Ever since SSDs were released, loading times and PC games have benefited a lot from the longer durability and faster read and write speeds they brought with them. From normal SSDs, we have now shifted towards M.2 NVMe SSDs that even make the normal SSDs look like fossils with their blazing fast read and write times. One such brand that has been delivering some excellent NVMe SSDs is Teamgroup’s gaming brand T-Force and this time around, they’ve joined hands for an all-new Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD. This is our review of the 512GB variant of the Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD.
Technical Specs
Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD is a result of a collaboration between two great names in PC gaming. T-Force has developed the Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD with the help of ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance where the TUF Gaming Alliance has tried and tested the NVMe and given its certification. It features T-Force’s patented gaming cooling fin which not only allows natural convection but also forced air cooling with the help of an outside fan to enhance heat dissipation and thus keeping the temperatures low ensuring high-speeds even at full speeds.
It also features the NVMe 1.3 protocol along with high-speed PCIe Gen3x4. The marketed sequential read/write speed is 3400/3000 MB/s whereas random read/write speed is up to 450K/400K IOPS. This drive is suitable for prolonged gaming sessions as the cooling fin can keep the temperatures of the SSD low even when the drive is running at full speed for longer periods of time. Concluding the specs, it also comes with various life-enhancing features such as Global Wear-Levelling technology, Error Correction Code, and Windows TRIM support.
What’s Inside the Box?
Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD comes in a small packed box that shows which variant you’ve purchased along with some of the major specs printed all over the box. It also shows the TUF Gaming Alliance logo at the bottom-right which represents that this is the special edition of the NVMe since T-Force also has the normal variant of Cardea II M.2 PCIe SSD.
Test Bench
We have been testing the Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD for almost two weeks now and it is now a permanent resident of our test bench. All our future NVMe comparisons and transfer testing will be done using this very NVMe drive. Our test bench specs for this review were:
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700x
- Motherboard: Auros X570 Elite Wi-Fi
- Graphics Card: AMD Radeon 5700 XT
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16
- PSU: Cougar 750w
Benchmarks
Our test phase for the Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD has been really long. We have been vigorously testing the NVMe in extreme gaming conditions and since the day it was plugged into our system, we have reviewed countless video games installed in this SSD. Due to its excellent performance, as of now, this is a permanent resident of our test bench with other SSDs and NVMes continuously going in and out of the test bench. For testing out the speeds and other factors, we used the normal review tools that we use for every other HDD or SSD. You can check them out below:
Atto
Atto
CrystalDiskMark
HD Tune Pro
HD Tune Pro
HD Tune Pro
HD Tune Pro
Windows File Transfer
Final Verdict:
T-Force Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD carries two extremely powerful names in its initials. Both T-Force and ASUS TUF create some of the best gaming hardware currently in the market and this merger is no short of a surprise. The result is an extremely efficient and superfast NVMe that can run for extremely long durations of time without setting itself on fire. The big T-Force gaming fin works miracles for the NVMe and the ASUS TUF Gaming Alliance certification proves that this NVMe is for serious gamers only. With a beautiful black and white theme, this NVMe is really to speed up your gaming in all sorts of gaming rigs. If you play video games for a long time and you need an NVMe that does not heat up and slow down then I will highly recommend that you go for the T-Force Cardea II TUF Gaming Alliance M.2 PCIe SSD.
