ADATA XPG Gammix S10 512GB
Looks like a sports car, goes like a sedan
YOU CAN GIVE A CAR fancy European styling, but what’s the point if it’s plain old Detroit iron underneath, and a pushrod motor under the hood? That’s the kind of conundrum posed by ADATA’s newest SSD. Well, kinda. ADATA has dressed up its latest PC I Express SS Din enthusiastfriendly threads. It’s given it“gamer” branding, yet this is not a high-end drive. It’s an entry-level SSD in the M.2 category. We give you the new ADATA XPG Gammix S10, test-driven here in 512GB spec.
For the record, the Gammix has the same components and specs as ADATA’s own bare-bones drive, the SX7000. Only the snazzy heat spreader separates the two. Either way, you get 512GB of Micron 32-layer 3D TLC NAND memory arranged in 384Gb chips, marshaled by a Silicon Motion SM2260 controller, and hooked up to the system via four PCI Express 3.0 links. Sustained throughput is rated at 1,750MB/s for reads and 850MB/s for writes, while IOPS are 140K and 130K.
Of course, not all of us speak fluent SSD. So let’s put those numbers into context. Arguably, the gold standard in the M.2 segment is Samsung’s 960 Pro. On paper, the 512GB variant gives this ADATA drive a pretty comprehensive hammering. Sequential throughput clocks in at 3,500MB/s and 2,100MB/s, while Samsung claims up to 330K IOPS for reads and writes. In other words, the 960 Pro isn’t just a bit quicker by the claimed numbers, it’s whole multiples faster. What’s more, ADATA itself offers faster M.2 options.
On the other hand, ADATA matches Samsung’s five-year warranty. It’s also a bit cheaper than the 960 Pro. But this is where the Gammix’s problems begin. On current pricing, it’s only $10 cheaper. Worse, the very similar ADATA SX7000 512GB can be had for just $188. That’s over $90 cheaper. To put it another way, it’s $90 for the heat spreader. The SX7000 even has the same five-year cover as the Gammix. DATA DELIVERY That all reflects the vagaries of product cycles. As a new entrant, the Gammix’s price has yet to find its comfort zone. In the meantime, it’s hard to make an argument for this drive as an on-paper proposition. It’s equally hard when you factor in its actual performance. In terms of sequential throughput, it delivers on the theoretical spec in some tests. Meanwhile, 4K random access performance is tolerable for this class of drive, rather than spectacular.
As a frame of reference, even in mere 250GB spec, Samsung’s mainstream 960 Evo M.2 drive beats the Gammix in every synthetic metric, bar 4K random writes. Perhaps even more of an issue is the realworld feel of the drive. When it comes to sustained data writing, it’s one of those drives that seemingly cycle up and down in performance. It gives the impression of a controller chipset inefficiently using the RAM cache as a write buffer, enabling the drive to momentarily achieve high speeds before the RAM is filled and then transfers its data to the NAND cells. As for how much impact the heat spreader has, it’s hard to be sure. But if we had to put money on it, our bet would be pretty much none. Whatever way you look at it, the Gammix doesn’t have terribly consistent real-world performance when writing large data sets.
The flip side is subjective performance that’s still very zippy. It’s a lot quicker than a SATA SSD by most measures. For dayto-day computing, you’re never going to feel the difference between the Gammix and even the fastest alternative drives. So, all ADATA really needs to do is tweak the price to match the performance, rather than the Gammix’s misleading enthusiast aesthetics. Until then, there are better options at this price point from the likes of Samsung, or equally good alternatives for far less from ADATA itself.
ADATA XPG Gammix S10 512GB
FERRARI LAFERRARI Snazzy styling; quicker than a SATA drive; tolerable specs.