The Taiwanese company Team Group is now launching three new SSD series on the market. The manufacturer refers to them as CX1 and CX2, which belong to the SATA SSD segment and have corresponding storage capacities of 240 GB to 1 TB and up to 540 MB/s. In addition, the much faster MP33 Pro in M.2 format will be released as the third variant, which can achieve up to a maximum of 2,100 MB/s via PCIe 3.0 x4. Both series are presented below.
The first step of the renewal: SATA for CX1 and CX2 with memory differences
First of all, it must be noted that CX1 and CX2 are similar in name and design. They both have a 2.5-inch case and use the SATA interface. CX1 and CX2 are both marked with maximum performance values of 540 MB/s read and 490 MB/s write. In particular, the company explicitly designates an SLC cache as write buffer. On closer inspection, however, the following differences become apparent: They are due to the usable memory. CX1, for example, has 240 GB, 480 GB or 960 GB and CX 2 instead has 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB storage volume in its repertoire. So it is likely that the CX1 will use a larger reserve of built-in flash memory. However, this is not noticeable in the specifications for durability or performance. So the less storage space is offered, the cheaper it will become. The new owners can expect the CX1 to be available at prices of 30, 49 and 88 USD. The CX2, on the other hand, costs slightly more at 32, 51 and 90 USD respectively. They are not yet available in Germany, but this should change soon.
The next step: MP33 Pro with PCIe 3.0
The MP33 Pro does not exhaust the PCI 3.0 interface, which enables over 3,500 MB/s. The Team Group NVMe SSD only reaches 2,100 MB/s read and 1700 MB/s write. At its peak, the MP33 Pro is supposed to be able to read or write 4 KB data at 220,000/200,000 IOPS. So it belongs only in the mid-range of SSDs with PCIe 3.0. The SSD will be available with 512 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB. The UVP is 60, 104 or 240 USD depending on the size.
Team Group makes it exciting
The company makes it exciting, because the installed components remain secret. This applies to all the above mentioned series. Even the type of memory, whether it is TLC or QLC, is not published. But this can also have a typical manufacturer reason, which is suspected behind it. Because he can react to market and price developments quickly and easily by simply exchanging components such as controller and NAND flash. Consequently, he does not need to change the product name immediately, but retain the three mentioned. The disadvantage for the customer, however, is that the purchase is not transparent and remains a surprise.
