Model: Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 1TB PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive
Manufacturer: Silicon Power
Provided By: Silicon Power
Silicon Power is a relatively new name in the storage industry. Founded in 2003 by a group of professionals specializing in international business, global marketing and technical engineering, the company has already established itself as one of Taiwan's top manufacturers. With an eye for attractive and versatile design, Silicon Power has built its brand around the concept that its customers deserve products that represent who they are in life and mirror their personality. The end result is a variety of uniquely designed storage products including USB flash drives, memory cards and solid-state drives (SSD).
Earlier this year, Silicon Power unveiled its latest PCIe 4.0 SSD, the XPOWER XS70. Designed with hardcore PC and console gamers in mind, this M.2 form factor drive is powered by Phison's PS5018-E18 controller and is available with up to 4TB of Micron's 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. The XS70 also features a DRAM cache buffer for improved performance as well as support for low density parity check (LDPC) and RAID engine technology for enhanced data integrity and stability. To top it all off, the XS70 is equipped with a unique heatsink that is inspired by the gills of a shark as well as an ultra-fast PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 interface to deliver data transfer rates that are twice as fast as most PCIe 3.0 SSDs.
The XS70 is available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities. For this review, Silicon Power sent us the 1TB version of the drive which is capable of delivering up to 7,300 MB/s sequential read and 6,800 MB/s sequential write speeds.
Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the XS70 has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at Silicon Power's new PCIe 4.0 SSD and then see how well it performs. Does the XS70 have what it takes? Can it deliver the value and performance we've come to expect from Silicon Power? Keep reading as we find out.
Instead of a box, the XS70 comes packaged in a cardboard blister pack. The packaging advertises some of the drive's key features including its 1TB capacity, PCIe Gen 4x4 interface, support for NVMe 1.4, maximum read and write speeds and 5 year warranty.
Physical Features:
The XS70 uses the 2280 form factor for M.2 (NGFF) SSDs. It measures 24.6 x 80 x 10.8 mm and weighs in at a whopping 33g. The drive also has an "M key" edge connector which provides PCIe SSDs with up to 4x lanes of bandwidth.
The XS70's is equipped with a unique heatsink design that, according to Silicon Power, breathes like a shark. Heat is able to ventilate out through the heatsink's angled, gill-like slits to prevent overheating and maintain superior performance, even during intense gaming sessions.
The heatsink wraps entirely around the XS70 and is attached using a couple of screws. While this ensures a solid fit, it also adds about 2.6mm to the overall width of the drive. This doesn't sound like much. However, you will want to make sure that the card doesn't hit a PCI slot or any of the other components on your motherboard.
The XS70 uses Phison's PS5018-E18 controller chip. This PCIe Gen 4 x4 SSD controller is powered by a triple-core ARM Cortex R5 processor with CoXProcessor technology and supports eight channels with up to 32 chip enables (CE) per channel. The E18 also offers features like AES encryption, end-to-end data path protection, SmartECC technology and Phison’s 4th Generation LDPC ECC engine.
For the 1TB version of the XS70, Silicon Power opted to use Micron's 176-layer (B47R) 3D TLC NAND flash. Looking at the picture above, you can see that there are four 256GB NAND flash packages on the top of the PCB. The drive also has a single 1GB SK hynix DDR4 DRAM chip that is used for caching.
The test system used in this review is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 3700x CPU, MSI B550 GAMING PLUS motherboard, 16GB (8GB x 2) of Crucial Ballistix 3200 MHz DDR4 memory, Crucial P5 1TB SSD and a GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics card. For the operating system, I used the latest version of Windows 10 Pro.
To test the performance of Western Digital's WD_BLACK SN770 SSD, I ran a series of benchmarks using CrystalDiskMark, HD Tach RW, ATTO Disk Benchmark, AS SSD, HD Tune Pro, Anvil's Storage Utilities, Iometer and PCMark. For comparison, I've also included test results from the ADATA XPG ATOM 50, ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade, Crucial P5 Plus, Plextor M10PY, ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, WD_BLACK SN850, Silicon Power US70, ADATA XPG GAMMIX S50 Lite, Samsung 980, Silicon-Power UD70, Crucial P2, SK hynix Gold P31, Crucial P5, ADATA SWORDFISH, ADATA FALCON, Lexar NM610, Silicon Power P34A60, Patriot P300, Plextor M9PG Plus, Plextor M9PY Plus, ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro, Western Digital WD_BLACK SN750, Lexar NQ100, Samsung 970 EVO Plus, ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro, Crucial P1, ADATA XPG SX8200, Western Digital WD_BLACK NVMe, Samsung 970 EVO, Samsung 970 PRO, Plextor M9Pe, Plextor M8Se, Patriot Hellfire, ADATA XPG SX8000, Samsung 960 PRO, Toshiba OCZ RD400, Samsung 950 PRO, Samsung 870 EVO, Samsung 870 QVO, Silicon Power PC60 and SK hynix Gold S31.
