ADATA Legend 970 Pro PCIe Gen5 x4 M.2 SSD Review

We all love fast storage, anything that means quicker game loading times, faster applications, improved rendering speeds and swift file transfers is going to make for a fantastic PC user experience. The ADATA Legend 970 Pro enters the PCIe Gen5 SSD arena with a promise of blistering speeds and a suite of robust features. Boasting sequential read/write speeds that decimate what was on offer from PCIe Gen 4, this SSD aims to tick all the boxes for the enthusiast PC user.

ADATA Legend 970 Pro

ADATA has equipped the Legend 970 Pro with an arsenal of cutting-edge technology, including the new InnoGrit IG5666 controller, 232-layer Micron 3D TLC NAND, and a generous DRAM cache, all of which help push the massive read and write speeds. While this isn’t the first, or even the last PCIe Gen5 drive that can deliver massive speeds, that doesn’t take away from its capabilities. Their new drives can reach up to 14,000 MB/s for read and 11,000 MB/s for write speeds on the 4TB version, making that easily one of the fastest consumer drives on the market right now. However, the 1TB model we have is a bit different and caps at 13,000 MB/s read and 5800 MB/s write. Furthermore, ADATA has equipped it with an innovative active cooling solution, ensuring it can maintain that performance even under extreme use cases.

Key Features

• Blazing-fast speeds: Sequential read/write speeds of up to 14,000/11,000MB per second, which is about twice the performance of PCIe Gen4 SSDs and 8x faster than standard Gen3 SSDs.
• Active Cooling: Features a unique, patented thermal solution with a dual-layer aluminium alloy heatsink and a small, built-in fan to ensure optimal operating temperatures even under heavy loads. This active cooling system draws power directly from the M.2 slot, eliminating the need for extra cables.
• Enhanced Data Integrity: Utilises LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check Code) error correction mechanism and TCG OPAL encryption to ensure data accuracy and security.
• Increased Efficiency: Equipped with an SLC caching algorithm and DRAM Cache Buffer for efficient system loading and data caching.
• Wide Compatibility: Supports the latest Intel and AMD platforms and is backwards compatible with PCIe 4.0 and 3.0 platforms.

The Legend 970 Pro prioritises data integrity and efficiency with features like LDPC error correction and SLC caching. With a 5-year warranty and broad compatibility across both Intel and AMD platforms, this SSD is ticking all the right boxes.

Specifications

• Interface: PCIe Gen5 x4
• NVMe Standard: NVMe 2.0
• Form Factor: M.2 2280
• Capacities: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB
• Controller: InnoGrit
• NAND Flash: 232-layer Micron 3D TLC NAND
• DRAM Cache: 2GB/4GB/8GB DDR4 (depending on capacity)
• Sequential Read/Write Speeds: Up to 14,000/11,000 MB/s
• Random 4K Read/Write: Up to 1,800K/1,300K IOPS
• TBW (Terabytes Written): Varies by capacity (e.g., 2TB model has 2000 TBW)
• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure): 1.6 million hours
• Warranty: 5 years