T-FORCE 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE ARGB SSD Review

T-FORCE 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE ARGB SSD Review

Eighteen months ago, BTR reviewed a 500GB T-FORCE DELTA MAX which visually stands out from other SATA III solid state drives (SSD). It’s mirrorlike black surface uses an addressable RGB (ARGB) module to transform its top surface into “water flowing” lighting in multiple colors. The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE RGB SSD is designed to give discriminating PC gamers a color choice to make this SSD the focus of a beautifully lit all-white build PC. The DELTA MAX SSD has a dual control interface, providing 5V and USB 10-pin ports for synchronized lighting effects. In addition, it features 3D NAND flash memory that protects player data and with a smart management system that helps prolong its lifespan. We will focus on performance to see if it matches up to its eye-pleasing design and we will compare it with six other SSDs.

The DELTA MAX SSD is a fast 1TB SATA III drive with Read/Write specs of 560MBps Read/510MB/s Write. Although its specifications indicate that it is slower than PCIe NVMe SSDs, we want to see if it will make a practical difference for gamers and if SATA III is relevant to high-end PC gaming.

Our 1TB DELTA MAX review sample came directly from TeamGroup, and we will focus on its performance by comparing it with five other SSDs. Besides benchmarking the DELTA MAX, we are going to focus on our other four fastest PCIe NVMe drives – the 1TB CARDEA Ceramic C440, the CAEDEA IOPS SSD, the CARDEA Liquid 512GB SSD, and the 1TB MP33 SSD – as well as our fastest SATA III SSD, the T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB drive.

The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE is currently $112.49 at Amazon and the black version is also $112.49, the lowest price we have seen in weeks. The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $53.99 and the 1TB version is $92.69; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $84.99, but the 1TB version is $139.49; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $89.99. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is a Gen 4 x4 drive currently premium priced $160.99 at Amazon as a 5000MBps/ 4400MBps drive. However, the 1TB CARDEA IOPS drive is priced at $129.99. and it is a Gen3 x4 PCIe M.2 2280 SSD with Read/Write Speed up to 3400/3000 MB/s

BTR’s test setup uses Windows 10 64-bit featuring an Intel Core i9-10900K overclocked to 5.1/5.0GHz for all cores as set in the EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard’s BIOS, and 16 GB of T-FORCE XTREEM DDR4 at 3600MHz. The settings and hardware are identical except for the four drives being tested, and the graphics are powered by Intel’s integrated CPU graphics.

We benchmark with all of our drives at less than 80% capacity, and in addition, all of the drives have been in use for months except for the DELTA MAX which has been “dirtied” using IOmeter as well as cloned from another SSD, so our benchmarking tends to give more real world performance results over using brand new drives. Here are the features and specifications of the T-FORCE DELTA MAX taken directly from TeamGroup’s website.

FEATURES

• Translucent Aurora White
• Largest translucent area for you to switch at will
• Smart optimization
• The world’s first dual control interface
• Supports multiple lighting control software
• Taiwan Utility Patent (number?M583110)
• Taiwan Invention Patent (number?I697761)
• United States Patent (number?US10803713B1)
• China Utility Patent (number?CN 209766039 U)

Specifications

The specifications are also found on the TeamGroup website and it is the same for either the black or the white DELTA MAX. TeamGroup’s SATA SSDs comes with a 3-year warranty while their NVMe PCIe SSDs have 5 years.

The difference between the two DELTA MAX SSDs are in their surface color.

The original DELTA MAX SSD we reviewed was glossy black while this one is Aurora White. The White DELTA MAX obviously will go best in an all-white build, but we think it fits nicely in a mostly black build also.

The only lighting differences are that the ever-changing colors are a bit more intense on the regular DELTA MAX than with the White edition (below).

Above all else, both DELTA MAX are very good looking SSDs that would look good in any build but the White edition would look great especially in an all-white build.

Next we unbox the T-FORCE DELTA MAX and take a closer look at it.

Unboxing and a Closer Look

The DELTA MAX 1TB SATA SSD comes in a small box with a warning that it is “for MB with 5V ADD/USB 9pin Header“. You must have either option available or it will not light up. If you don’t plan to light it up, this SSD is more expensive for performance than non-RGB SSDs. The White Edition of the DELTA MAX uses a “White Edition” outer cover over the standard edition box.