As I mentioned earlier, the XS70 uses Phison's PS5018-E18 controller chip. Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that it performs equally well with both incompressible (0%) and compressible (100%) data.
CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4:
First, I ran a few quick tests using CrystalDiskMark. This benchmark measures the performance of a storage device by testing its sequential and random read and write speeds. For this test, we're using the peak and real world profiles.
According to Silicon Power, the XS70 is capable of reading at 7,300 MB/s and writing at 6,800 MB/s. While the 1TB version of the drive had no problems reaching its rated read speed, it came up short in CrystalDiskMark's sequential write speed test.
As you'd expect, the XS70 wasn't as fast when tested with the "real world" profile which uses a single thread and a much lower queue depth. Nevertheless, it was still able to read at 4,266 MB/s and write at more than 5,579 MB/s.
HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0:
Next, I used HD Tach to test the XS70's read, write and burst speeds as well as its random access time and CPU usage.
Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the XS70 had average read and write speeds of 2,311.0 MB/s and 2,762.3 MB/s respectively, as well as a burst speed of 3640.9 MB/s.
ATTO Disk Benchmark 4.01:
I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the XS70's sequential read and write speeds. The tests are run using blocks ranging in size from 512B to 64 MB and the total length set to 256MB.
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB |
When tested with ATTO, the XS70's read speeds topped out at about 7 GB/s and its write speeds at 5.50 GB/s.
AS SSD:
AS SSD is a benchmark designed specifically for solid state drives. The application contains five synthetic tests used to determine the sequential and random read and write performance of a drive.
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB |
AS SSD also includes a copy benchmark. This test copies an ISO (two large files), program (many small files) and game (small and large files), returning the speed and duration of each.
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB |
HD Tune Pro 5.75:
Next, I ran a series of tests using HD Tune Pro. This hard disk utility measures a drive's performance by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its access time, burst rate and CPU usage. For this review, I'm also going to use it to benchmark the XS70's random read and write speeds, random access times and the number of operations per second.
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Read Benchmark |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB - Read Benchmark |
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Write Benchmark |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB - Write Benchmark |
The XS70 performed relatively well when benchmarked with HD Tune. The drive had average read and write speeds of 5818.8 MB/s and 5444.1 MB/s, respectively.
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Random Access Read |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB - Random Access Read |
 Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Random Access Write |
 ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade 1TB - Random Access Write |
When reading 4KB blocks, the XS70 reached 57,448 IOPS and had an average speed of 224.407 MB/s. The drive was even faster when writing, reaching 60,042 IOPS with an average speed of 234.539 MB/s.
Anvil's Storage Utilities:
Anvil's Storage Utilities is another benchmark designed with SSDs in mind. The standard storage benchmark measures a drive's performance by testing its transfer speeds, access times and IOPS.
Iometer:
Lastly, I ran a series of tests using Iometer. This tool can be configured to benchmark a number of things. In this case, I used it to measure the XS70's read and write speeds and the number of operations per second. The tests were run using random bytes and a queue depth of 3.
The XS70's performance was very similar to what we saw in our other tests. The drive was able to read at 7023.75 MB/s and write at 5606.46 MB/s.
The XS70 also performed fairly well when doing random reads and writes. In our tests, the drive was able to read at 439.85 MB/s and write at 604.76 MB/s.
Silicon Power really doesn't say what the XS70 is capable of in regards to IOPS. With two threads and a queue depth of three, the drive reached 112,602 random read IOPS and 154,819 random write IOPS.
As with most drives, the XS70 performed better with more threads and at higher queue depths. With sixteen threads and the queue depth set to 32, it reached 832,851 random read IOPS and 687,638 random write IOPS.
PCMark 8 - Storage Test:
PCMark 8 is a complete benchmark for Windows. It includes five benchmark tests, each designed around a specific scenario. The storage benchmark measures drive performance using real-world traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office and a selection of popular games.
