It offers like a flash right-world performance and maintains it with all but the longest writes.
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XPG Gammix S50 Lite PCIe 4 NVMe SSD (2TB)
The XPG Gammix S50 Lite didn’t benchmark the fastest of the 4th-gen PCIe M.2 NVMe SSDs we’ve reviewed, but it proved nearly as hasty because the greater of them with right-world transfers. It’s additionally severely much less expensive than old PCIe 4 drives, which expectantly portends the halt of early-adopter (be taught: excessive) pricing on this segment of the SSD market.
This evaluate is piece of our ongoing roundup of the correct SSDs. Tear there for data on competing products and the blueprint in which we examined them.
Fetch and specs
The XPG Gammix S50 Lite is an x4 PCIe gen 4 the utilization of 96-layer TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit) NAND and a Silicon Circulation SM2267 controller. The pressure sports actions a darkish-silver warmth spreader, with the XPG emblem featured prominently on the head aspect.
The S50 Lite is within the market in two flavors: 1TB for $140 on Amazon and 2TB (the means we examined) for $260 on Amazon. Both drives are additionally within the market on parent company Adata’s web web inform for the identical costs for the time being: $140 for 1TB and $260 for 2TB. Those are very low costs for a PCIe 4 SSD.
XPGThe XPG Gammix S50 Lite ships in 1TB and 2TB flavors.
XPG warranties the S50 Lite pressure for five years, and it’s rated for 740TBW per 1TB of means, i.e. TeraBytes Written over the lifestyles of the pressure. That’s a a diminutive bit low rating within the mountainous blueprint, but consistent with that of similarly priced PCIe 3 drives. In level of truth, you’re no longer going to jot down (reads don’t count) that mighty data to the pressure in a decade.
Efficiency
K, the S50 Lite is no longer any Samsung 980 Skilled. But neither is the relaxation. We examined it the utilization of both the PCIe 4 (yellow bar) and PCIe 3 (inexperienced bar) interfaces. It obtained smoked within the artificial benchmarks, but when it got right here to right-world performance the S50 Lite became surprisingly aggressive. Brooding referring to the label differential, cost-wide awake users will doubtless opt to present up a few seconds right here or there.
IDGThis isn’t truly a beautiful comparison as Samsung’s 980 Skilled outpaces every other PCIe 4 SSD we’ve examined in addition.
As that you just would possibly search above, the S50 Lite doesn’t raise nearly the CrystalDiskMark 6 numbers than the Samsung 980 Skilled does. Neither attain other PCIe 4 SSDs. Nonetheless, when it got right here to our 48GB transfers, the S50 Lite hung in there—and then some.
IDGNo matter the immense difference in label and artificial performance, the S50 Lite became finest moderately slower than the mighty Samsung 980 Skilled in our 48GB switch tests.
The S50 Lite maintained well over 1.5GBps throughout the majority of our 450GB write test, then with round 100GB to switch, it fell to round 500MBps. This would possibly doubtless tumble in tempo sooner with the 1TB pressure, thanks to much less NAND being within the market for caching. I failed to derive a 1TB mannequin to test.
IDGThe XPG S50 Lite performs well throughout long writes—to a degree. At mentioned level, it drops to round 500MBps. Most users would possibly maybe maybe no longer ever journey this. Reward the amount of data being copied (450GB) and when the tumble-off occurs.
It additionally proved a diminutive bit inconsistent on the assign it dropped in tempo. Once it became on the starting and then on the halt. With most cheap SSDs, the controller is making an attempt to allocate NAND as SLC secondary cache as basic. It doesn’t continually crystal-ball it accurately.
The S50 Lite by no blueprint equaled its initial 450GB write performance (PCIe 3 became examined first) of merely over 8 minutes, falling someplace between 9 and 10 throughout all subsequent iterations. That mentioned, I’m no longer determined why it became so mighty slower on our PCIe 4 test bed described below.
IDGThis would possibly maybe maybe no longer be an fully correct evaluate of the XPG S50 Lite’s long switch performance over PCIe 4. It by no blueprint every other time equaled the 8 minutes it first posted over PCIe 3. 9 to 10 minutes became the norm.
Few users ever write 450GB straight away, and most users by no blueprint will. In case you attain, and are the utilization of PCIe 4, then rob the 980 Skilled.
The S50 Lite formatted moderately slower than many SSDs, taking nearly 30 seconds (5 seconds is the norm). It became additionally in particular leisurely throughout the Windows Optimize/TRIM operation. Many drives aren’t truly doing their housekeeping throughout the Windows optimize countdown, but merely noting that it would possibly maybe maybe easy be done, then deferring it except later. It appears to be just like the S50 Lite can derive truly been performing the required housekeeping in right time. When requested, XPG neither confirmed nor denied our hypothesis.
The PCIe 3 tests utilized Windows 10 64-bit working on a Core i7-5820K/Asus X99 Deluxe machine with four 16GB Kingston 2666MHz DDR4 modules, a Zotac (NVidia) GT 710 1GB x2 PCIe graphics card, and an Asmedia ASM2142 USB 3.1 card. It additionally incorporates a Gigabyte GC-Alpine Thunderbolt 3 card, and Softperfect Ramdisk 3.4.6 for the 48GB be taught and write tests.
The PCIe 4 testing became done on an MSI MEG X570 motherboard socketing an AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-core CPU, the utilization of the identical Kingston DRAM, playing cards, and utility. All testing is performed on an empty, or nearly empty pressure. Efficiency will decrease because the pressure fills up.
PCIe 4 performance on the cheap
The XPG Gammix S50 Lite is the major PCIe 4 SSD we’ve examined that doesn’t raise a hefty subsequent-gen surcharge. In the right world, you’d be no longer easy-pressed to point out the difference between a machine working it, and one working the a ways more expensive Samsung 980 Skilled. Very long transfers aside, or no longer it is a very pretty deal.
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XPG Gammix S50 Lite PCIe 4 NVMe SSD (2TB)
If the Samsung 980 Skilled is simply too rich for your blood, the XPG Gammix S50 Lite is an wonderful right-world PCIe 4 performer that charges lower than half of the label of such leading drives. For the reasonable user, or no longer it is a ways the greater deal.
Specialists
- Very pretty total performance
- Fantastic right-world performance
- Very cheap for a PCIe 4 NVMe SSD
Cons
- Will leisurely correct down to 450MBps throughout very long copies
Jon is a Juilliard-trained musician, ragged x86/6800 programmer, and long-time (gradual 70s) computer fanatic living within the San Francisco bay house. [email protected]