The rear side of the outer box (which is the same as the inner box) gives some specifications that show it is certainly fast for a SATA III SSD with Read speeds up to 560MB/s and Write speeds up to 510MB/s. The ARGB lighting is compatible with Razer, ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI, and ASRock lighting control software.

The DELTA MAX arrives well-protected by its packaging.

Here is a closer look at the DELTA MAX SSD White edition which looks great with an all-white surface with its stylized T-FORCE logo in silver. The top surface is not as easy to smudge with fingerprints as the regular black glossy edition, but a small micro fiber cloth is included to polish it.

The back of the SSD comes with a warning label not to remove it.

Both the regular and the White edition use an additional micro USB connection beside the SATA and SATA power cables and it is used for the RGB lighting depending on how you connect it to your motherboard.

The first cable is to connect to the 5V ADD motherboard header connector and its other end uses a micro-USB connector to the DELTA MAX SSD. The second connects to a motherboard’s USB 9-pin header. We used our EVGA Z370 FTW’s 9-pin USB header to access the built-in lighting mode.

After installing the SSD, the user may need to format it before using it. If you are planning to clone it, make sure both disks are GUID or convert one of them first. Make sure to plug it in to the motherboard and the extra USB Type C connector to the SSD and enjoy the light show. We think that either the white or the black SSD looks awesome in any PC.

Lets look at our test configuration next.

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i9-10900K (HyperThreading and Turbo boost is locked on to 5.1/5.0GHz for all eight cores. Comet Lake DX11 CPU graphics.
• EVGA Z490 FTW motherboard (Intel Z390 chipset, latest BIOS with Resizable BAR enabled, PCIe 3.0/3.1/3.1 – USB 3.0 Type-C specification, CrossFire/SLI 8x+8x)
• T-FORCE XTREEM 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB, dual channel at 3866MHz), supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
• T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD, supplied by TeamGroup
• ANTEC HCG1000 Extreme, 1000W gold power supply unit
• DEEPCOOL Castle 360EX AIO 360mm liquid CPU cooler
• Phanteks Eclipse P400 ATX mid-tower (plus 1 Noctua 140mm fan)
• BenQ EW3270U 32? 4K HDR 60Hz FreeSync monitor

Test Configuration – Software

• Intel’s drivers. v30.0.100.9466
• Gaming results show loading time in seconds and lower is better
• Windows 10 64-bit Pro edition; latest updates v10.01904 Build 19042.
• Latest DirectX
• All benchmarking programs are updated to their latest versions
• IOmeter
• HD Tach
• HD Tune
• AS SSD
• ATTO
• Crystal DiskMark
• S.M.A.R.T. Tool (TeamGroup)

PC Game & Level Loading Suite

• World of Warcraft (PCMark 8)
• Battlefield 3 (PCMark 8)
• Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers benchmark – loading times of five levels each

Synthetic Benching Suites

• SiSoft Sandra 2020
• AIDA64
• PCMark 8
• PCMark 10
• SPECworkstation3 (3.0.4) Benchmarks
• Anvil’s Storage Utilities
• TxBENCH

Let’s head to our benching results.

Benchmarking the DELTA MAX SSD

Benchmarking SSDs are not an exact science as there is variability between runs, and different benchmarks may show different results depending on how they run their tests and how up-to-date the benchmarks are. However, by using enough real world and synthetic tests, it may be possible to get a good idea of the relative performance across all six tested drives. For benchmark results, the drives are generally listed in the following order on the charts:

1. T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III 1TB SS
2. T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD
3. Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe SSD
4. T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
5. T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD
6. T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB PCIe Gen 4 x4 NVMe SSD

We did not set up Windows on the Vulcan SSD, so not all of the benchmarks could be run on it. All of the drives will have their results summarized in multiple charts. Let’s start first with TeamGroup’s own S.M.A.R.T. utility to get some information on each SSD.

S.M.A.R.T.

This TeamGroup S.M.A.R.T. utility is one that we recently discovered which gives more information in one place than many other disk tools.

