TeamGroup is the pioneer manufacturer in the use of Graphene to dissipate the heat generated by its SSDs, and has now announced the market launch of the new model Cardea A440 Pro, a model that we already saw a few days ago presuming to be designed specifically for the PS5, but that now they are going to start selling in two different variants: one with Graphene heatsink, low profile, and another with a much bulkier heatsink made of aluminum but that promises better operating temperatures.
Obviously, this Cardea A440 Pro SSD is a more advanced version of the previous model, the Cardea A440 that we already analyzed in the past and that gave us very good thermal and performance results; However, in this new version they have changed the SSD controller to deliver superior performance and reach levels that touch the limit of what the PCI-Express 4.0 interface is capable of delivering, so let’s get down to business to see what it is. that offers.
Cardea A440 Pro, with your choice of graphene or aluminum
| TeamGroup Cardea A440 Pro | |
|---|---|
| Form factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.4 |
| Capabilities | 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB |
| Controller | N / A |
| NAND type | 96-layer 3D TLC |
| Medium | SMART TRIM NCQ DevSleep Garbage collection |
| Encryption | 256 bit XTS-AES |
| Sequential reading | 1TB: up to 7,200MB / s 2 TB and 4 TB: up to 7,400 MB / s |
| Sequential write | 1 TB: up to 6,000 MB / s 2 TB and 4 TB: up to 7,000 MB / s |
| Random read | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| Random write | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| Durability | 1 TB: 700 TBW 2 TB: 1,400 TBW 4 TB: 3,000 TBW |
| Consumption | 0.003W idle 0.2W average 2.1W max reading 7W max write |
| Operating temperature | 0 – 70 ºC |
| Dimensions | 80 x 22 x 3.7mm (with graphene heatsink) 80 x 23 x 19mm (with aluminum heatsink) |
| Weight | 13g (with graphene heatsink) 48g (with aluminum heatsink) |
| Warranty | 5 years |
In recent times it is quite common for TeamGroup to offer its SSDs with two heat dissipation options, but the peculiar thing about this particular model is that it will not sell the SSD with the two heatsinks, but we will have to choose between one or the other. What advantage will this have then? Well, the model that incorporates a Graphene heatsink is slightly cheaper than the one with aluminum; Since at the end of the day we will only use one of the two, this allows the user who decides to choose the low profile option to save some money, which is always appreciated.
As you can see from the technical specifications, TeamGroup will offer this Cardea A440 Pro in three different capacities (1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB), the smaller version being slightly lower in terms of performance since its reading speed is 7,200 MB with up to 6,000MB / s write speed, while 2TB and 4TB drives increase these numbers up to 7,400 MB / s read and 7,000 MB / s write, regardless of the type of heatsink chosen.
Logically, and since durability also depends on capacity, the life expectancy of these SSDs also depends on capacity: we have 700 TBW for the 1 TB model, 1,400 TBW for the 2 TB model and 3,000 TBW for the top-of-the-range model, 4 TB. This, coupled with its 5-year manufacturer’s warranty, means that, taking the 4 TB model as an example, we could write 1,643 GB a day to the SSD for 5 years, or 32 GB a day (the average for a gaming PC) during nothing more and nothing less than 250 years.
In addition to a notable performance increase over the previous Cardea A440, this new Pro model also features a new aluminum heatsink design which, according to the manufacturer, improves the operating temperature by up to 48%, greatly reducing the possibility that Thermal Throttling occurs and its maximum durability is reduced by overheating.
The graphene heatsink, yes, is the same that we have already seen in previous models, and although it improves the temperature a lot with respect to not using heatsink and also avoids Thermal Throttling, it is obviously not as effective when it comes to evacuating heat. like the aluminum heatsink, which as you can see in the images has a considerable height.
Price and availability
According to TeamGroup, this new PCIe 4.0 NVMe 1.4 SSD will be available in capacities of 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB between mid and late November 2021, at a price that will depend on its capacity and the type of heatsink chosen:
- Aluminum heatsink: 1TB for € 209.99, 2TB for € 395.99, 4TB for € 989.99.
- Graphene heatsink: 1 TB for € 189.99, 2 TB for € 359.99, 4 TB for € 899.99.
