The PCI Express 4.0 interface has been around on AMD’s Ryzen platform for a long time now, ever since the launch of Zen 2 and the X570 chipset. The new spec has finally gone mainstream on Intel’s platforms, as well, with the release of the Rocket Lake-S 11th Gen Core processor family and the accompanying Z590 PCH. That means that neither camp is restricted to the older 3.0 spec which has half the bandwidth of the newer PCIe interface. It’s high time we saw PCIe 4 solid state drives go mainstream, and today we have another offering on tap as a result with TEAMGROUP’s T-Force Cardea Zero Z440 M.2 SSD.
As we hinted above, this drive rides the latest PCI Express bus for the most potential bandwidth possible with four lanes of PCIe 4.0 connectivity. While Samsung holds down the high end with its SSD 980 Pro and TEAMGROUP itself has a more expensive A440 model drive, the Cardea Zero Z440 aims for a more affordable price points. Still, this drive doesn’t skimp on the specs with upwards of 5 GB per second of reads and 4.5 GB/s in sequential writes. And with that, now is a great time to run down all the Cardea Zero Z440’s specs.
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| Form Factor | M.2 2280 NVMe |
| Interface | PCI Express 4.0 x4 |
| Capacities | 1 TB, 2 TB |
| Controller | Phison PS5016-E16 |
| NAND | 96-layer BiCS TLC |
| Encryption | AES-256 |
| Sequential Read/Write | 5,000 MB/s read, 4,400 MB/s write |
| Random 4K Read/Write | 750K IOPs Read, 750K IOPs Write |
| Total Bytes Written (TBW) | 1,800 TB |
| Storage Temperature | From -40 C to 85 C |
| Operating Temperature | From 0 C to 70 C |
| Dimensions | 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.09 inches (80 x 22 x 3.5 mm) |
| Weight | 0.317 ounces (9 grams) |
| Shock Resistance | 1,500 G @ 0.5 msec half sine |
| MTBF | 1.7 Million Hours |
| Warranty/Support | 5-year limited warranty |
| Pricing | Currently $199 For 1TB At Amazon |
The Phison PS5016-E16 controller at the heart of the Cardea Zero Z440 has been around for a while, making it a mature but still pretty speedy platform upon which to build a budget-friendly PCIe 4.0 drive. In fact, if we look back at both our Ryzen 9 3900X review, which featured a Gigabyte AORUS PCIe 4.0 drive, and Sabrent Rocket 4.0 review, we can see that this drive configuration has been through our doors a time or two. That’s not a bad thing, either, because those drives are pretty fast and the Phison E16 controller supports AES-256 encryption. While Phison’s PS5018-E18 is right around the corner with 7 GB of throughput, drives based on that controller won’t be as affordable as this one.
T-Force Cardea Zero Z440 Specifications
The Cardea Zero Z440 has a copper and graphene label over the controller and 96-layer 3D BiCS NAND, which should help spread heat and keep the drive from throttling under normal conditions. This isn’t anything new, exactly; many SSDs, including the Sabrent mentioned above, have a similar setup, and it works well. The drive comes in a standard M.2 2280 form factor, which is compatible with the vast majority of notebooks and desktop motherboards alike, especially those with PCIe 4.0 connectivity like those with Intels’ Z590 and AMD’s 500 series chipsets.
The specs table carries a couple of very welcome sights. First of all, the total bytes written (TBW) rating comes up to 1,800 TB for the 1 TB drive’s TLC NAND. Cheaper drives like the WD Blue SN550 we recently reviewed carry much lower ratings because those drives use QLC memory, which stores four bits per channel. Corners have to be cut somewhere, but this isn’t a bottom of the barrel drive, so a longer endurance rating is expected. TEAMGROUP stands by that, too, with a five-year limited warranty.
We’re reviewing the 1 TB version of the Cardea Zero Z440, but there’s also a 2 TB version available. The TBW endurance rating is 3,600 TB for the 2 TB drive, but that’s expected with twice as much capacity on board. According to the larger drive’s specifications, the two capacities will perform about the same. Both are rated for 5 GB per second of writes and 4.4 GB per second in sequential reads. The Cardea Zero Z440 should be no slouch in the random read and write department either, as it’s rated for 750k IOPS in both directions.
T-Force Cardea Zero Z440 Benchmarks
It’s time to dive into performance testing on the T-Force Cardea Zero Z440. Under each test condition, the SSDs tested here were installed as secondary volumes in our testbed, with a separate drive used for the OS and benchmark installations. Our testbed’s motherboard was updated with the latest BIOS available at the time of publication. We secure erased each SSD prior to testing (when applicable), and left them blank without partitions for some tests. Other benchmarks required the drives to be partitioned and formatted, as is the case with the ATTO, PCMark, and CrystalDiskMark tests. Windows firewall, automatic updates, and screen savers were all disabled before testing and Windows 10 Quiet Hours / Focus Assist was enabled.
