ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 Solid State Drive

Model: ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB PCIe 4.0 M.2 Solid State Drive
Manufacturer: ADATA Technology
Provided By: ADATA Technology (USA)

ADATA Technology is one of the world's leading manufacturers of high performance memory modules and data storage solutions. Founded in 2001 with a staff of 20, this Taiwanese company set itself apart from the competition early on thanks to its professionalism, industry know-how and eye-catching product designs. Today, ADATA continues to lead the way through constant innovation and development of products that exceed customer expectations. Backed by technical expertise, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and premium customer service, ADATA currently offers a variety of products including DRAM modules, USB flash drives, memory cards, solid state drives and portable hard drives.

One of the latest additions to ADATA's line of solid state drives is the LEGEND 960. Designed for professional-level tasks such as 3D graphics, film production and computer-aided engineering, this M.2 form factor drive is powered by Silicon Motion's new SM2264 controller and is available with up to 2TB of 3D TLC NAND flash. The LEGEND 960 also utilizes dynamic SLC caching and a DRAM cache buffer to improve read and write performance as well as advanced hardware Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) code technology and AES 256-bit encryption to ensure data security and integrity. To top it all off, the LEGEND 960 is equipped with a slim, aluminum heatsink as well as an ultra-fast PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 interface to deliver up to 7,400 MB/s read and 6,800 MB/s write speeds.

The LEGEND 960 is available in 1TB and 2TB capacities. For this review, ADATA sent us the 1TB version of the drive which is capable of delivering up to 7,400 MB/s sequential read and 6,000 MB/s sequential write speeds as well as up to 730,000 random read and 610,000 random write IOPS.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the LEGEND 960 has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at ADATA's new PCIe 4.0 SSD and then see how well it performs. Does the LEGEND 960 have what it takes? Can it deliver the value and performance we've come to expect from ADATA? Keep reading as we find out.

The LEGEND 960 comes in a small black and gold box. Along with a picture of the drive, the front advertises a number of its key features including its 1TB capacity and PCIe Gen4 x4 interface. The back of the box provides a bit more information regarding the LEGEND 960's features and performance. Inside, you'll find the SSD as well as a black and gold, aluminum heatsink that can be attached to the drive.

Physical Features:

The LEGEND 960 uses the 2280 form factor for M.2 (NGFF) SSDs. It measures 80 x 22 x 2.15 mm and weighs in at 9g without the heatsink. The drive also has an "M key" edge connector which provides PCIe SSDs with up to 4x lanes of bandwidth.

The LEGEND 960 uses Silicon Motion's SM2264 controller. This ultra-high performance PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe 1.4 SSD controller is powered by a quad-core ARM Cortex R8 CPU and supports eight channels with up to 64 chip enables (CE) per channel.  The SM2264 also supports the latest 3D NAND from all major manufacturers and features Silicon Motion’s 7th generation NANDXtend error-correcting code (ECC) technology, SRAM ECC, end-to-end data path protection and real time full drive encryption.

For the 1TB version of the LEGEND 960, ADATA has opted to use its own Micron manufactured 176-layer (B47R) 3D TLC NAND flash. Looking at the pictures above, you can see that there are two 256GB NAND flash packages on either side of the PCB. The drive also has a pair of 512GB Samsung DDR4 memory chips that are used for caching.

Like ADATA's other SSDs, the LEGEND 960 works with their SSD Toolbox. This free downloadable utility is an easy way for users to obtain information about their drives and change various system settings. Additionally, it can be used to speed up your SSD, improve the endurance of a drive and clone your data from one drive to another.

When you run ADATA SSD Toolbox, the main screen displays information about your drives. From here, users can view information like the capacity, used space, temperature, health and lifespan of each drive. By clicking on the tabs, you'll also find information like the model name, firmware version and serial number and connection speed.

The SSD Toolbox offers two different diagnostic scans. The quick diagnostics scan runs a basic test on free space and is usually completed in under two minutes. The full diagnostics scan runs a read test on all used space and a write test on all free space of the selected drive. Needless to say, the full scan takes much longer to complete.

