Adata XPG Gammix S11 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD Review: Fast, Flashy and Affordable
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Adata’s latest Pro drive is also a good fit for gamers.
Editor’s Choice
(Image: © Tom’s Hardware)
Tom’s Hardware Verdict
With the same blueprint as the SX8200 Pro, Adata’s XPG Gammix S11 Pro is a fast SSD that looks just as good as it performs, while also delivering a decent value.
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Pros
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Solid performance
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Power-efficient
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Sleek aesthetics
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Software package
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5-year warranty
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Adata’s XPG-branded Gammix S11 Pro NVMe M. 2 SSD offers a great mix of aesthetics and performance. At a price of $149.99, the 1TB model we’re looking at today comes at a competitive price, considering its ability to deliver speeds of up to 3.5/3.0GB/s read/write. It also ships with a rather flashy red heatsink that keeps this high-performance storage device cool, even when the pressure is on.
Early in 2019, we reviewed Adata’s XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD, and it has been one of our favorite SSDs to recommend for those on a budget due to its price to performance ratio. The Gammix S11 Pro copies the SX8200 Pro’s recipe for success, just like the vanilla Gammix S11 copied the SX8200’s component design before.
The S11 Pro utilizes Silicon Motion’s current top-end consumer controller, the SM2262EN, and is paired with Micron’s 64L TLC flash, a favorable combination for those looking for speedy performance. The most apparent difference between the two is that the Gammix S11 Pro features a red-and-black heatsink while the SX8200 Pro features a thinner black heat spreader that is optional.
Additionally, the firmware is different based on our sampling, and the Gammix S11 Pro comes in fewer capacities, just 256GB to 1TB, while the SX8200 Pro lineup recently expanded up to 2TB.
So, the choice is yours when it comes to aesthetics, but if you want something at 2TB, you’re going to have to go to the SX8200 Pro or something else. Interestingly, the S11 Pro is priced well and costs less than the SX8200 Pro at the 1TB price point at the time of writing, but the lower capacities are priced slightly higher than the SX8200 Pro.
Specifications
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| Product | XPG Gammix S11 Pro 256GB | XPG Gammix S11 Pro 512GB | XPG Gammix S11 Pro 1TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | 47.99 | 74.99 | 139.99 |
| Capacity (User / Raw) | 256GB / 256GB | 512GB / 512GB | 1024GB / 1024GB |
| Form Factor | M. 2 2280 |
M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface / Protocol | PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 | PCIe 3.0 x4 / NVMe 1.3 |
| Controller | SMI SM2262EN | SMI SM2262EN | SMI SM2262EN |
| DRAM | DDR3L | DDR3L | DDR3L |
| Memory | Micron 64-Layer TLC | Micron 64-Layer TLC | Micron 64-Layer TLC |
| Sequential Read | 3,500 MBps | 3,500 MBps | 3,500 MBps |
| Sequential Write | 1,200 MBps | 2,300 MBps | 3,000 MBps |
| Random Read | 220,000 IOPS | 390,000 IOPS | 390,000 IOPS |
| Random Write | 290,000 IOPS | 380,000 IOPS | 380,000 IOPS |
| Encryption | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Endurance | 160 TBW | 320 TBW | 640 TBW |
| Part Number | AGammixS11P-256GT-C | AGammixS11P-512GT-C | AGammixS11P-1TT-C |
| Warranty | 5-Years | 5-Years | 5-Years |
Advertised sequential performance numbers come in at up to 3.
5/3.0GB/s read/write, while 4K random performance can hit upwards of up to 390,000 / 380,000 IOPS read/write. The endurance ratings don’t improve with the move from the S11’s SM2262 to the S11 Pro’s new SM226EN controller. The 1TB model we are testing today is rated to write up to 640TB before it goes out of warranty, but even with a lengthy 5-year warranty, you’re likely to run out of time before you hit a write cycle wall.
Feature-wise, the Gammix S11 Pro supports the standard stuff like S.M.A.R.T. data reporting, Trim, and support for Format NVM/secure erase commands. It also has LDPC ECC, end-to-end data path protection, and a RAID engine built in to maintain data integrity. Of course, there is a pseudo-SLC write cache as well, where the TLC is programmed to dynamically operate in an SLC mode, which helps improve write performance as well as reads from data still in the cache.