First is the system and disk information for the DELTA MAX

S.M.A.R.T. also tests the drive with two sets of tests. First up, the DELTA MAX dual performance tests starting with MB/s.

Next the DELTA MAX performance dual test results given in IOPS.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures the DELTA MAX SATA III SSD latency.

We look at the performance tests in MB/s for the Vulcan SATA III SSD. Finally we look at the dual latency tests for the Vulcan SSD.Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the TeamGroup MP33 SSD. Next up, we look at the dual latency tests for the MP33 SSD.

Next we look at the performance tests in MB/s for the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Next we look at the dual latency tests for the CARDEA Liquid SSD.

Next the dual performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS.

Finally, S.M.A.R.T. measures latency for the CARDEA IOPS.

Next, the performance tests in MB/s for the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440. Next, S.M.A.R.T. measures latency for the CARDEA Ceramic C440.S.M.A.R.T. clearly shows the PCIe CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest SSD, followed by the CARDEA IOPS, then the CARDEA Liquid, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and in last places, the SATA III Vulcan SSD and the DELTA MAX offer similar performance although they do not reach their stated Read/Write speeds of 560/510 MBps.

TeamGroup’s S.M.A.R.T. tool is a great place to start, so let’s see what other synthetic and real world tests show. Let’s begin with PCMark 10.

PCMark 10

UL (formerly Futuremark) has been a developer and publisher of PC benchmark applications for nearly two decades. Although PCMark benches are synthetic tests, they provide a good measure of system performance. PCMark 10 was primarily developed for Windows 10 and it builds upon the PCMark 8 platform for a package of vendor-neutral home and office benchmarks.

Unfortunately, in comparison to PCMark 8, PCMark 10 is missing key elements including detailed storage testing, and it is not possible to test the Vulcan SATA SSD as an attached drive as with the older suite. We use both PCMark 10’s Express and Extended settings which are summarized after all of the screenshots are presented.

The Express benchmark suite is best suited for office tasks while the Extended benchmarks are for power users To properly compare the PCMark 10 scores, look at the detailed results that you want to compare. All of the SSD results are presented as screenshots. Open the images in separate tabs for easy individual test result comparisons.

Express benchmarks

First up is the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Express score with 5045.

We did not test the Vulcan SATA III SSD, so the Team Group MP33 NVM2 PCIe 1TB SSD Express scores 5428

Here are the Liquid CARDEA Express results with 5475

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS NVMe Express score with 5610.

Next up is the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe Express score with 5562.

Extended benchmarks

First up is the T-FORCE DELTA MAX White SATA III Extended score with 3530.

Again, we did not test the Vulcan SSD, so the Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 3699 on the Extended benchmark.

Here is the CARDEA Liquid Extended score with 3741.

Next up is the CARDEA IOPS Extended score with 3725.

Next up is the CARDEA Ceramic Extended score with 3758.

Here is the summary of the five drives that were tested.

Let’s check out PCMark 8 which uses dedicated storage tests.

PCMARK 8

T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD scores a bit higher than the DELTA MAX with 4965 including with a higher total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 250.30 MB/s. It took 58.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 133.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load making it slightly faster than the DELTA MAX.

The Team Group MP33 PCIe 1TB SSD scores 5003 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 308.96 MB/s. It took 58.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 132.5 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid 512GB NVMe SSD scores 5100 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 679.87 MB/s. It took 57.1 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.0 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

CARDEA IOPS NVMe scores 5102 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 706.48 MB/s. And of particular interest for gamers, it took 57.2 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 131.2 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

CARDEA Ceramic NVMe scores 5113 with a total Storage 2.0 Bandwidth of 815.80 MB/s. And of particular interest for gamers, it took 57.0 seconds to load World of Warcraft and 130.7 seconds for Battlefield 3 to load.

Here are the Sandra disk benchmarking tests in a single chart summarizing the performance results of our six drives. Higher denotes better performance except for Access time where lower is better.

The individual benchmarks take much longer and they are more accurate and they are presented below without comment. Here is the summary chart comparing our six tested drives where higher is better except for the Average Read Access where lower is better.

Again the CARDEA Ceramic C440 leads the CARDEA IOPS and then the Liquid, then the the MP33, and finally well ahead of the Vulcan SATA III based SSD which is just ahead of the DELTA MAX except for Random Read which is slower..