ADATA's SSD Toolbox also includes a number of utilities. Along with the ability to do a secure erase, users can update a drive's firmware, upgrade the software and export a log file containing information about your system and drives.

The System Optimization option gives users the ability to run a TRIM command on a selected SSD. Users also have the ability optimize their OS by enabling features like superfetch, prefetch and automatic defragmentation.

SSD Toolbox can also be used to view information about your system. The utility displays a number of things including the operating system, CPU, amount of usable RAM and the model and BIOS version of your motherboard. There are also links to get help, download a user manual and register your SSD.

With the latest version of SSD Toolbox, you can also benchmark the performance of a storage device. Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that it tests the sequential and random read and write performance of a drive.

Last but not least, SSD Toolbox can be used to synchronously backup data from a partition on one drive to another. The source drive can be from any manufacturer. However, the target drive must be an ADATA one to start the function.

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 ADATA's LEGEND 960 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 Crucial P3 Plus, SK hynix Platinum P41, Silicon Power XS70, WD_BLACK SN770, 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, ADATA Elite SE880, Kingston XS2000, ADATA XPG ATOM 30, 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, Crucial X8, ADATA XPG SX6000 Pro, Western Digital WD_BLACK SN750, 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, ADATA Ultimate SU670, Lexar NQ100, Samsung 870 EVO and Samsung 870 QVO.

As I mentioned earlier, the LEGEND 960 uses Silicon Motion's SM2264 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 ADATA, the 1TB LEGEND 960 is capable of reading at 7,400 MB/s and writing at 6,000 MB/s. As you can see, the drive had no problems reaching these speeds in CrystalDiskMark's sequential read and write tests.

As you'd expect, the LEGEND 960 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 5,232 MB/s and write at more than 5,554 MB/s.

HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0:

Next, I used HD Tach to test the LEGEND 960'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 LEGEND 960 had average read and write speeds of 2307.4 MB/s and 1793.6 MB/s respectively, as well as a burst speed of 2965.4 MB/s. The screenshot also shows that, like most other TLC-based SSDs, the LEGEND 960 uses some sort of SLC caching. The drive starts writing at about 2,700 MB/s and then drops to about 1,900 MB/s when the write operation exceeds the size of the cache. The LEGEND 960 is able to maintain this speed for a some time before its write speed drops again, down to 900 MB/s.

ATTO Disk Benchmark 4.01:

I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the LEGEND 960'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.

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB

Silicon Power XS70 1TB

When tested with ATTO, the LEGEND 960's read speeds topped out at about 6.99 GB/s and its write speeds at 6.27 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.

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB

Silicon Power XS70 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.

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB

Silicon Power XS70 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 LEGEND 960's random read and write speeds, random access times and the number of operations per second.

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB - Read Benchmark

Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Read Benchmark

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB - Write Benchmark

Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Write Benchmark

The LEGEND 960 performed fairly well when benchmarked with HD Tune. The drive had average read and write speeds of 4846.7 MB/s and 2225.3 MB/s, respectively.

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB - Random Access Read

Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Random Access Read

ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB - Random Access Write

Silicon Power XS70 1TB - Random Access Write

When reading 4KB blocks, the LEGEND 960 reached 52,994 IOPS and had an average speed of 207.008 MB/s. The drive was even faster when writing, reaching 59,787 IOPS with an average speed of 233.544 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 LEGEND 960'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 LEGEND 960's performance was very similar to what we saw in our other tests. The drive was able to read at 7098.19 MB/s and write at 5988.67 MB/s.

The LEGEND 960 also performed very well when doing random reads and writes. In our tests, the drive was able to read at 439.90 MB/s and write at a blazing 746.45 MB/s.

