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XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Review

XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Introduction

After looking at the bright and colorful SPECTRIX S40G, today I have another promising NVMe SSD from XPG on the review bench: the Gammix S50 Lite. This classy-looking little drive is XPG’s first stab at bringing PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD performance levels to the masses at competitive prices. When used with a motherboard supporting the PCIe 4.0 standard, XPG promises that the Gammix S50 Lite is capable of up to 3900 MB/s read and 3200 MB/s write speeds.

The XPG Gammix S50 Lite comes in 1TB or 2TB flavors. At the time of writing, stepping into PCIe Gen4 NVMe territory will cost you $139.99 USD for the 1TB variant and $259.99 USD for 2TB. The 1TB review sample I have here at this price is cheaper than many PCIe Gen3 1TB NVMe drives with slower specs. XPG backs the Gammix S50 Lite series with a 5-year limited warranty. Each variant has a specific Terabytes Written (TBW) value that would see the warranty expire if exceeded. 1TB drive I’m looking at today has a generous TBW of 740, while the 2TB variant is rated at a whopping 1480 Terabytes Written.

XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Specifications

Capacity

1TB

Form Factor

M.2 2280

NAND Flash

3D NAND

Dimensions ( L x W x H )

80 x 22 x 4.3mm

Weight

10g / 3.5oz

Interface

PCIe Gen4 x4

Sequential Read

Up to 3900MB/s

Sequential Write

Up to 3200MB/s

4KB Random Read IOPS

Up to 380K

4KB Random Write IOPS

Up to 490K

Operating temperature

0°C – 70°C

Storage temperature

-40°C – 85°C

Shock resistance

1500G / 0.5ms

MTBF

2,000,000 hours

Terabytes Written (TBW)

740TB

Warranty

5-year limited warranty

  XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Closer Look

The Gammix S50 Lite comes in a flashy metallic red XPG branded packaging that gives potential buyers a good view of the unit and specifications. At a glance, we can see that this is an NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD in the M.2 2280 (22mm wide and 80mm long) form factor. The drive inside is protected by a transparent plastic clamshell.

  The Gammix S50 Lite sports a black PCB topped by a brushed aluminum heatsink with a white XPG logo and engraved accent lines. The drive is aesthetically pleasing, and its sober design should fit with most builds. XPG claims that the heatsink is highly effective at dissipating heat and able to reduce temperatures by up to 20 percent. During my testing, the drive temps were kept in check and it hovered around the 62C mark under load. That being said, I was unable to remove the heatsink so I can take some pictures of the components underneath. XPG is using some otherworldly adhesive to keep it in place, and it works too well it seems!

The XPG Gammix S50 Lite is a double-sided SSD built around the Silicon Motion four-channel SM2267 NVMe 1.4 SSD controller and outfitted with ADATA-repackaged Micron 96-layer 3D TLC NAND Flash chips and SK Hynix DDR4 DRAM. As specced, the drive has performance ratings of sustained read/write speeds of up to 3900/3200MB per second, and random performance of up to 380K/490K read/write IOPS. The Gammix S50 Lite also supports LDPC ECC (Low-Density Parity-Check Error Correcting Code), End-to-End (E2E) Data Protection, RAID Engine support, and AES 256-bit Encryption.

  XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Benchmarks

The XPG Gammix S50 Lite looks great and promises higher performance levels than PCIe Gen 3 drives. To verify these claims, I’ll be putting the 1TB review sample through the CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD benchmarks. The drive will be tested using the AMD based test system which includes the following components:

    XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD Conclusion

When I first looked at the specs and MSRP of the Gammix S50 Lite series drives, I wasn’t sure what to expect performance wise. XPG was basically promising PCIe Gen4 levels of performance for a price that’s equal (if not cheaper) than many NVMe PCIe Gen3 SSDs out there and way below the cost of other competing PCIe Gen4 drives. After running the review sample through the benchmarks and using it for a few weeks for everyday tasks, I was quite impressed by the overall performance.