Next the TeamGroup MP33 SSD results.

Next are the T-Force Liquid CARDEA summary results.

Here are our T-Force CARDEA IOPS SPECworkstation storage 3.0.4 summary scores.Finally up is the CARDEA Ceramic C440 summary.

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

Next the Vulcan SATA III SSD results.

Now the Team Group MP33 SSD.

Next the Liquid CARDEA results.

Next we test the CARDEA IOPS SSD.

Finally we test the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD.

Let’s check out what is probably the most popular benchmark for ranking SSDs and HDDs, CrystalDiskMark.

CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1

CrystalDiskMark is a HDD benchmark utility for your drives that measure sequential and random read/write speeds. Here are some key features of “CrystalDiskMark”:

• Measure sequential reads/writes speed
• Measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed
• Results given in IOPS or MB/s

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

Second up, the Vulcan SATA SSD.

Now the MP33 SSD.

Next the CARDEA Liquid.

Here are the CARDEA IOPS SSD results showing the results first in MB/s and then measured in IOPS:

Here are the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD results showing its results next.

Here is the summary chart highlighting the most often quoted Read/Write performance data. Higher is better.

TxBENCH

TxBENCH is similar to CrystalDiskMark but with additional features including secure erase. According to the website, “It not only measures the performance of storage easily but also performs detailed speed measurements based on specified access patterns and long-period speed measurements. It also allows you to see each drive’s supported features, enabled features, and S.M.A.R.T. information.”

First we test the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III

The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD results are next.

Team Group MP33 1TB NVMe Gen 3 x4 PCIe results are below.

T-FORCE Liquid CARDEA 512GB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD is next.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS 1TB PCIe Gen 3 x4 NVMe SSD is first.

Here are the 1TB T-Force DELTA MAX SATA III AS SSD results showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Next here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA AS SSD results.

Here are the TeamGroup MP33 AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid AS SSD results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS AS SSD results showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 AS SSD results also showing MB/s next to IOPS and below it, copy speeds.

Again, the CARDEA Ceramic C440 stands out even though it’s bandwidth is limited by Intel’s latest enthusiast motherboards which brings it’s performance just ahead of the IOPS. The CARDEA Liquid has a slower Write speed, but it is much faster than the MP33 or the Vulcan SATA SSD which again edges out the DELTA MAX. Game copy speeds are much closer for all tested SSDs.

The T-FORCE DELTA MAX SATA III ATTO results are first.

Next are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA ATTO results.

Next are the TeamGroup MP33 ATTO results.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid ATTO results.

The T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS ATTO results are next.

The T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 ATTO results are last.

HD Tach

HD Tach is a low level hardware benchmark for random access read/write storage devices that was developed by Simpli Software. HD Tach uses custom device drivers and low level Windows interfaces to determine the physical performance of the device. It is no longer supported and needs to be run in compatibility mode for Windows 10.

We present the benchmarks first with the Quick benchmark (8MB zones) on the left and the Long benchmark (32MB zones) on the Right.

Here are the DELTA MAX SATA III HD Tach results with an average read of 273.5MB/s for the Quick bench and 272.8MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE Vulcan SATA HD Tach results with an average read of 346.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 346.3MB/s for the Long bench.

Next are the TeamGroup MP33 HD Tach results with an average read of 766.3MB/s for the Quick bench and 791.9MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid with an average read of 1529.9MB/s for the Quick bench and 1474.7MB/s for the Long bench.

Here are the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS HD Tach results with an average read of 1508.4MB/s for the Quick bench and 1470.1MB/s for the Long bench.

Finally, here are the T-FORCE CARDEA Ceramic C440 HD Tach results with an average read of 1600.1MB/s for the Quick bench and 1553.4MB/s for the Long bench. Here are the HD Tach Disk benches summarized in a chart comparing our five drives. For read speeds, higher is better but for access times, lower is better.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest in HD Tach, and the Cardea Liquid is next followed closely followed IOPS, then by the MP33 SSD while the SATA III SSDs take the last two places where the Vulcan SSD is faster than the DELTA MAX .

Next we look at game/level loading speeds.

