Introduction
With ADATA’s LEGEND 970 SSD, ADATA is offering an SSD with maximum speed, and minimum heat on the PCI-Express 5.0 interface. If you are looking for high-performance storage, the new standard is PCIe Gen5, and the ADATA LEGEND 970 is one of these new breeds of SSDs. Operating on PCIe Gen5 x4, the ADATA LEGEND 970 has very high speeds of 10,000MB/s sequential read and write, busting through the 7,000MB/s barrier of the previous-generation PCIe Gen4 SSDs.
In today’s review, we take a look at the new ADATA LEGEND 970 2000MB (SLEG-970-2000GCI), a new PCIe Gen5 x4 NVMe M.2 2280 SSD operating at those lovely PCI-Express 5.0 speeds and NVMe 2.0 standard. The ADATA LEGEND 970 features sequential read and write speeds up to 10,000MB/s, beating the fastest Gen4 SSDs period. The ADATA LEGEND 970 is a TLC-based NAND Flash SSD using the latest 232-layer 3D flash memory and Phison E26 controller and also has a DRAM cache and features an integrated heatsink and active fan for cooling.
ADATA is a well-known manufacturer of memory, storage, and computer cases since 2001. Under its Consumer Products SSD menu, you will find the LEGEND series of SSDs. The LEGEND series is ADATA’s most up-to-date SSDs, and carry the most robust specifications and features out of the lineup. The ADATA LEGEND 970 is a direct generational upgrade over the previous ADATA LEGEND 960 SSD we have previously reviewed.
The ADATA LEGEND 960 was a very fast PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD that operated at a high performance for its caliber of SSD at 7,400MB/s sequential read and 6,800MB/s sequential write. The new ADATA LEGEND 970 PCIe Gen5 x4 M.2 2280 SSD surpasses that with up to 10,000MB/s sequential read and write on the PCI-Express 5.0 interface.
ADATA LEGEND 970
As a brief introduction, previous generation Gen4 x4 SSDs operated on the PCI-Express 4.0 interface which has a theoretical maximum transfer speed of 8,000MB/s. With PCI-Express 5.0 x4 (PCIe Gen5 x4) the theoretical maximum transfer speed of the interface is 16,000MB/s, allowing for much faster SSDs as the hardware allows.
To utilize PCI-Express 5.0 SSDs to the fullest performance, you will need a motherboard and CPU that supports this, and both AMD and Intel offer this on the latest platforms. The ADATA LEGEND 970 is backward compatible with PCIe Gen4 and Gen3 if that is all you have, but you will get the most out of it only with a PCIe Gen5 capable system.
ADATA offers two capacities with the ADATA LEGEND 970, a 1TB and 2TB capacity. Both capacities have the exact same performance ratings for sequential, random, and IOPS read/write performance. The ADATA LEGEND 970 is an M.2 2280 SSD supporting the PCIe Gen5 x4 interface and NVMe 2.0 protocol. It has an SLC cache and DRAM cache on board with TLC 3D NAND flash memory. It uses the Phison PS5026 E26 controller and Micron 232-Layer 3D flash memory.
The Phison E26 controller is a popular choice for Gen5 gaming performance and high-performance PCs. The Phison E26 is an 8-channel controller optimized for the PCIe Gen5x4 interface and is NVMe 2.0 compliant. It supports ONFI 5.0 and Toggle 5.0. It supports 14GB/s performance and capabilities up to 4TB and flash transfer rates up to 2,400MT/s. It supports LPDDR4 and DDR4 with transfer rates up to 3200Mbp/s. It supports Phison’s ECC LDPC engine and coding scheme as well as AES 256, SHA 512, RSA 4096, and TCG Opal.
The ADATA LEGEND 970 can run up to 10,000MB/s for sequential read and write. The 4K Random Read IOPS is rated at up to 1,400K and the 4K Random Write IOPS is rated at up to 1,400K. It has a decent 1,400TB (TBW) endurance rating and 1.6M hour MTBF. ADATA offers a 5-year limited warranty.
The ADATA LEGEND 970 does use active cooling, with a pre-installed heatsink and fan. This SSD does require a SATA power connection for the fan. The heatsink is a dual-layer aluminum alloy with surface crystallization, and the entire cooling system is patented by ADATA. This cooling system ensures no thermal throttling. ADATA states its cooling as such:
“The LEGEND 970 adopts dual-layer extruded aluminum fins to create a dense air duct to divert hot and cold air. When heat is conducted upward, a built-in micro fan is used to remove thermal energy. This unique “active heat dissipation” design delivers significantly cooler temperatures than a fanless heatsink by 10%.“
“The LEGEND 970’s aluminum alloy fins are treated with surface crystallization, which utilizes its physical properties to increase the overall air contact area and maximize the effectiveness of its air cooling system.“
SSD Pictures
The ADATA LEGEND 970 comes in a very appealing dark purple reflective box, and we find the SSD securely packed. In fact, it’s so well secured that there is a warning label to let you know it will take a little force to pop it out, and that it certainly did. On the front of the box, it is clearly labeled the capacity and PCIe generation with a picture of what you will get.
The ADATA LEGEND 970 has its active heatsink and fan pre-installed, and it covers both the front and back of the SSD. We can see that it has thermal material on both sides making contact with components, with the tiny fan sitting off to the right side on the front. The ADATA LEGEND 970 does require SATA power to operate the fan. The power has fairly thin wires, and we could see it being pulled out or broken easily if you apply too much pulling force on it, so handle it with care.
We measured the thickness/height of the heatsink at around 12mm, therefore it does not take up much vertical space at all. This is good news, if you have AIO pump tubes or a large video card in the way, this heatsink and fan combination does not take up much space out from the SSD and is in a very compatible form factor for a Gen5 SSD. You will just have to figure out how to route the SATA power cable around your motherboard to the backside of your case for cable management.
In the first three above pictures, we are demonstrating how the air channels do go all the way through the heatsink from end-to-end on the bottom. The fan also has a clear chamber and allows the air to flow through the channels. ADATA describes its heatsink design as such:
“The LEGEND 970 adopts dual-layer extruded aluminum fins to create a dense air duct to divert hot and cold air. When heat is conducted upward, a built-in micro fan is used to remove thermal energy. This unique “active heat dissipation” design delivers significantly cooler temperatures than a fanless heatsink by 10%“
“Active cooling works by using a tightly adhered heat dissipation pad and a metal heat dissipator to transfer heat from the SSD. The double-layered aluminum fins help facilitate the heat transfer process. Additionally, a built-in fan draws cold air from openings on the nameplate and directs it towards the aluminum fins. The hot and cold air meet, and the rotation of the fan quickly expels the heat from both sides of the aluminum fins.”
In the last picture above, we measure the SATA power cable length at about 10″ inches, so that is the length of cable you have to work with.
The ADATA LEGEND 970 2TB Gen5 x4 SSD installs easily into our motherboard, and we are able to screw it down with ease. The SSD is not heavy and does not add weight to the slot. The industrial, and mechanical aesthetics look very good in a computer build.