs of the T-Force Cardea A440 |
| Includes two different heat dissipation options (Heatshield and surrounding custom heatsink)
Impressive on-board cache recovery Good Price Point vs WD & Seagate Options Genuinely Impressive Performance for the price tag PS5 Compatibility Confirmed Cardea Series is pretty varied 4K Random IOPS exceeded the stats provided by the brand (a rare treat) The 1TB rated 6,550MB/s on the PS5 The Heatsink aligns with the PS5 Vent panels internally, which will be beneficial for airflow |
The retail package is a little underwhelming
Graphene Heatsink/Shield is single-use |
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