Conclusion, Pricing, and Final Thoughts

Conclusion

PROS

  • Impressive sequential read performance.
  • Excellent read throughput in mixed workloads.
  • *Very* competitive cost/GB(/performance).

CONS

  • Caching was noted to be inconsistent.

Pricing, Endurance, and Warranty (street price at the time of this writing)

  • XPG SX8200
    • 240GB – $90   ($0.38/GB) (160 TBW)
    • 480GB – $170 ($0.35/GB) (320 TBW)
    • 960GB – $350 ($0.36/GB) (640 TBW)
    • 2TB      – $? (coming later this year)

The ADATA XPG SX8200 ships with a 5-year warranty. The MSRP's initially announced were significantly higher, but the street price of ADATA SSDs historically runs far lower, as is the case here. The sweet spot 480GB part currently runs $30 cheaper than the Samsung 970 EVO 500GB, but note that you lose 20GB of capacity going with the SX8200 (Samsung's equivalent part currently runs at ~$0.40/GB).

Final Thoughts

 

I've been more and more impressed by what the 'aftermarket' SSD controllers can offer in terms of capabilities and performance. Here we have a cost-friendly offering from ADATA's XPG line, pairing the SM2262 with IMFT 3D NAND, and turning in chart-topping figures in some of the more important performance metrics measured by our test suite. Solid endurance ratings and a 5-year warranty round off a competitive solution that can only help push NVMe SSDs into even more affordable market sectors. The ADATA XPG SX8200 offers surprising performance from what would otherwise be considered a budget SSD.

Strongly recommended for system builders/upgraders looking for a cost-effective middle ground between true 'budget' SSDs and more expensive offerings.

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