According to ADATA, the 1TB LEGEND 960 is capable of 730,000 IOPS when reading and 610,000 IOPS when writing 4K blocks. With two threads and a queue depth of three, the drive reached 112,615 random read IOPS and 191,091 random write IOPS. As with most drives, the LEGEND 960 performed better with more threads and at higher queue depths. With sixteen threads and the queue depth set to 32, it reached 925,341 random read IOPS and 718,927 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 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 LEGEND 960's performance was hit and miss in this test. The drive wasn't nearly as fast as the ATOM 50 or the GAMMIX S70 during the degradation and steady phases. However, the LEGEND 960 was able to recover, topping out at 1,104 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 LEGEND 960 did very well in PCMark 10's Full System Drive Benchmark. While not quite as fast as the Plextor M10PY or the SK hynix Platinum P41, it performed better than the WD_BLACK SN850, Crucial P5 Plus and ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade.

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 LEGEND 960'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 LEGEND 960's read speed. However, its average writing speed dropped to 4503.48 MB/s.

ADATA LEGEND 960 - Dirty

To see how well the LEGEND 960 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 5592.09 MB/s.

ADATA LEGEND 960 - After TRIM

Lastly, I used Parted Magic to perform a secure erase on the LEGEND 960. With the drive wiped clean, it had average read and write speeds of 6096.68 MB/s and 5787.25 MB/s, respectively.

 
ADATA LEGEND 960 - Secure Erased

Temperature:

While faster than their SATA-based SSDs, PCIe drives like the LEGEND 960 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. So companies like ADATA have begun to include an optional, stick-on heatsink with many of their PCIe SSDs.

Without the heatsink, the LEGEND 960 idled at around 31 ºC. When pushed hard, the drive reached temperatures as high as 67 ºC when reading and 72 ºC when writing. At these temperatures, I saw a persistent slowing when reading and occasional drops in performance when writing.

With the optional heatsink installed, the LEGEND 960's temperature averaged about 35 ºC when idle, which is actually a few degrees higher than what we saw without it. Also, the drive still thermal throttled when reading and writing. However, it took a little longer to reach this point. That being said, if you're going to push the LEGEND 960 hard and don't want thermal throttling to activate, you may want to consider adding a cooling fan to increase air flow or attach a more robust heatsink like the MC1 or MC1 Pro from be quiet!

Final Thoughts:

ADATA has knocked another one out of the park with its new LEGEND 960 SSD. While aimed more towards creative professionals, this compact, M.2 form factor SSD packs more than enough performance to satisfy gamers and enthusiasts alike. The LEGEND 960 is powered by Silicon Motion's SM2264 controller and is available with up to 2TB of 3D TLC NAND flash. Combine this with a large DRAM cache and an ultra-fast PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 interface and you have a drive capable of reading and writing at 4x the speed of a standard PCIe Gen3 SSD. The 1TB version of the LEGEND 960 flew through our sequential transfer rate tests, reading at speeds as high as 7,480 MB/s and writing at nearly 6,700 MB/s. It also did very well in our random write tests, producing more than 191,000 IOPS at low queue depths.

Of course, fast read and write speeds aren't the only things the LEGEND 960 has to offer. In addition to a slim, aluminum heatsink, the drive uses dynamic SLC caching and a DRAM cache buffer to improve read and write performance. The LEGEND 960 also employs hardware Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) code technology and AES 256-bit encryption to ensure data security and integrity. To top it all off, the drive works with ADATA's SSD Toolbox software and is backed by a 5 year warranty.

The LEGEND 960 is available now in 1TB and 2TB capacities and can be purchased through retailers like Amazon for $130 and $250, respectively.

Highs:

• Available in 1TB and 2TB capacities
• PCIe 4.0 x4 interface with NVMe protocol
• Silicon Motion SM2264 controller
• Equipped with 176-layer 3D TLC NAND
• Excellent sequential and random read and write speeds
• Small M.2 2280 form factor
• Dynamic SLC caching and DRAM cache buffer
• Advanced hardware LDPC ECC technology
• Includes optional aluminum heatsink
• AES 256-bit encryption
• Works with ADATA's SSD Toolbox software
• Reasonably priced
• 5 year warranty

Lows:

• Write speed drops when SLC cache is full
• Starts to thermal throttle at relatively low temperatures