On the subject of storage options that push the boundaries of velocity and reliability, the Acer FA200 stands out as a formidable contender. Engineered for players, content material creators, and energy customers, this PCIe 4.0 SSD is constructed to ship blistering efficiency. On the coronary heart of the FA200 is a high-performance controller paired with premium NAND flash, guaranteeing not solely speedy information switch charges but in addition long-term sturdiness.
With an NVMe 2.0 interface, the drive achieves a outstanding sequential learn velocity of as much as 7200 MB/s, making it one of many quickest choices obtainable available in the market. Its single-sided M.2 2280 design presents wide-ranging compatibility, from desktops and laptops to the PlayStation 5, positioning it as a super alternative for anybody trying to improve their storage capabilities.
In at this time’s evaluate, we’ll be diving deep into the Acer FA200, a high-end NVMe SSD generously supplied by Acer/Biwin for testing. We’ll discover its real-world efficiency, assess its design and construct high quality, and decide the way it stacks up in opposition to different SSDs in its class. Whether or not you’re trying to improve your current system or construct a brand new one from the bottom up, this evaluate offers you all of the insights it’s essential determine if the Acer FA200 is the correct alternative to your storage wants.
Unboxing
The product is packaged in a white and inexperienced field, with the entrance showcasing a picture of the SSD together with its capability, guarantee interval, and a number of other producer seals. The again of the packaging supplies further transient data and an outline of the SSD.
After eradicating the highest packaging layer, you’ll discover the drive securely positioned inside a clear plastic mildew, guaranteeing it stays fastened throughout transit. Alongside the SSD, the package deal features a screw for set up and a Fast Begin Information that can assist you get began shortly and simply.
Nearer Look
On the entrance facet of the SSD, a distinguished sticker that includes the Acer brand instantly catches the attention. Nevertheless, this isn’t only a easy branding component—it’s a complicated graphene thermal pad designed to assist in warmth dissipation. Using graphene, identified for its distinctive thermal conductivity, ensures that the SSD maintains optimum temperatures even below heavy workloads. This intelligent integration of performance with aesthetics highlights the eye to element within the SSD’s design. On the reverse facet, the drive options a further sticker that gives important particulars comparable to serial numbers and the SSD’s code title, including a layer of traceability and authenticity.
The SSD conforms to the broadly adopted M.2 2280 type issue, making it appropriate with an unlimited vary of contemporary units, from laptops to desktops. This versatility ensures that the FA200 may be simply built-in into most techniques with none bodily compatibility points. Moreover, Acer has included a free digital model of Acronis software program, obtainable for obtain from the Acer Storage web site. This software program facilitates the seamless migration of knowledge and the working system from an older drive to the brand new SSD, streamlining the improve course of and guaranteeing that customers can shortly and effectively transition to their new storage resolution.
After peeling off the highest sticker, the SSD reveals a single-sided design, that means all of its parts are situated on one facet of the PCB, whatever the capability. This design alternative considerably aids in cooling effectivity, because it permits for higher warmth dissipation from the energetic parts. On the entrance of the PCB, you possibly can clearly see the important thing parts: the controller chip, 4 NAND Flash modules, the Energy Administration Built-in Circuit (PMIC), and numerous Voltage Regulation Module (VRM) parts. This format ensures optimum efficiency and stability, whereas the single-sided configuration simplifies the drive’s thermal administration.
This SSD is provided with a MaxioTech MAP1602A – F3C controller and a 32-bit ISA ARM design that includes 4 Cortex® R5 cores. It’s manufactured utilizing TSMC’s 12nm course of. This setup is on par with controllers from well-known manufacturers like Phison and Silicon Movement. Notably, the MAP1602A – F3C is a DRAM-less controller, counting on Host Reminiscence Buffer (HMB) expertise to handle metadata tables. It helps 4 communication channels with a bus velocity of as much as 2400 MT/s, setting it other than different Gen4 DRAM-less controllers that usually cap at 1600 MT/s. Moreover, it could actually help as much as 16 dies by way of “Chip allow” instructions, permitting for direct bodily connections to the NAND dies, which themselves function at 2400 MT/s.
Each high-end SSD that seeks to ship persistently excessive efficiency requires a buffer to retailer its mapping tables, such because the Flash Translation Layer or Look-up Desk. This buffer is essential for enhancing random efficiency and responsiveness. Nevertheless, since this SSD makes use of a DRAM-less controller, it lacks a devoted DRAM cache. To compensate, it allocates 40 MiB of the system’s RAM to retailer the metadata desk, which helps velocity up entry and keep environment friendly operation.
The 2TB SSD options 4 NAND flash chips, recognized as “BWN0AQF1B1HCAD,” that are rebranded by BIWIN. Biwin, the official OEM, is answerable for manufacturing the PCBs utilized in SSDs for each Acer and HP. These NAND chips, produced by the Chinese language producer YMTC, are X3-6070 QLC fashions with 1Tb (128GB) dies. They incorporate 232 layers of knowledge storage and 253 gates, leading to an array effectivity of 91.7%. Particularly, of the 253 layers current within the SSD, 232 are utilized for storage, contributing to this excessive effectivity.