The Gammix S50 Lite 1TB drive featured in today’s review scored highly in both benchmarks and managed to deliver numbers that are inline with XPG’s promise of sustained read/write speeds of up to 3900/3200MB per second, and random performance of up to 380K/490K read/write IOPS. XPG made the right choice in combining the Silicon Motion SM2267 controller with Micron’s TLC NAND Flash and SK Hynix DDR4 DRAM. This hardware combination allowed XPG to release a mid-range PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD that packs a serious punch at a very competitive price point. At the time of writing, the 1TB version I looked at today is available on Amazon US for 139.99 USD, which is $10 USD below MSRP! To sweeten the deal, the Gammix S50 Lite comes equipped with an efficient brushed aluminum heatsink out of the box and is backed by a 5-year limited warranty.

To wrap it up, the XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB NVMe SSD is a solid PCIe Gen4 x4 drive that offers excellent performance for the price. It’s a perfect companion for PCIe Gen4 compatible motherboards.

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XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Review

XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Introduction

Hello Neoseekers! Today we have another exotic review sample from XPG, the bright and bold SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD. In recent years, every other PC component got the RGB treatment to boot. RGB infused PC cases, RAM, fans, AIO pumps, motherboards, mice, keyboards, video cards, and even mouse pads will light up your battle station like the fanciest Christmas tree. M.2 NVMe SSDs however were overlooked it seems. These tiny but mighty storage units looked pretty much the same across manufacturers, with either a heatsink of some sort or a simple sticker adorning them. XPG was the first to address this by offering an M.2 NVMe SSD to the masses with factory RGB that’s done right. Since then, other manufacturers like Patriot and Gigabyte joined the fray and released their own RGBfied M.2 NVMe SSD units. The XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB is still the most glamorous.

The XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB NVMe SSD is not just eye candy, however. These 3D TLC NAND-based drives shine in more ways than one with high read/write ratings. XPG offers five variants of the SPECTRIX S40G RGB with 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacity. The SPECTRIX S40G RGB is currently available through the usual channels at prices ranging from $54.99 USD for the 256GB version, to $599.99 USD for the more substantial 4TB. The 1TB review sample I got here retails for $149.99 USD on Amazon, which puts it at a slight premium compared to other 1TB drives that don’t boast any RGB lighting. XPG backs the SPECTRIX S40G series with a 5-year limited warranty. Each variant has a specific Terabytes Written (TBW) value that would see the warranty expire if exceeded. The TBW ranges from 160 for the 256GB model, all the way to 2560 for the 4TB offering. The 1TB drive I’m looking at today has a generous TBW of 640.

XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Specifications

Capacity

256GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB / 4TB

Form Factor

M.2 2280

NAND Flash

3D NAND

Dimensions (L x W x H)

80 x 22 x 8mm / 3.15 x 0.87 x 0.31inch

Weight

13.4g / 0.47oz

Interface

PCIe Gen3 x4

Performance (Max)

Read 3500MB/s

Write 3000MB/s Maximum 4K random read/write IOPS : 300K/240K IOPS

Operating temperature

0°C – 70°C

Storage temperature

-40°C – 85°C

Shock resistance

1500G/0.5ms

MTBF

2,000,000 hours

Warranty

5-year limited warranty

  XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Closer Look

The XPG SPECTRIX S40G comes in a nice looking XPG branded packaging that gives potential buyers a good view of the unit and specifications. It has RGB for starters, which can be controlled via software. The drive inside is an NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 SSD in the M.2 2280 (22mm wide and 80mm long) form factor. The RGB implementation is quite clever and consists of a metallic heatsink flanked by stylized diffusers made of opaque plastic. Eight RGB LEDS positioned along the edge of the black PCB provide the lighting that makes this drive so unique among its peers. The heatsink/diffuser simply sticks to the drive using a thermal pad.

  XPG built the SPECTRIX S40G around the Realtek RTS5762 eight-channel PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 controller and outfitted it with ADATA-repackaged Micron 3D TLC NAND Flash chips. On the back of the SSD we see a single Nanya DDR3-1600 128mb DRAM chip. As specced, the drive has performance ratings of sustained read/write speeds of up to 3500/3000MB per second, and random performance of up to 300K/240K read/write IOPS. The SPECTRIX S40G also supports LDPC ECC (Low-Density Parity-Check Error Correcting Code and AES 256-bit encryption.