PCMark 8 also includes a consistency test which measures the performance consistency and degradation tendency of a storage system. The test reports the performance level at the start, the degraded steady-state and the recovered state as well as the number of iterations required to reach the degraded state and the recovered state. For this test, we are focusing on the Adobe Photoshop (Heavy) trace and will look at both the bandwidth and latency of the drive.
The XS70's performance was hit and miss in this test. While the drive was relatively quick during the degradation and steady phases, its performance was slow to recover. The XS70 lagged behind the ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade and WD_BLACK SN850 during the recovery phases, topping out at only 1065 MB/s.
PCMark 10 - Full System Drive Benchmark:
PCMark 10's Full System Drive Benchmark uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and common tasks to fully test the performance of the fastest modern drives. This benchmark produces an overall score as a measure of drive performance. Comparing devices is as simple as comparing scores. The tests also measure and report the bandwidth and average access time performance for the drive.
Thanks to its high bandwidth and low latency, the XS70 did quite well in PCMark 10's Full System Drive Benchmark. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to top the Plextor M10PY, the WD_BLACK SN850 or the Crucial P5 Plus.
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 XS70'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. Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the XS70's average read and write speeds dropped to 3254.88 MB/s and 432.89 MB/s, respectively.
Silicon Power XS70 - Dirty
To see how well the XS70 could recover, I let the computer sit for about 30 minutes and then reran the test. The drive's average write speed climbed up to 5135.10 MB/s. However, its read speed lagged behind, averaging out at only 1921.78 MB/s.
Silicon Power XS70 - After TRIM
Lastly, I used Parted Magic to perform a secure erase on the XS70. With the drive wiped clean, it had average read and write speeds of 5934.74 MB/s and 5662.09 MB/s, respectively.
Silicon Power XS70- Secure Erased
Heatsink Performance:
While faster than their SATA-based SSDs, PCIe drives like the XS70 tend to generate more heat. In fact, if your computer doesn't have enough airflow or a large video card covering your M.2 slots, they can get quite hot. To prevent themselves from overheating, most SSDs have implemented a mechanism called thermal throttling which automatically reduces a drive's performance when it reaches a certain temperature.
If you're someone looking to get the most out of your SSD, this is something that you don't want to happen. As a result, companies like Silicon Power have begun to equip many of their PCIe SSDs with a heatsink.
The XS70's heatsink did a great job of keeping it cool. At idle, the drive's temperature hovered around 34 ºC. Under heavy loads, the XS70 reached temperatures as high as 58 ºC when reading and 64 ºC when writing. These temperatures had no impact on the drive's performance. No matter how hard I pushed it, the XS70 did not throttle its read or write speeds in any noticeable way.
Final Thoughts:
The Silicon Power XPOWER XS70 is an excellent choice for the gamer looking to boost the performance and storage capacity of their computer or gaming console. This M.2 form factor SSD is powered by Phison's PS5018-E18 controller and is available with up to 4TB of Micron's latest 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. Combine this with an ultra-fast PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 interface and you have a drive that is capable of delivering impressive performance at a reasonable price. In our sequential read and write tests, the 1TB version of the XS70 was able to read at speeds as high as 7,367 MB/s and write at speeds in excess of 5,800 MB/s. It also did relatively well in our random write tests, producing nearly 154,000 IOPS at low queue depths.
Of course, fast read and write speeds aren't the only things the XS70 has to offer. In addition to its unique, shark gill inspired heatsink, the drive uses a DRAM cache buffer to improve read and write performance. The XS70 also employs LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check) and a RAID engine for enhanced data security and integrity. To top it all off, the drive is backed by a 5 year warranty.
The XS70 is available now in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities. Prices on Silicon Power's website currently start at $125 for the 1TB drive reviewed here and go up to $729 for the 4TB version.
Highs:
- Available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities
- PCIe 4.0 x4 interface with NVMe protocol
- Phison PS5018-E18 controller
- Equipped with Micron 176-layer 3D TLC NAND
- Excellent sequential read and write speeds
- Good random read and write performance
- Small M.2 2280 form factor
- Large DRAM cache buffer
- Supports LDPC and RAID engine technology
- Aluminum heatsink
- Reasonably priced
- 5 year warranty
Lows:
- Heatsink can cause clearance issues with some motherboards
- Does not support hardware based encryption