Team is the pioneer manufacturer in the use of Graphene to dissipate the heat generated by its SSDs, and has just announced the market launch of the new model Cardea A440 Pro, a model that we already saw a few days ago boast of being designed specifically for the PS5, but that now they will start selling in two different variants: one with Graphene heatsink, low profile, and another with a much larger heat sink in aluminum but it promises better operating temperatures.
Of course, this Cardea A440 Pro SSD is a more advanced version of the previous model, the Cardea A440 which we have already analyzed in the past and which has given us very good thermal and performance results; However, in this new version they have changed the SSD controller to deliver higher performance and reach levels that touch the limit of what the PCI-Express 4.0 interface is capable of delivering, so let’s get down to business to see what it’s. .
Cardea A440 Pro, with graphene or aluminum of your choice
| TeamGroup Cardea A440 Pro | |
|---|---|
| Form factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0×4 NVMe 1.4 |
| Capabilities | 1TB, 2TB and 4TB |
| Head quarter | N / A |
| NAND type | 96-layer 3D CCM |
| Average | CLEVER ACCOMPANIEMENT NCQ DevSleep Garbage collection |
| Encryption | 256-bit XTS-AES |
| Sequential read | 1TB: up to 7,200MB / s 2 TB and 4 TB: up to 7,400 MB / s |
| sequential writing | 1TB: up to 6000MB / s 2 TB and 4 TB: up to 7,000 MB / s |
| Shuffle playback | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| random writing | 1,000,000 IOPS |
| Durability | 1TB: 700TB 2 TB: 1,400 TB 4 TB: 3000 TBW |
| Consumption | 0.003 W at rest 0.2 W on average 2.1W maximum reading 7W max write |
| Operating temperature | 0 – 70 ºC |
| Dimensions | 80 x 22 x 3.7 mm (with graphene radiator) 80 x 23 x 19 mm (with aluminum heat sink) |
| Weight | 13g (with graphene radiator) 48g (with aluminum heat sink) |
| guarantee | 5 years |
It’s been quite common lately for TeamGroup to offer its SSDs with two heat sink options, but the peculiarity of this particular model is that it won’t sell the SSD with both heat sinks, but we’ll have to choose between one or the other. What benefit will it have then? Well, the model that incorporates a graphene heat sink is slightly cheaper than the aluminum one; Since in the end we will only be using one of the two, it saves the user who decides to go for the low profile option, which is always appreciated.
As you can see from the technical specifications, TeamGroup will offer this Cardea A440 Pro in three different capacities (1TB, 2TB and 4TB), the smaller version being slightly lower in terms of performance since its read speed is 7 200MB with up to at 6000MB / s write speed, while 2TB and 4TB drives increase those numbers to 7,400 MB / s read and 7,000 MB / s write, regardless of the type of radiator chosen.
Logically, and since durability also depends on capacity, the lifespan of these SSDs also depends on capacity: we have 700 TBW for the 1 TB model, 1400 TBW for the 2 TB model and 3,000 TBW for the top-of-the-line model, 4TB. This, coupled with its 5-year manufacturer’s warranty, means that, taking the 4TB model as an example, we could write 1643GB per day to the SSD for 5 years, or 32 GB per day (the average for a gaming PC) for nothing more and nothing less than 250 years.
In addition to a noticeable increase in performance over the previous Cardea A440, this new Pro model also features a new aluminum heatsink design which, according to the manufacturer, improves the operating temperature by up to 48%, reducing considerably the possibility of thermal throttling to occur and its maximum durability is reduced by overheating.
The graphene heatsink, of course, is the same as we’ve seen in previous models, and while it improves the temperature a lot over the lack of a heat sink and also avoids thermal throttling, it is obviously not as efficient when it comes to dissipating heat like the aluminum heat sink, which as you can see in the pictures has a considerable height.
Pricing and availability
According to TeamGroup, this new PCIe 4.0 NVMe 1.4 SSD will be available in capacities of 1TB, 2TB and 4TB between mid and late November 2021, at a price that will depend on its capacity and the type of heatsink chosen:
- Aluminum heatsink: 1TB for $ 209.99, 2TB for $ 395.99, 4TB for $ 989.99.
- Graphene heatsink: 1TB for $ 189.99, 2TB for $ 359.99, 4TB for $ 899.99.