  Managing the RGB lighting effects on the XPG SPECTRIX S40G can be easily achieved via the RGB control software of most motherboards. XPG also makes available its own standalone application that allows users to select between several preset modes or manually set up patterns, pulse speed, and lighting intensity.

  XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Benchmarks

XPG says that the SPECTRIX S40G is the obvious choice for those seeking amazing performance and exceptional reliability. To verify the companies claims, I’ll be putting the 1TB version through the CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD benchmarks. The drive will be tested using the AMD based test system which includes the following components:

    XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB NVMe SSD Conclusion

XPG offers an exotic M.2 NVME drive in the form of the SPECTRIX S40G. It’s fun to build with and looks awesome in all its RGB glory. While the lighting implementation is simple in nature, the end result is very appealing compared to the few other M.2 drives with factory RGB. I took a quick look and found some aftermarket M.2 heatsinks with RGB lighting, but they don’t look as neat as the XPG design. The XPG factory heatsink/light diffuser did a great job at keeping the drive nice and cool even under load. Inside a chassis with proper airflow, the SPECTRIX S40G RGB was hovering around the 60C mark when put through its paces.

In terms of performance, the XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB I tested today delivered solid read and write performance, with amazing 4K write IOPS that exceed the advertised ratings. Synthetic benchmarks aside, I assigned this SSD to different system and used it extensively for a few weeks. When formatted, the available capacity on the 1TB variant is about 954GB, which I in turn portioned into an OS partition and a separate one for some game installs. Needless to say, I was extremely happy with the performance and the system felt very snappy when loading productivity software or games.

To wrap it up, the XPG SPECTRIX S40G RGB 1TB SSD I looked at today is an attractive drive that shines brighter than the competition while delivering great performance overall. The 5-year limited warranty and extra features offered by XPG, including LDPC ECC and AES 256-bit encryption, makes it even more appealing for users that value data integrity and security. 

This simple back door hack for your Mac is exactly why FileVault should be enabled

“If you aren’t using FileVault on your Mac, it’s time to change that right now,” Jeff Gamet writes for The Mac Observer. “There’s a stunningly simple way to create a back door into your Mac using just the tools included with macOS, but all it takes to defeat the threat is FileVault.”

“FileVault is Apple’s full disk encryption feature that’s built into macOS. With it enabled, the entire…

Is using FileVault encryption in macOS good enough?

“There are many ways to use encryption on your Mac,” Jay Vrijenhoek writes for Intego. “Before you encrypt your Mac, it is vital to know which encryption type is best for you and to be aware of its strengths and weaknesses. This will you decide whether you should use FileVault or some other third-party encryption software to protect your Mac.”

“One of the most common encryption ciphers…

If like me you tend to carry about a removable hard drive and a couple of pen drives, then you might be always

wondering what if I lost or mislaid it, well Knox goes a long way to solving that. I have been using 1Password for some time now, and it ensures all my passwords are safe and I wouldn't now be without it, but there are files and pieces of information that you would rather no-one else feast their eyes on. If your disk got stolen or mislaid and they did get into the wrong hands it could cost you more than time to sort out and do you some serious damage.. so it was when agilewebsolutions introduced Knox that I thought I would give it a try, I knew they would be serious about protection and Knox has military grade encryption with 128 or 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and because encrypted disk images are supported in Mac OSX then once created, they can be opened on any Mac with 10.4 or higher OS.

Knox has a free trial which you can try for 30 days and after that it will cost you a mere £21, a small amount to pay for the piece of mind that it gives you. Install is easy and it puts an icon in your menu bar, the rest is simple, create a new vault give it a name, choose your volume and a password, you can choose to make the volume a whole drive (reformatting it) or just a secure .dmg disk file which you can copy to an existing drive.

Should you decide to reformat your drive protecting all its contents then make sure you all choose the 10.4 and above option, otherwise you might find that you cannot open the vault on older computers, I personally found this to be a bit of a problem so I now only encrypt a smallish .dmg file which houses my sensitive information all the other files on my disk are unprotected but that's how it works for me.  There has been times when I have needed to send someone some personal information via email, Knox make this easy, just create a small encrypted disk and put the files in it as an attachment, then call the person to give them the username and password, ensuring that only they have access to it. For such a small price it has given me total piece of mind when carrying around mobile hard drives, what would you do if you lost these?