Teamgroup Cardea A440 2TB NVMe SSD review - Specifications & Features

Specifications & Features

Team is offering two versions of the SSD; 1TB, 2TB. For endurance, our tested 2TB model has been rated at 1400 TBW. The series will be fitted with TLC written 3D NAND flash memory (vertically stacked over 96 layers). This allows the company to offer Sabrent proper storage volumes. So instead of using Planar NAND, 3D NAND is used. 3D TLC NAND is physical vertical NAND cell stacking not to be confused with chip stacking in a multi-chip package. In 3D NAND, NAND layers, not chips, are stacked in a single IC. The good news is continued cost reduction, smaller die sizes and more capacity per NAND chip. Also, installed NAND toolsets in the wafer fabs can, for the most part, be reused, thereby extending the useful life of fab equipment. Unleashed by the PCIe 4.0 ready AMD B550/X570 chipset and soon Intel Rocket Lake-S / Z590 , the SSD reaches up to an advertised 7000 MB/sec sequential read – fourteen times the performance of many SATA SSDs and seventy times faster than some hard disk drives. The performance stems from the hugely increased bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 (PCI-Express Generation 4), a feature that will be made available to customers for the first time as part of the AMD X570 chipset and 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen Desktop Processors. Easily fitting into a PCIe 4.0 x4 M.2 slot, the NVMe interface has been bumped upwards to the new 1.4 protocol and high-density TLC NAND combine with a Phison PS5018-E18 controller to enable a new level of single-drive SSD performance. Boasting staggering numbers.

Phison PS5018-E18 controller

Taiwan's Phison is known for its flash NAND controllers and became very influential the past few years. The PS5018-E18 controller is based on a Cortex-R5 ×3, processor design and is manufactured at TSMC 12nm. By bringing this controller towards NVMe revision 1.4 the transfer rate per channel has increased from 800MT/s towards 1200 Increased to MT/s. And when you math that, that means a maximum transfer speed of roughly 7GB/s for both sequential reads and writes. Here's a nice value as well, random read/write performance would be listed at 1 million IOPS, and all that with an expected peak energy consumption of 3W.

Model #	A440 - 1TB	A440 2TB
Capacity	1TB	2TB
Interface	PCIe Gen4 x 4	PCIe Gen4 x 4
NAND	TLC 96L	TLC 96L
Controller	PS5086-E18	PS5018-E18
Max Sequential Read	7000 (MB/s)	7000 (MB/s)
Max Sequential Write	5500 (MB/s)	6900 (MB/s)
Random 4K QD32 (IOPS) Read	650K	650K
Random 4K QD32 (IOPS) Write	700K	700K
Power Supply	3.3V	3.3V
Form Factor	M.2 2280	M.2 2280
Endurance	700 TBW	1400 TBW
Warranty	5 years with registration	5 years with registration

TeamGroup press release

Meet the CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD. It features extreme read and write speeds up to 7000 MB/s and 6900 MB/s, respectively, and comes with two patented heat sinks that gamers can install and match to their needs. The SSD’s blazing speeds will help players unleash their skills and venture into gaming worlds faster than ever.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 PCIe 4.0 SSD supports the PCIe Gen 4x4 specification and the latest NVMe 1.4 standard and is backward compatible with PCIe 3.0 interface ports. Not only does it support high read/write speeds of up to 7000/6900 MB/s, but it is also available with large capacities of 1 or 2 TBs. The classic matte black CARDEA A440 features two of the industry's first interchangeable, patent-certified thermal modules. The layered and unique beveled surface of the "aluminum fins" is specially designed to increase the heat dissipation area and can reduce SSD temperature by up to 15%[1]. The "ultra-thin graphene heat sinks" consist of the best materials for thermal conductivity and can dissipate heat by up to 9%[2]. TEAMGROUP’s CARDEA A440 provides the best heat dissipation solution. Gamers no longer need to worry about encountering thermal throttling when running games at full speed, causing slowdowns. They can freely enjoy the ultimate gaming experience.

The T-FORCE CARDEA A440 SSD uses the latest RRL (Read Recovery Level) technology, which can improve the SSD’s lifespan. Its optimized NVM Sets segmentation mechanism and PLM (Predictable Latency Mode) reduces latency and read and write wear. The CARDEA A440 SSD not only features remarkable specifications but also heat dissipation technology and excellent durability, providing the most stable experience for users and helping them realize their full gaming potential.