Team Group Cardea II NVMe 1 TB SSD Review - Introduction

Team Group Cardea II  NVMe SSD(1TB)

On the 20^th of June, Team Group announced its T-FORCE CARDEA II NVme SSD boasting features like PCIe Gen3 x4 high-speed interface and a cooling module with “patented gaming fin design”. We had the opportunity to test the 1TB model. The T-FORCE CARDEA II is an SSD with a storage capacity of 256GB / 512GB / 1TB. The drive uses the NVMe 1.3 protocol and, according to the manufacturer, this series achieves read speeds of up to 3400 MB/s and write speeds of up to 3000 MB/s. The TBW values for this SSD are between 380 TB for the 256 GB version, and up to 1665 TB for the 1 TB version.

“T-FORCE M.2 PCIe SSD – CARDEA series release the CARDEA II solid-state drive with improved performance. The gaming fin type cooling module has a patented design (Taiwan Utility Model Patent No. M541645), and has passed rigorous tests and burn-in test. It can be cooled down about 10 degrees in a closed space, and 30 degrees in an open space. The radiating performance can be increased by 15% compared with a traditional cooling module. Module’s superconductivity – thermally conductive adhesive can effectively accelerate the heat transfer process, so the speed performance won’t be affected by high temperature anymore. CARDEA II uses PCIe Gen3 x4 high-speed interface and supports the latest NVMe 1.3 protocol. It has a truly outstanding sequential read/write speed of up to 3400/3000 MB/s, and random read/write speed of up to 180K/160K IOPS.”

The new model is offered with capacities ranging from 256 GB to 1 TB. Each of these options has different specifications:

• 256 GB: up to 3,000 MB / s in reading and up to 1,000 MB / s in sequential writing. Up to 180K random read IOPS and 150K IOPS in random write. The maximum life of your NAND Flash memory cells is 380 TBW.
• 512 GB: up to 3,400 MB / s in reading and up to 2,000 MB / s in sequential writing. Up to 180K random read IOPS and 150K IOPS in random write. The duration of your NAND Flash memory cells is 800 TBW.
• 1 TB: up to 3,400 MB / s in reading and up to 3,000 MB / s in sequential writing. Up to 180K IOPS in reading and 160K IOPS in random writing. Its duration is estimated at around 1,665 TBW.

The thermals should be great judging by the table prepared by Team Group. The drops in temperatures are significant compared even with M.2 PCIe SSDs with “a normal heat sink” (I wonder which one they meant). These SSDs have been fitted with TLC NAND (64-layer), and they follow the NVMe form factor. Team Group offers a decent 3-year warranty on this product. OK, let’s have a closer look at the T-FORCE CARDEA II model, shall we?