On this SSD configuration, every NAND flash chip contains 4 1Tb dies, delivering a complete density of 512GB per chip and aggregating to 2TB throughout all chips. These NANDs interface with the controller by way of a most bus velocity of 2400 MT/s, enhancing general efficiency. Every die is structured with 4 planes, which facilitates elevated parallelism and improved efficiency throughout entry operations. On the time of research, these new QLC dies from YMTC are among the many quickest QLC dies obtainable.
Benchmark Check
Subsequent, we are going to conduct an intensive efficiency evaluation of the Acer FA200 SSD utilizing each benchmarking software program and real-world information switch situations. The checks will probably be carried out on a system geared up with an Intel® Core™ i7-13700K processor and an MSI MPG Z690 FORCE WIFI DDR5 motherboard. To judge the SSD’s efficiency, we are going to make the most of a number of industry-standard benchmarking instruments.
On this check, the Netac Acer FA200 2TB SSD will probably be put in within the first M.2 slot of the motherboard. This slot is instantly linked to the processor and helps PCIe4.0×4 transmission expertise, which might be sure that its efficiency is not going to be affected by different {hardware}. On the similar time, with the intention to check the temperature efficiency of the solid-state drive and the warmth dissipation impact of the radiator, the aluminum alloy radiator that comes with the motherboard is not going to be used for testing.
In keeping with CrystalDiskInfo, the Acer A200 SSD operates in PCIe 4.0×4 mode and adheres to the NVMe 2.0 technical customary. It helps options comparable to SMART, TRIM, and VolatileWriteCache. The 2TB model supplies 1.81 TB of usable cupboard space. All subsequent benchmark efficiency checks have been carried out on an empty disk.
Utilizing CrystalDiskMark benchmark software program, the Acer A200 SSD demonstrated spectacular efficiency, reaching sequential learn and write speeds of 7045 MB/s and 6266 MB/s, respectively, aligning with the producer’s specified scores. Moreover, the 4K single-thread random learn and write speeds have been recorded at 89 MB/s and 330 MB/s. The drive additionally delivered distinctive random learn and write speeds, reaching 30,77,53.66 IOPS and 13,35,42.48 IOPS, respectively.
The Acer A200 delivers excellent efficiency within the CMD benchmark check, rating among the many greatest. Within the AS SSD Benchmark check, it achieves sequential learn and write speeds of 5964MB/s and 5746MB/s, respectively. Moreover, its 4K single-thread random learn and write speeds are 79MB/s and 321MB/s, culminating in a powerful complete rating of 6906 factors.
The ATTO Disk Benchmark software program evaluates the learn and write efficiency of the Acer A200 by testing information packets of various sizes, from 0.5KB to 64MB. For smaller recordsdata, comparable to 4KB, the learn and write speeds are 738MB/s and 667MB/s, respectively. When the info measurement exceeds 512KB, the system reaches its most efficiency, reaching learn and write speeds of as much as 6.54GB/s and 5.57GB/s, respectively.
Within the HD Tune benchmark software program, configure the file benchmark mode with a file size of 150GB and set the info mode to combined. This setup simulates steady studying and writing of 150GB of knowledge on the SSD. When the disk is empty, the SLC cache exceeds 150GB, leading to a constant studying velocity of roughly 6.1GB/s and a writing velocity of 5.7GB/s, with no efficiency degradation through the course of.
To judge the efficiency of the SSD drive in gaming situations, the 3DMark benchmark software program was used, particularly specializing in storage benchmarks. These checks simulate numerous gaming-related duties, together with sport set up, loading, and video recording. The Acer A200 achieved a check rating of three,575 factors, with a median bandwidth of 609.43 MB/s and a median entry time of fifty microseconds. Moreover, the drive’s bandwidth for cellular gaming situations reached 3,079 MB/s.
Gaming Efficiency
Excessive learn and write speeds are essential for decreasing loading occasions in video games, and enhancing the general gaming expertise. As an illustration, within the “Closing Fantasy 14” Benchmark, the loading time is a swift 5.178 seconds. Equally, the open-world sport “Forspoken,” additionally by SQUARE ENIX, showcases spectacular visible results, though its plot will not be as participating. The sport’s built-in Benchmark perform measures each loading time and body charge, with the primary metropolis scene loading in simply 0.663 seconds and even the extra complicated bush scene taking just one.407 seconds.
Past the spectacular benchmark scores, the real-world efficiency of solid-state drives (SSDs) considerably impacts gameplay, particularly in large-scale open-world video games like “PUBG,” “Forza Horizon 5,” “Elden Ring,” and “Monster Hunter: World.” These video games require fixed background loading of scene information as gamers navigate expansive environments. For instance, in “Forza Horizon 5,” gamers driving at excessive speeds depend on quick SSD learn speeds to stop points like “inadequate streaming bandwidth” warnings or the sudden look of on-screen components comparable to bushes or buildings. With high-performance SSDs, just like the Acer A200, gameplay stays easy and uninterrupted, guaranteeing a seamless gaming expertise.
Conclusion
I am Jani, a devoted Tech Author and Reviewer at Xiaomitoday. With a ardour for exploring and dissecting the newest in expertise, my mission is to deliver you insightful and complete evaluations that empower your decision-making within the fast-evolving world of devices and tech.