ADATA's XPG SX950 SATA SSDs: Up to 960GB, 3D MLC NAND, Six Year Warranty
by Anton Shilov on February 16, 2017 1:00 PM EST
ADATA has launched a new lineup of its XPG-series SSDs, with the new models featuring 3D MLC NAND flash and targeted at gaming PCs. The new XPG SX950 family drives use a SATA interface and on paper deliver the performance expected mainstream SSDs. The key selling point of the new XPG SX950 products will be their six-year warranty and enhanced endurance ratings.
The ADATA XPG SX950 resembles the company’s Ultimate SU900 drive announced late last year: both come in 2.5” form-factor, are based on the Silicon Motion SM2258 controller (four NAND flash channels, LDPC ECC technology, a DRAM buffer and pseudo-SLC caching support) as well as 3D MLC NAND - we presume from Micron. The XPG SX950 is a bit faster on paper as it supports sequential read speed of up to 560 MB/s as well as sequential write speed of up to 530 MB/s when pseudo-SLC caching is used. As for random performance, the XPG SX950 can perform up to 90K read IOPS and up to 90K write IOPS (see the table for details), which is a listed feature of the controller.
The key advantages of the ADATA XPG SX950 drives are their long warranty as well as endurance/reliability, which is why the manufacturer did not maximize capacities of the SSDs and left some extra memory for overprovisioning. The XPG SX950 family includes 240 GB, 480 GB, and 960 GB models.
| ADATA XPG SX950 Specifications | |||
| Capacity | 240 GB | 480 GB | 960 GB |
| Model Number | ASX950SS-240GM-C | ASX950SS-480GM-C | ASX950SS-960GM-C |
| Controller | Silicon Motion SM2258 | ||
| NAND Flash | 3D MLC NAND | ||
| Sequential Read | 560 MB/s | ||
| Sequential Write | 520 MB/s | 530 MB/s | |
| Random Read IOPS | Up to 80K IOPS | Up to 90K IOPS | Up to 90K IOPS |
| Random Write IOPS | Up to 90K IOPS | Up to 90K IOPS | Up to 85K IOPS |
| Pseudo-SLC Caching | Supported | ||
| DRAM Buffer | Yes, capacity unknown | ||
| TCG Opal Encryption | No | ||
| Power Management | DevSleep | ||
| Power Consumption | Active: 0.82 W Slumber: 0.41 W |
||
| Warranty | 6 years | ||
| MTBF | 2,000,000 hours | ||
| TBW | 200 TB | 400 TB | 800 TB |
| MSRP | $139.99 | $249.99 | $449.99 |
The ADATA XPG SX950 SSDs are the fastest SATA drives from ADATA that are rated for 2 million hours MTBF and featuring the longest warranty (six years). ADATA would seem to have maximized the performance of the XPG SX950 vs. predecessors and improved endurance of the products at the same time, in exchange for a small amount of space for provisioning.
The ADATA XPG SX950 SSDs are about to hit Amazon/Newegg soon and are expected to be available shortly. MSRPs for 240 GB, 480 GB and 960 GB drives will be $139.99, $249.99 and $449.99, respectively. The recommended prices of the XPG SX950 SSDs are slightly higher than the Ultimate SU900 series. Moreover, prices of the latter have dropped in retail since their announcement in 2016, so the actual difference will be even more significant initially. The slightly higher performance, improved endurance, and a six-year warranty will cost money, but it remains to be seen whether customers are willing to pay significant premiums for SATA drives today.
| ADATA XPG SX950, SU800 and SU900 MSRP Comparison | |||||
| 128 GB | 256 GB 240 GB |
512 GB 480 GB |
1 TB 960 GB |
2 TB | |
| SU800 | $59.99 | $79.99 | $139.99 | $269.99 | - |
| SU900 | - | $117.99 | $219.99 | $409.99 | unknown |
| SX950 | - | $139.99 | $249.99 | $449.99 | - |
Related Reading:
Source: ADATA
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Michael Bay - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
There was an arcticle here at AT that claimed median SSD capacities rising the ladder of sorts for the past few years. Some brands don`t even bother with 120Gb drives anymore.Maybe we`ll get those affordable 2Tb yet.
Billy Tallis - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
Some of the dearth of 2TB drives is due to the cheap controllers not easily supporting that capacity with 128Gb flash dies. But most of it at this point is due to the NAND shortage. Everyone has a 2TB drive ready, but not necessarily ready to sell at a price that makes sense. Hopefully as the 64+ layer 512Gb 3D NAND parts hit the market this year we'll see the shortage end and prices start dropping significantly, and maybe a bit before then.samer1970 - Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - link
SSD will never replace HDD forget it ... now we are very close to 8K movies and 8K Monitors within 2 years to come , 2TB will be a Joke with such huge files ...Jad77 - Thursday, February 16, 2017 - link
Why are prices going up? Thanks a lot Trump!svan1971 - Thursday, February 16, 2017 - link
Jad77 your an idiot. When inflation rises due to 8 years of quantitative easing and adding 9 trillion to the debt with nothing to show for it but affordable health care and ISIS you will still blame Trump.https://www.extremetech.com/computing/240531-ssd-p...
svan1971 - Thursday, February 16, 2017 - link
unaffordable...negusp - Thursday, February 16, 2017 - link
It was a fucking joke retard. Get your politics out of here, and your bad grammar as well.Michael Bay - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
Are you a hitleryfool or a free shit bot?prisonerX - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
Wow, you can't pass up a single opportunity to make yourself look like an idiot, can you?Michael Bay - Friday, February 17, 2017 - link
Poking the likes of you is a very low-effort activity, so why not have some fun.