A Closer Look
Adata’s XPG Gammix S11 Pro is an M.2 2280 form-factor SSD that connects to the host via a PCIe 3.
0 x4 link and communicates via the NVMe 1.3 protocol. Our 1TB review sample has a double-sided PCB design, meaning that there are components on each side of it.
Unlike others, Adata was clever to place the spec sticker on the backside of the device as to not hinder its looks. With that flashy red and black heatsink on top of a black PCB, Adata hit a home run with the aesthetics. This drive is significantly better looking than most M.2’s out there.
Image 1 of 6
(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)
Silicon Motion’s SMI SM2262EN is an 8-channel NVMe controller that utilizes a DRAM cache to accelerate access to the Flash Translation Layer (FTL). This, in turn, helps improve flash management processes and reduce latency compared to some of the newer DRAMless devices in the market. The DRAM cache is split between two 512MB NANYA DDR3L DRAM packages on our Gammix S11 Pro, just like the SX8200 Pro.
Additionally, connected to this NVMe controller are also four NAND packages, two on each side of the PCB. The new S11 Pro features less over-provisioning than the S11 before it, so instead of access to just 960GB, you get the full 1024GB, or what Windows reports as 953.85GB available to you in disk management.
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Adata XPG Gammix S11 Pro: Price Comparison
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Sean is a Contributing Editor at Tom’s Hardware US, covering storage hardware.
XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB vs GAMMIX S11 Pro 512GB
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Solid State Drives - XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB ? XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 512GB
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| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| NAND flash | 3D TLC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 22 x 80 x 6.1mm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 11 g | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interface | PCIe Gen3x4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Productivity (max.) |
Read — 3500 MB / s, write — 2300 MB / s (CDM QD32) Maximum random read / write 4K operations per second: up to 390K/380K |
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| Working temperature | 0°C — 70°C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storage temperature | -40°C — 85°C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| impact strength |
1500G/0. 5ms
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| SVBR | 2,000,000 hours | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TBW | 320TB | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Guarantee |
5 years * The SSD has a TBW or warranty period. |
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Equipment and appearance
GAMMIX S11 Pro comes in a small box with a transparent window through which you can see the entire package — only the drive itself, the heatsink is already installed. The box briefly lists all the characteristics, and the front side contains information about the improved LDPC error correction algorithm, the use of SLC caching, the use of 3D NAND memory, and support for the NVMe interface version 1.3.
The radiator is made in the corporate colors of the ADATA XPG gaming direction (red and black). We have to admit that outwardly the bends and the play of light in them look very impressive, we will separately check whether the efficiency of the radiator has suffered from this.
The reverse side of the drive is devoid of additional cooling, there is also a warranty sticker with information about the model and serial number. It’s no secret that the XPG line has a complete analogue of the S11 Pro — the XPG SX8200 Pro drive (the marks R-R-A9 serve as a reminder of this9-ASX8200PNP, which are exactly the same for these models).
Let’s look under the radiator and the sticker.
A slight disappointment — the radiator is a stamped part, which significantly impairs heat transfer from hot elements due to the unevenness of the adjacent side. The thermal interface is present only in the recesses, the whole design is clearly aimed at an attractive appearance, the metal plate would act as a radiator with much greater efficiency. But let’s not draw premature conclusions, especially since M2 drives are most often installed under the heatsinks provided by the motherboard manufacturer.
Under the heatsink is the hottest part of the device, the dual-core, eight-channel Silicon Motion SM2262EN controller. Nearby is a DDR3 memory chip manufactured by Samsung and two 64-layer TLC 3D NAND flash memory chips relabeled by ADATA.
Under the sticker are two more flash memory chips and a second Samsung DDR3 memory chip. On the printed circuit board, there is the SX8200NPA1 marking, once again reminiscent of related drive options.
SSD ToolBox
The device does not come with software or driver media, but the manufacturer offers the Acronis True image HD utility for downloading to simplify migration from an old drive and its own SSD ToolBox; Let’s take a closer look at the last one.
The main indicators are clearly displayed in the «Disk Information» section, additional information about the drive and SMART information can be obtained using the corresponding buttons.
In the «Diagnostics» section, two options are available for conducting deep disk diagnostics and setting warnings for high temperature and high wear of the drive.