The Game/Level Loading Timed Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker.

We tested 3 games using the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test as well as 5 levels and overall loading times accurately by using the Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer benchmark.

Let’s start with the Stormbringer benchmark first with the DELTA MAX SATA III . Total Loading times are 16.483 seconds.

Next the Vulcan SATA III SSD with total loading times of 16.214 seconds.

Next the MP3 SSD with total Loading times of 16.098 seconds.Next the CARDEA Liquid SSD‘s total Loading times are 15.295 seconds.

Let’s start with the Stormbringer benchmark first with the CARDEA IOPS SSD. Total Loading times are 15.288 seconds.

Next, the Stormbringer benchmark with the CARDEA Ceramic NVMe PCIe SSD and the total Loading times are 13.34 seconds. Below is the chart comparing the total loading times for each SSD plus each of its 5 levels. Lower times in seconds are better which means the game or level will load more quickly and you will not have to wait as long to begin or to get back into the game.

Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test. Lower (faster setup in seconds) is better.

All of the SSDs load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the CARDEA Ceramic C440 is the fastest followed by the CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the MP33 and finally by the SATA III SSDs.

Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, or perhaps after the next generation of consoles move away from hard disk drives, we may see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are capable of. However, faster is better when a gamer is waiting to get back into a game.

Lets look at file copy speeds next.

File Copy

File copy speeds are important to gamers especially when they want to quickly transfer their game files from one location to another. First we copy a 22.8GB folder containing Alien Isolation from its Steam folder to a desktop folder which is something we do regularly when setting up Steam games on multiple PCs.

Pay careful attention to the charts (in green) that show the consistency and speed of file copies. They tend to show the ups and downs where each SSD runs out of cache and how long it takes to empty it and refill it.

22.8GB File Copy

The DELTA MAX took 2 minutes and 27.7 seconds. to copy 22.8GB
It took about 2 minutes and 22.5 seconds to copy the same Alien Isolation 22.6GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop using the Vulcan SSD.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is weak in Read but rather fast for Write evidenced by taking 1 minute and 9.3 seconds (69.3 seconds) for the Alien Isolation Copy.

The Liquid CARDEA took 40.9 seconds for the same copy.

The CARDEA IOPS took 25.6 seconds.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 20.5 seconds or just 5 seconds faster than the IOPS.

Next we try something more time consuming when we copy multiple folders totaling 44.2GB from from Steam’s common files to a desktop folder.

44.2GB File Copy

The DELTA MAX took 7 minutes and 4.0 seconds. to copy a 44.2GB Steam folder from program files to the desktop.

The Team Group MP33 M.2 PCIe 1TB SSD is more inconsistent in its speeds for large files taking 4 minutes, 8.7 seconds.

The Liquid CARDEA which is a slightly faster drive took 3 minutes 21 seconds for the same copy putting it into contention with the IOPS, but both are slower then the CARDEA Ceramic.

The CARDEA IOPS took 3 minutes and 33.0 seconds.

The CARDEA Ceramic C440 took 1 minute and 44.2 seconds.

Even when the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is constrained severely by the Intel platform’s limited bandwidth, it still excels at copying compared to any of our other tested SSDs. The IOPS comes in second place well ahead of the CARDEA Liquid and MP33 PCIe SSDs which are in turn faster than either SATA III SSD.

Finally, let’s revisit game/level loading times plus all of our Summary charts and then reach our conclusion.

Summary Charts and Conclusion

Here are all of the gaming and summary charts again for easy reference followed by our conclusion.

The Game/Level Loading Time Results

Game and game level loading time results are difficult to measure precisely (such as by using a stopwatch) but generally SSDs perform similarly with regard to game loading times and they significantly faster than any HDD. Even SSHDs require loading the same level or program over-and-over to get quicker.

Here are the World of Warcraft and Battlefield 3 loading times again as measured precisely by PCMark 8’s storage test and accurately by Final Fantasy XIV: Stormbringer’s benchmark. Lower (quicker/faster) loading times (measured in seconds) are better.

