T-Force Cardea A440 M.2 NVMe SSD 1TB Review

How Much Does it Cost?

This is a high-end drive from a premium brand, and it comes equipped with high-end components and even two awesome coolers in one package. As such, that is reflected in the price and the TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 1TB will set you back £149 (183 with import fees) and the TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 2TB is a heftier £292 (£359 with import fees).

Overview

Obviously, this kind of SSD isn’t for everyone, it’s a little more expensive than some and the capacities of 1TB and 2TB mean there aren’t any more affordable versions of the drive either. However, the market is full of mid-range and more affordable drives, so it’s not like you’ve got no other options. Of course, if you do need a larger capacity drive with no compromise on build quality and performance, then I think I’m being pretty fair in saying you’ll get both from the TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 1TB (and the 2TB).

Team Group has a strong history of high-performance memory and storage products. They’ve long been one of my favourites, and that still holds true today. Their T-Force range is built for the best in gaming and high-end PC performance, and the new A440 is certainly a welcome addition to that range.

Of course, they had a similar model that we reviewed last year, and clearly, the Gen 4 technology has evolved well since then. The drives last year were running at around 5000 MB/s each way, and the new model pushed around 7000 Mb/s. That’s extremely fast, and if you’re working with high-resolution uncompressed assets, or just wanting swift loading times for your favourite games, it’s about the best performance you can ask for these days. Well, without going into RAID setups, at least.

The choice of components goes a long way, and the Carder A440 users some of the most established and well-known components and brands on the market today. The Phison E14 controller paired up with the best 96-layer TLC NAND really does make this drive the sum of its parts. However, the addition of those two cooler options really does give this drive a bit of an edge, so you can always get the best performance, no matter what kind of system it is installed in.

Should I Buy One?

It’s one of the fastest drives on the market today, from a great brand name, using great quality components. Sure, it’s a little bit expensive, but when you’re up into the extreme end of hardware like this, that’s to be expected. It’s roughly the same price as rival products from Samsung, Aorus, Sabrent and a few others, but as you say in the benchmarks, it’s got what it takes to compete with whatever any rival has to offer.