«Utilities» allows you to update the SSD firmware and check for updates for the SSD ToolBox. The Security Erase feature is present, but existing limitations make it inapplicable to the S11 Pro.
The System Optimization section offers the option to force the TRIM command and tweak the OS for optimal performance with the SSD.
«System Information» is exactly what the name says and gives you a brief summary of your PC.
Despite the controversial decisions in the visual design, the program offers everything you need to maintain and diagnose the drive.
Tests
The composition of the test stand:
- CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K
- Motherboard: Asus Maximus IX Apex
- Video card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
- RAM: G.Skill Trident Z 2×8 GB (F4-3600C15D-16GTZ)
- Cooling: liquid cooling
- SSD: TRANSCEND TS120GSSD220S 120 GB (Windows 10 Pro with all updates, test programs)
- PSU: Corsair RM850i 850W
- Case: Thermaltake Core P5
Testing was carried out on empty drives.
After creating a partition and formatting in NTFS, 476 GB is available to the user.
CrystalDiskInfo 8.3.0
There are 15 SMART options available, CrystalDiskInfo reads them correctly.
CrystalDiskMark 6.0.2
A popular test package aimed at fixing the maximum speed indicators of disks.
The values declared by the manufacturer were fully confirmed, the sequential recording turned out to be even slightly higher than the promised maximum.
To demonstrate the advantages of NVMe drives, here are the results of high-performance drives with SATA interface: Samsung 860 EVO 500 GB and Crucial MX500 1 TB.
The tests were carried out several times, the results were averaged. An impressive advantage of NVMe in all disciplines, and the comparison is with classmates at a retail price.
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.4
Manufacturers like to use the results of new versions of this benchmark for promotional purposes, but in older versions the results were a little closer to those obtained in real use, multithreading with a large queue or a very deep queue in linear operations is unlikely to be encountered by the user. In addition, testing in the old version of the benchmark may be interesting for comparison with the results in previous reviews.
AS SSD Benchmark 2.0.6821
The number of random write/read operations in multi-threaded access on small blocks is slightly lower than the maximum declared, but at a very high level — 350k iops/373k iops.
Copy-Benchmark
Emulates copying files of a certain type using operating system caching: ISO (several large files), Program (small files), Game (combination of small and large files). To evaluate the result, we again compare with the Samsung 860 EVO 500 GB and the Crucial MX500 1 TB.
The impressive superiority of the GAMMIX S11 Pro.
ATTO Disk Benchmark 4.01.0f1
A convenient representation of performance on blocks of different sizes allows us to note that S11 Pro 512 GB begins to show write and read values close to the maximum on blocks of 32 KB and 128 KB, respectively
Aida64 6.
00.5100 Disk Benchmark
All previous test packages with default settings operate data within the SLC caching algorithm. In general, this is more than consistent with what the buyer will face personally, but it is interesting to evaluate the performance of the drive in terms of using the entire volume. The Aida64 Disk Benchmark test suite will help with this.
Linear Read
The results of sequential reading are not so interesting, on the entire volume XPG S11 Pro maintains a stable very high speed.
Linear Write
With recording, the situation is much more interesting, the work of the SLC caching algorithm is clearly visible. The first 17% of the volume is recorded at a near-maximum speed of 2000 MB / s, after which the indicators drop and the write speed ranges from 500 to 1000 MB / s. After 64% of the written volume of the disk, there is another decrease in speed to 300 MB / s and a smooth increase in performance until reaching 85% of the total capacity of the drive. The last 15% of the disk volume is recorded on the indicators of the conditionally «second stage» of the SLC caching operation.
Recording the entire disk volume causes a strong heating of the GAMMIX S11 Pro elements, the SSD was installed in a special dimm.2 module and was blown by air currents, the disk temperature throughout the test was more than comfortable — about 40 °. How will the drive behave in an open stand without any airflow?
After 17% of recording, the temperature of the drive reached 50°, the speed indicators are absolutely identical to the fan version. At 25% the figure was already 60°, at 30% — 65°, there is still no change in performance. At 36% of the recorded volume, the temperature reaches 70° and the work of algorithms that do not allow overheating becomes noticeable, there is a drop in speed, but it is not significant. Until the end of the test, the temperature remained around the 70 ° mark, retreated slightly when the speed slowed down, and returned to the peak after the performance indicators were restored.
