TeamGroup’s drives do come with some software support. The first download is the SSD S.M.A.R.T. Tool, which is a mini-toolbox with drive and system information as well as a tab for performance testing. Separately, the GE Pro has a firmware update tool for download to apply any necessary fixes. In most cases, this should be all that you need, as SSDs are relatively simple devices to maintain.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) One thing stands out immediately, and that is, of course, the tall heatsink with active cooling. If you have the vertical room to fit an SSD with a heatsink like this – it might not be possible in some slots, especially ones near your GPU – then you’re probably more worried about the fan. Small fans are noisy and notoriously unreliable. This was also a concern with the original crop of E26-based drives, as active cooling was recommended for proper operation. In fact, active cooling was never a requirement, but it does help keep the drive cooler, and in certain environments, it might be needed to prevent throttling. In our experience, the IG5666 controller on the GE Pro runs even hotter than the E26, and we’ll dig into why a bit below. Luckily, TeamGroup’s cooling solution is more than adequate for any SSD.
What we want to touch on here, lastly, is that you could run without the fan or even remove the heatsink to utilize your own cooling solution. Just be aware that this drive will require significant cooling of some sort if you want to avoid throttling.
(Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) (Image credit: Tom's Hardware) These pictures are a bit more interesting. We see that this is a double-sided drive – this is generally a negative, but with a drive like this, which requires cooling, it’s less of a factor, with a controller, DRAM, and multiple NAND flash packages. The DRAM is DDR4 for SK hynix, which is perfectly fine for the role volatile memory plays on an SSD. This memory is used for metadata, address mapping in particular, where latency is more important than bandwidth. However, using more efficient memory like LPDDR4X may reduce power draw by a small amount. The NAND flash packages are labeled in such a way that we know it’s YMTC TLC flash. Each one has “04Tb” in the coding for 4Tb or 512GB, making for a total of 2TB for the entire drive.
The GE Pro’s controller is the InnoGrit IG5666, which is not one we see that often. It’s worth extra discussion. The controller is a 12nm part – so, more like the E26 than the 6nm E28 or SM2508 – which right off the bat means it’s going to run hotter. It’s an eight-channel controller with DRAM that takes flash up to 2,400 MT/s, which, again, is similar to the E26, and also indicates to us that the flash here will be 232-Layer. Such flash is starting to feel dated, but it’s still plenty fast for current storage applications. So far, so good, you could select this drive over any E26 option if it’s priced lower and the flash on some SM2508 drives – the Acer Predator GM9000 and Adata XPG Mars 980 Blade come to mind – is comparable to the GE Pro’s. So, it’s not the worst drive around, but there are reasons to be cautious about buying it, which we will get into here.
The first thing to realize is that InnoGrit doesn’t have the best track record. We loved the IG5236 when it first came out, see our Adata XPG Gammix S70 review , but the controller had reliability issues during its tenure. The entry-level IG5220, see our HP FX900 review for more, was also fantastic when it came out, but later on, it became paired with questionable flash, which reduced InnoGrit’s status among controller makers in many eyes. It often shares a space with TenaFe and Realtek controllers, which are most often chosen to cut costs while providing, in general, a lesser overall experience. This adds some concern about the GE Pro even before we dig into its specific hardware.
So what about the IG5666? Our original review with it wasn’t too gripping, as we expected more from InnoGrit. Now, however, we have more information and can discuss why. One tactic used by controller makers is to have double-purpose silicon, for example, Phison using enterprise IP in its E26. Samsung, for another, will sometimes have its controllers in a parallel enterprise line, like the PM9A3 sharing a controller with the 980 Pro and newer 970 EVO Plus revisions. InnoGrit also does this with the IG5666, as it’s the client partner to the enterprise IG5669, and this connection explains why the IG5666 is so inefficient and runs so hot.
The IG5669 is a 16/18-channel controller with an 11-core, RISC-V design. RISC-V is not unknown in this space, but ARM chips are much more common. Phison does use custom RISC-V coprocessors in its E26 and E28, to good effect, but the primary cores are still ARM Cortex-R5. SMI uses Cortex-R8 with Cortex-M0 in the SM2508 – Cortex-M series cores also show up in other controllers, including those by TenaFe and Marvell – and using a full RISC-V solution is drastic for a client drive. Further, while five or six core solutions are typical, eleven cores are extreme and clearly only needed for an enterprise drive where eight channels of flash aren’t enough. The IG5666 is only using eight channels, but even with a cut-down design, the inefficiencies remain. That’s why it runs so hot and falls short of hitting its full potential.
Current page: TeamGroup GE Pro Introduction
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/ssds/teamgroup-ge-pro-2tb-ssd-review#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.