It’s crazy to think of har far PC storage has come in the last 10 years or so. From the introduction of the SSD to the blistering fast NVMe SSDs we have now! Not only have they gotten faster, but they also have much bigger capacities now. Oh, and whoever thought of getting rid of the wires and having M.2 drives plug directly into the motherboard was a genius.
Today, we are going to be taking a look at the Apacer AS2280Q4X PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD. This SSD boasts speeds of 5,000MB/s read and 4,400MB/s write and comes with a graphene heat spreader to keep it as cool as possible. The AS2280Q4X comes in capacities up to 4TB and comes backed by a 3-year global warranty for peace of mind.
Specifications
- Product Name: AS2280Q4X
- Capacity: 512GB~4TB
- Interface: PCIe Gen4 x4
- NAND Flash: 3D NAND
- Sequential Read Performance: up to 5,000 MB/s
- Sequential Write Performance: up to 4,400 MB/s
**The performance may vary due to host hardware, software, usage, and storage capacity - IOPs (4K Random Write): Up to 750K IOPs
- Shock: 1,500G/0.5msec
- MTBF: >1,5000,000 hours
- Standard Operating Temperature: 0°C ~ +70°C
- Storage Temperature: -40°C ~ +85°C
- Dimensions: Single side: (L)80.00 x (W)22.00 x (H)2.25mm。Double side: (L)80.00 x (W)22.00 x (H)3.5mm。Single side: 7.6g。Double side: 10.2g
- Accessory: Heat Spreader
*Free accessory without warranty. - Certificate: CE, UKCA, FCC, VCCI, BSMI, RoHS
- Warranty: 3 Years
*The SSD is based on the TBW or Warranty period.
Closer Look
There isn’t a whole lot going with the packaging for the AS2280Q4X but there is a nice image of the SSD on the front.
The graphene heat spreader comes separately in the packaging. This is nice to see as if you don’t need it, you don’t have to take it off, you can just set it to the side. A lot of motherboards come with their own heat spreaders these days so you don’t require the SSD itself to have one.
As mentioned this drive comes in multiple capacities which is why there are 4 areas for NAND flash. As we have the 2TB model, we can see 2x 1TB NAND flash chips on our drive.
The YMC6G008Tb78DA1C0 is a TLC (Triple-Level Cell) 3D NAND flash BGA package produced by YMTC. It features eight stacked EET1A dies in a single stack making it a 232-layer NAND
Apacer is using the MaxioTech MAP1602A Falcon Lite controller for their AS2280Q4X drive. This controller is on a 12nm process, is based on the ARM 32-Bit Cortex-R5 Architecture.
Test System and Results
For testing, the following system was used:
Motherboard: Asrock Z790 Taichi Lite
CPU: Intel Core i7-13700KF
Memory: Apacer NOX 32GB (16×2) 6000MHz DDR5
Storage: OCPC MBL-400 1TB NVMe SSD
Operating System: Windows 11 with all updates
CrystalDiskMark
ATTO Disk Benchmark
AS SSD Benchmark
Final Words
The Apacer AS2280Q4X has surprised me when it came to testing. It’s not uncommon for an NVMe to surpass its rated speeds. However, it normally isn’t by quite as much as the AS2280Q4X. With this drive, we are seeing we are seeing an additional 2,000MB/s on both the read in write, which is absolutely ridiculous! It almost seems as if the speeds aren’t stated correctly somehow but one thing is for sure, I am not going to complain.
Coming with an MSRP of $156.00, you are getting a lot of drive for your money. The price itself sets the Apacer AS2280Q4X in the mid-range market. However, the performance is putting it up toward the top end in our in-house testing. Even the AS SSD benchmark results were well above the stated speeds from Apacer.
When all is said and done, the AS2280Q4X is a blistering fast drive that will be a great addition to any PC or laptop. It comes with a 3-year warranty and while that not be the best, it is around the average for a drive of this caliber. Remembering that the AS2280Q4X doesn’t come with the heatsink installed. Instead, it is separate in the package which is also a nice touch.