We would like to note that the drive with its own heatsink heated up to 70 ° after continuous recording of more than 180 GB of data on it and in the absence of air movement around — definitely not the most common scenario for using a drive with a full capacity of 512 GB. Testing was carried out before removing the radiator for photography, in the factory version.
Random Write
S11 Pro shows fairly stable performance throughout the volume. And again, the result with the drive blowing, let’s look at the option without blowing.
After 83%, the effect of heating up to 70° appears, i.e. even without airflow, during normal use you will not experience overheating of the drive, but if this happens in an incredible way, the performance degradation will not be significant.
Archiving
As a test with real files, we will archive files of different sizes and differently suitable for compression algorithms using WinRar 5. 61, the source folder was on the tested drive.
A real applied task showed not such a big gap of a faster drive.
Only seven seconds of advantage, but this is only one of the tasks, in others, more dependent on the speed of the disk, the difference will be significantly higher.
Conclusion
The ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 512GB truly delivers outstanding performance. Moderate heating allows you not to think about the loss of performance due to lack of cooling, even not the most efficient complete radiator copes with its duties. No matter how strange it may sound, but claims can be made only to the design of the radiator, outwardly it is perfectly executed.
The GAMMIX S11 Pro is a highly recommended high performance drive for any purpose. A long warranty period and a high declared resource inspire confidence in the durability of the solution. Complementing the positive mood of this section and the affordable retail price of the drive, this drive will definitely be a good buy.
Benefits:
- High performance
- TLC 3D NAND Flash
- 5 year warranty
- Attractive looking radiator
- Affordable price
Weaknesses:
- Not the most efficient complete radiator
XPG Gammix S11 Pro 512 GB Review. NVMe for the people? — Page 3 of 6
XPG Gammix S11 Pro 512 GB is made in M.2 2280 format, uses 4 lines of PCI-Express 3.0 interface and works on NVMe version 1.3 protocol. This is the so-called double-sided drive — memory chips are soldered on both sides of the textolite. The double-sided layout will not cause compatibility problems, except that if you want to install a third-party radiator, you will have to be more careful.
The front of the drive is covered with a thin heatsink in aka gaming black and red colors. It removes heat from the controller, buffer DRAM chip, and two cans of 3D NAND memory.
On the back side there is a sticker with a description of the model and serial number, under which there is another buffer memory chip and a pair of 3D NAND chips. It’s just a sticker and nothing more. Often, an M.2 SSD has a sticker with a copper layer that acts as a kind of heatsink, but this is not the case. However, the main thing is to cool the controller. RAM and permanent memory are practically not heated.
The radiator is rather flimsy. This is a plate with a thickness of 0.75 mm and a small scattering area without additional fins. There is little «meat», there is no total heat capacity.
Furthermore, the thermal pads do not cover the entire area of the drive. What is most unpleasant is in the controller area, and it heats up the most, the contact area is the smallest — it barely touches the edges.
XPG claims that this heatsink reduces temperature by 10 degrees. I can definitely say that it practically does not reduce the temperature of the controller, and the «native» heatsink for the M.2 motherboard will be better in most cases. Better at least because of the thermal padding in the entire area and much greater heat capacity.
By the way, the SX8200 Pro is a little cheaper in the XPG assortment (. It is assembled from exactly the same components, the operating speeds are similar, but the SX8200 Pro does not have a heatsink. I recommend that owners of modern motherboards with decent pre-installed M.2 coolers take a closer look.
Let’s take a closer look at the components of the XPG Gammix S11 Pro 512 GB capacity.It is based on the Silicon Motion SM2262 controller.It has been used in so many mid-range NVMe SSDs for several years.The Gammix S11 Pro model, by the way, was one of the first on its base. In this case, this is not a simple SM2262, but SM2262EN. They are both 8-channel, 2-core, but the EN modification (short for Enterprise) is for corporate solutions. A number of software improvements are aimed at increasing the resource, which is supported by 5- year warranty vs. 3.
Memory banks are 64-layer TLC 3D NAND flash memory chips. They are labeled ADATA, but ADATA does not manufacture memory itself.