All five SSDs load games quickly and there is very little difference between them although the T-FORCE CARDEA Liquid C440 is undisputedly the fastest followed closely by the T-FORCE CARDEA IOPS and Liquid SSDs, then the TeamGroup MP33 SSD, and finally by the T-FORCE Vulcan and the DELTA MAX SATA III SSDs.

Until developers start to target SSDs for game storage, only then may we see SSDs achieve the game loading performance they are really capable of.

Non-Gaming Summary Charts

Here are all of the summary charts presented again in one place.

A gamer who wishes to have the very fastest PC will choose an internal PCIe NVMe SSD, and the CARDEA Ceramic C440 SSD is the fastest drive even when its bandwidth is curtailed by the PCIe bandwidth limitations of current Intel enthusiast motherboards. Generally the CARDEA IOPS slots into second place just ahead of the CARDEA Liquid SSD. Next fastest is the TeamGroup NVMe MP33 SSD, and finally the T-FORCE Vulcan and DELTA MAX SATA III SSDs.

For gaming and for regular tasks on current Intel platforms, any SSD will provide similar game and level loading performance well above that of mechanical hard drives or even hybrid drives.

Let’s head for our conclusion.

The Conclusion & Verdict

SSD technology is still improving and it seems that SSD pricing remains reasonable as speeds increase. SSD technology has become much more accessible, and it appears that gamers need more and more capacity as games are getting quite large. We would suggest that 500GB is the minimum capacity for a gamer, and 1TB is much better as a primary drive.

It is not mandatory to have a SSD if you use your PC only for gaming and have a lot of patience. Games do not perform better on SSDs since developers still target HDDs for game performance optimization. However, games may take significantly longer to load from a HDD or SSHD than they do from any internal or even an external USB 3.0 SSD. If a gamer wants to get right back into the game, any SSD will improve immersion and decrease frustration compared with using a HDD or SSHD.

Windows 10 is becoming more and more painful to use when installed on a mechanical or even on a hybrid solid state/hard disk drive. Indexing, Search, or Anti-malware Windows programs may often saturate the bandwidth of a mechanical drive, and even downloading or updating Steam games may slow your PC to an irritating crawl. This will not happen using a SATA III SSD.

The 1TB DELTA MAX WHITE is currently $112.49 at Amazon and the black version is also $112.49 – the lowest price we have seen in weeks. The T-FORCE Vulcan 500GB SATA III SSD can be found for $53.99 and the 1TB version is $92.69; the Liquid CARDEA NVMe2 512GB drive is $84.99, but the 1TB version is $139.49; and the PCIe Team Group MP33 1TBB SSD is $89.99. The CARDEA Ceramic C440 1TB is currently $160.99 at Amazon which is premium priced as a Gen 4 x4 PCIe 5000MBps/4400MBps drive. However, the 1TB CARDEA IOPS drive is priced at $129.99.

It is clear that high speed PCIe Gen 4 x4 prices are priced at a premium but even Gen 3 PCIe SSDs are generally more expensive than SATA III drives. From a pure performance perspective, PCIe-based SSDs are the way to go but SATA III SSDs give good bang for buck especially when used as storage drives. The DELTA MAX SSDs are priced higher because of their unique RGB “look” and if a gamer is going to hide their SSD, the Vulcan SATA SSD is a better choice. But if you want to show off an all-white build, there is no better choice than the DELTA MAX White edition.

Pros

• The DELTA MAX White edition is a fast SATA III SSD designed to be displayed in a all-white PC
• 3-year warranty backed by TeamGroup support
• Fast game/level loading speeds and good file copy speeds
• The DELTA MAX ARGB lighting works with multiple motherboard RGB controllers

Cons

• Price. You are paying for the “look” of a unique SSD.
• The DELTA MAX doesn’t meet its specifications for Read/Write

This has been quite an enjoyable exploration comparing our other SSDs with the Team Group DELTA MAX SSD. It will replace the 500GB Vulcan SSD in BTR’s flagship PC for additional storage. It is an extra treat placing the DELTA MAX SSD in BTR’s PC as a visual focus rather than retiring it to the back of the PC as is usual with SSDs.

The Verdict

Stay tuned as Rodrigo is working on his first Adrenalin driver performance analysis and we will return to VR after a latency review comparing AMD and NVIDIA’s low latency modes.

Happy Gaming!