Introduction
The Acer FA200 series of SSDs is an established value-oriented model of SSD that has been around since December 2023. These QLC-based SSDs are poised to offer speed and performance at a good price-to-performance ratio. The Acer FA200 series offers top-end PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 2.0 sequential read performance at up to 7,200MB/s for a wide variety of applications.
The Acer FA200 is a QLC-based SSD, PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 2.0, utilizing a Maxio MAP1602A controller, YMTC Xtacking 3.0 3D NAND flash, and HMB. It has a sequential read speed of up to 7,200MB/s and a sequential write speed of up to 6,200MB/s in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. The Acer FA200 4TB has an MSRP of $229.99 ($195.49 Prime Day), the Acer FA200 2TB has an MSRP of $129.99 ($109.99 Prime Day), and the Acer FA200 1TB has an MSRP of $72.99 ($61.99 Prime Day). Be sure to click the links in the pricing widget below to see the current Prime Day pricing.
Acer’s SSD Lineup
Acer is a well-known and established company in the industry. The Acer-branded storage products are designed and manufactured under official license by BIWIN Storage Technology, which does its own IC packaging and testing and is a manufacturer of flash memory, DRAM, and SSDs. We’ve previously reviewed two different Acer SSDs, the Predator GM7 and Predator GM7000, both worth checking out. The Acer FA200 we are reviewing today aligns more with Acer’s general consumer SSD line, for a wider gamut of applications, rather than purely gamer-focused. Pricing, for example, is friendlier due to this SSD being a QLC-based SSD without a DRAM cache.
If you browse over to Acer’s PCIe M.2 SSD offerings, you’ll find the Acer MA200, which is an M.2 2230 SSD for hardware like handhelds and ultra-thin devices. The Acer MA200 is a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.4 SSD, in 512GB and 1TB capacities, at up to 5,200MB/s sequential read. The next model up is the full-sized Acer FA200 M.2 2280 SSD series we are reviewing today, again, speeds up to 7,200MB/s in capacities from 512GB up to 4TB (the one we are reviewing). There is a lower-tier model, the Acer FA100, which is a PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD as well. From this, we can see the three main tiers of Acer SSD storage, with the FA200 being the fastest QLC M.2 2280 SSD in the consumer lineup.
Now, not all Acer FA200s are the same. There is actually a sub-difference between the models, based on the variant of controller used. While they all use the Maxio MAP1602 controller, there are slightly different variants that use different NVMe version protocols. The F1C and F2C use NVMe 1.4, while F3C uses NVMe 2.0. Also, specifically, the 4TB model we are reviewing uses F3C U, which denotes it as specifically using the NVMe 2.0 protocol and is the highest variant available.
Acer FA200 4TB
The notable feature about the Acer FA200 series is that this is a QLC-based SSD, and has all the benefits and pitfalls associated with that type. QLC has improved a lot over the years, and while it had a rough start, the QLC drives of today are better. In a nutshell, the Acer FA200 4TB is a PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 2.0 M.2 2280 DRAM-less SSD, relying on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) and an SLC cache. With capacities of up to 4TB, this provides a lot of options for storage capacities for gaming libraries or content creation. There are some varying speed differences between the capacities that you should be aware of.
The 500GB model runs up to a sequential read speed of 6,300MB/s and a sequential write speed of up to 3,100MB/s, with a 4K random read speed of up to 600K IOPS and a 4K random write speed of up to 600K IOPS. The 1TB capacity model has a sequential read speed of up to 7,200MB/s and sequential write speed of up to 6,200MB/s, and 4K random read speed of 1000K IOPS, and 4K random write speed of up to 586K IOPS. The 2TB capacity model has a sequential read speed of up to 7,200MB/s, a sequential write speed of up to 6,200MB/s, a 4K random read speed of up to 1000K IOPS, and a 4K random write performance of up to 800K IOPS. The 4TB model that we are reviewing today has a sequential read speed of up to 7,100MB/s, a sequential write speed of 6,100MB/s, a 4K random read speed of up to 1000K IOPS, and a 4K random write speed of up to 820K IOPS.
Endurance also differs between the models, so take note. The 500GB capacity model has a rated endurance of 250 TBW, the 1TB model has an endurance rating of 500 TBW, the 2TB model has an endurance rating of 1000 TBW, and the 4TB model has an endurance rating of 2000 TBW. All models have a 5-year warranty and 1.5M hours MTBF. The Acer FA200 is also importantly as a single-sided SSD, and is compatible with the PS5 and other small form factor or slim profile computer builds, or mobile.
The Acer FA200 4TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD comes in an appropriately colored Acer box, with simple lettering that lets you know what’s inside. While it does list the performance on the back, it is not accurate to the exact model, but rather shows the fastest speeds available to the series. The 4TB model we have for review, for example, has a max sequential read speed of 7,100MB/s and write speed of 6,100MB/s, not what the box currently states, and this would also be very different for the 500GB model if you chose that option. Accurate speed ratings on the box relevant to the exact model in the box would be welcomed.
Inside the box, you will not find a heatsink; there isn’t a heatsink option with this SSD, but it isn’t fully bare, as it uses a thermal conductivity graphene thermal pad, which isn’t a great option for cooling by itself. We recommend using your motherboard’s provided M.2 heatsink. What is in the box, which is a rare breed these days, is the inclusion of an M.2 screw, which is nice to see. What you also cannot see in the box is that Acer does provide access to download a free customized version of the Acronis cloning software, so that is very nice.
The Acer FA200 4TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD is a single-sided SSD, so it will make installation easy and very doable in cramped builds, small form factor, not well-ventilated computers, mobile, and the PS5. This is a standard-sized 2280 M.2 SSD, and there really isn’t anything too fancy here to note.
It does have the graphene thermal pad in place already, so you don’t have to apply it, which is very nice to see. Sometimes SSD manufacturers will keep that separate, and you have to install it yourself, sometimes not aligning it straight, at least this one is already applied for you. Acer does have a thermal throttle and power management system in place. It can dynamically adjust SSD operating temperatures and power consumption so that it does not thermal throttle. Acer also claims high-quality wafers and production, which we know is manufactured by BIWIN.
The Acer FA200 4TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD uses a familiar controller to us; we’ve seen it used in many value-oriented DRAM-less HMB SSDs in the past. The Acer FA200 uses the MaxioTech MAP1602A controller, F3C U specifically, so we know for sure it is the NVMe 2.0 variant. This controller is also called Falcon Lite and is a TSMC 12nm 4-channel controller that can run up to 2400MT/s NAND flash. It is based on the ARM 32-bit Cortex-R5 Quad-Core CPU, and is HMB enabled. The Acer FA200 series is a DRAM-less SSD, so there is no dedicated DRAM chip here.
The Acer FA200 4TB utilizes 232-layer YMTC Xtacking 3.0 3D NAND flash at 2400MT/s. YMTC Xtacking NAND flash is not new to us; it was launched in 2022, and we’ve seen it used in the Acer Predator GM7 and other SSDs we have previously reviewed when it is combined with the Maxio MAP1602 controller.
