In the following, we will review the MSI Spatium M480 SSD, an M.2 NVMe memory with a volume of 2 TB.
Today’s motherboards are equipped with several ports for connecting M.2 memories, and due to the availability of this type of storage in different volumes at a reasonable price, using M.2 memories instead of 2.5-inch SSDs or hard drives has become a priority. Ease of installation, no need for cables, and occupying the case space are among the advantages of M.2 memory compared to other storage devices of the internal type (inside the case).
In this regard, most reputable brands, including MSI, have started producing M.2 memories, and the Spatium M480 model, using the PCIe 4.0 bandwidth, offers consecutive reading and writing speeds of 7000MB/s and 6800MB/s for a 2TB sample. Such a speed makes the MSI Spatium M480 SSD among the fastest PCIe 4.0-based memories in the high-end class.
Of course, the 2 TB volume of this high-speed SSD will be costly.
Spatium M480 is also produced in two other books of 500GB and 1TB, which have a more balanced price, and if you are looking for a high-speed memory but do not need a 2TB space, these two capacities have a high purchase value.
In Spatium M480, the components are placed on both sides of the printed circuit and are 2.15 mm thick. Also, according to the 2280 standard, the length and width of this m2 memory are 80 and 22 mm, respectively.
The socket and communication interface of Spatium M480 SSD is M2 M-Key and PCIe NVMe.
The controller used in Spatium M480 is the high-end Phison E18 chip. This chip is used in most high-end and high-speed PCIe 4.0-based memory due to its outstanding capabilities and providing a maximum continuous speed of 7400/7000MB/s for reading and writing. This controller works under the NVMe 1.4 and PCIe 4.0 standards and supports most available encryption, such as AES 256/SHA3 256/RSA4096 and E2E Protection.
Also, due to the support of DRAM memory in this controller, for the example of 2 TB SSD Spatium M480, the 2 GB RAM of DDR4 type is considered a cache.
Although we couldn’t see the NAND chips used under the labels, and the type or manufacturer is not mentioned on MSI’s website, according to the TBW value for different volumes, some TLC multilayer chips are used in Spatium M480 memories. Work is done
MSI has added a System Diagnosis section to MSI Center to monitor and back up memory, where you can see SSD temperature, accessible, and occupied volume. If you don’t use the ecosystem or at least the MSI motherboard, installing this software is not helpful for SSD memory monitors.
Installing and checking the performance of Spatium M480 SSD
It should be noted that in all the tests, Bios settings are set in default mode, and only the XMP function is enabled for memory modules. Also, to support and get maximum performance from SSD memory, this module is installed in the dedicated M.2 slot that receives PCIe 4.0 X4 bandwidth from the processor.
Performance testing with Anvil’s Storage Utilities
This software has different sections to check the speed and durability of the storage device, which can perform a detailed check of the read speed, write speed, access time, and other parameters of each drive by creating test files in different volumes and compression rates, and at the end by summarizing the performance and Assigning points makes it easy to compare other movements.
Although technically and “at the same volume,” the Spatium M480 is not faster than the eData S70, the higher speed at higher volume gives the advantage in the chart above. We remember that in SSDs with a higher volume, the rate of continuous writing also increases due to the use of more data transfer channels.
Performance test with ATTO Disk Benchmark
ATTO software is one of the oldest storage device test programs that can provide the user with more accurate information about the caching process and the speed of the storage device by accurately measuring the read and write rate at each stage. In the chart, the horizontal axis is arranged in increments based on the predetermined software blocks from 512B to 64MB.
Performance tests with CrystalDiskMark
CrystalDiskMark is one of the most reliable software for measuring the performance of all storage equipment (even portable equipment) by simulating file transfer in several different Block Sizes, two different algorithms (Sequential and Random), and as Multi Queues & Threads/Single. In this test, we tried to simulate daily usage and work with larger files by changing the size of the software-generated test file.
As mentioned, in SSDs with higher volume, the speed of continuous writing also increases due to the use of more data transfer channels. This is also why Spatium M480 2TB is superior to Gammix S70 1TB in continuous write speed.
Although high-speed SSDs are fast enough to complete some performance tests quickly, they also generate a lot of heat that becomes impossible to dissipate as the test time increases without a heatsink or active cooling.
Checking the memory temperature of the Spatium M480 when running tests that require more time (such as ATTO or CrystalDiskMark with a 32GB test file), the temperature rose to more than 72°C, which resulted in performance degradation in the tests.
MSI SSD performance test with AS SSD Benchmark
This software, like Anvil’s Storage Utilities software, measures the efficiency of storage equipment using several algorithms, and finally, assigning a final score makes it easy to compare the efficiency of storage equipment with each other. Of course, this software has two different tests apart from this section.
The first test, Copy Benchmark, is used to simulate the transfer of files such as ISO and files in games and software, and the second test, called Compression-Benchmark, transfers data with a compression ratio of 0 to 100% to the host drive. And then calls them.
PCMark 8 tests
Like the PassMark software, this software has a complete set for testing various parts such as graphics card, processor, and storage device, and its tests for measuring the storage device are considered one of the most complete and practical among hardware testing software.
The tests carried out by PCMark8 include:
- Running Adobe software, measuring the loading speed, and simulating the loading of files with different sizes.
- Affecting the running of Microsoft Office software and loading the file in each.
- Running several games and measuring the loading speed in various stages.
MSI Spatium M480 M.2 SSD memory with a capacity of two terabytes is a valuable memory based on the PCIe 4.0 interface in terms of performance, which can quickly meet users’ needs, especially gamers. Of course, the size of two terabytes is still considered expensive for some gamers or ordinary users, and the one-terabyte version may be a better choice regarding purchase value.
Advanced and high-speed controllers generate a lot of heat after testing and running various tests. Although normal usage, such as the 50 GB file copy test, is done so quickly that the heat does not have much effect on its final performance, for users who work with a large number of files in a short period, we suggest to get the maximum performance and extend the life of their SSD; they must use the heatsink for Spatium M480 or the heatsink model of the same model, which is called Spatium M480 HS. Prepare.