ADATA XPG Mars 980 Blade 2TB SSD Review

1. Introduction2. ADATA XPG Mars 98 Blade 2TB3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. AS SSD7. 128KB Sequential Performance8. 4K Random Read v QD Performance9. 4K Random Write v QD Performance10. 4K 70/30 Mixed Performance11. 4K Random Performance QD1-QD812. Throughput13. PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark14. 3DMark Storage Benchmark 15. Final Fantasy XIV Endwalker Official Benchmark16. Temperatures17. Real Life File Testing18. Conclusion19. View All Pages

The 3DMark Storage Benchmark uses traces recorded from popular games and gaming-related activities to measure real-world gaming performance.

Traces used:

Battlefield V
Loading Battlefield™ V from launch to the main menu.

Call of Duty Black Ops 4
Loading Call of Duty®: Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.

Overwatch
Loading Overwatch® from launch to the main menu.

Game Move
Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike®: Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

Game Recording
Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch®.

Installing Game
Installing The Outer Worlds® from the Epic Games Launcher.

Game Saving
Saving progress in The Outer Worlds game.

In 3DMark’s Storage Benchmark game loading tests, the XPG Mars 980 Blade averaged 667.18MB/s with an average access time of 75.6µs. The fastest loading in terms of bandwidth came from the Battlefield V trace at 902.68MB/s (78µs).

In the game, moving, recording, installing and saving test traces, the drive averaged 1,128.28MB/s, which puts the drive in the penultimate position on the results table, although there isn't much to separate the bottom three. The average access time for the four tests was 55µs.

The overall average bandwidth figure for the 2TB ADATA XPG Mars 980 Blade is 483.55MB/s, which is a little disappointing as it's only good enough to see the drive in last place of the results table.

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