TRIM Performance:
While SSD's offer many benefits, there are some downsides to using flash memory. One of the biggest issues people run into is performance degradation. Over time, an SSD will run out of fresh blocks and will have to write over data the file system has marked as deleted. This procedure is very complicated and can slow an SSD's write speeds considerably.
To fix this problem, most manufacturers have added TRIM support to their SSDs. The TRIM command allows an operating system, such as Windows 10, to tell an SSD which data blocks are no longer in use. Using this information, the drive pro-actively erases these blocks and adds them to the free block pool.
To test the GAMMIX S50 Lite's TRIM and garbage collection functions, I first put the drive in a "dirty" state. I used Iometer to fill 80% of the drive and then ran a random write test for 30 minutes. This had little impact on the GAMMIX S50 Lite's read speed. However, its average writing speed dropped to 645.32 MB/s.
ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite - Dirty
To see how well the GAMMIX S50 Lite could recover, I let the computer sit for about 30 minutes and then reran the test. The drive wasn't able to reach the factory fresh performance shown in our earlier tests. However, its sequential write speed jumped up to 2906.80 MB/s.
ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite - After TRIM
Lastly, I used Parted Magic to perform a secure erase on the GAMMIX S50 Lite. With the drive wiped clean, it had average read and write speeds of 3326.76 MB/s and 2963.26 MB/s, respectively.
ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite - Secure Erased
Final Thoughts:
The ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite is a great choice for the gamer or enthusiast wanting to tap into the capabilities of PCIe 4.0 without spending a lot of money. This heatsink-equipped, M.2 form factor SSD is powered by Silicon Motion's SM2267 controller and is available with up to 2TB of 3D TLC NAND flash. Combine this with a PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 interface and you have an affordable drive capable of delivering up to eight times the performance of your average SATA SSD. In our sequential read and write tests, the 1TB version of the GAMMIX S50 Lite was able to read at speeds as high as 3,891 MB/s and write at speeds in excess of 3,260 MB/s. It also did relatively well in our random write tests, producing more than 150,000 IOPS at low queue depths.
Of course, fast read and write speeds aren't the only things the GAMMIX S50 Lite has to offer. In addition to a good looking, aluminum heatsink, the drive uses dynamic SLC caching and a DRAM cache buffer to improve read and write performance. The GAMMIX S50 Lite also employs LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check) error correction, End-To-End (E2E) data protection and a RAID engine to ensure data integrity as well as AES 256-bit encryption for data security. Last, but not least, the drive is backed by a 5 year warranty.
The XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite is available now in 1TB and 2TB capacities and can be purchased through retailers like Amazon for $140 and $280, respectively.
Highs:
- Available in 1TB and 2TB capacities
- PCIe 4.0 x4 interface with NVMe protocol
- Silicon Motion SM2267 controller
- Equipped with 3D TLC NAND
- Good sequential read and write speeds under most conditions
- Good random read and write performance
- Small M.2 2280 form factor
- Intelligent SLC caching
- Advanced hardware LDPC ECC technology
- Aluminum heatsink
- AES 256-bit encryption
- Works with ADATA's SSD Toolbox software
- Affordably priced
- 5 year warranty
Lows:
- Not as fast as other PCIe 4.0 SSDs
- Write speed drops considerably when SLC cache is full
