Silicon Power XD80 – new high-end NVMe SSD in review!

Silicon Power is primarily represented on the market with storage media – in addition to SSDs, memory sticks and RAM, card readers and powerbanks are also available. The leitmotif – combining performance with design – characterizes the product image.

The XD80 is Silicon Power’s new high-end SSD. A PCIe 3.0 interface is supposed to provide the advertised performance – up to 3400 MB/s read, 3000 MB/s write. Whether the SSD can keep these promises, you can find out in the following review!

Specifications

Capacity	256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB
Size	22.0 mm x 80.0 mm x 4.8 mm
Weight	11 g
Interface	PCIe Gen 3×4, NVMe 1.3
Performance Read	Up to 3400 MB/s
Performance Write	up to 2300 MB/s (512 GB) ; 3000 MB/s (2 TB)
Operating temperature	0 °C – 70 °C
MTBF	2,000,000 hours
TBW and Warranty	256 GB: 380 TB 512 GB: 800 TB 1 TB: 1665 TB 2 TB: 3115 TB Warranty: 5 years or reach TBW
Price	€ 58.09 * (512 GB)

The XD80 is supposed to realize the specified data throughput via an NVMe Gen3x4 interface. The current NVMe 1.3 is used as the protocol version. The theoretical basis for the promised data throughputs is definitely given.

Particular attention can also be paid to the TBW here – these are set high in all versions of the SSD. This indicates an above-average lifespan for the XD80. Thus, you can also invest well in the future – even if you don’t currently need the performance, you would still have a product with a long lifespan. If more applications use faster storage in the future, one is already well equipped.

Scope of delivery

Well – the scope of delivery consists of the SSD. Nothing more, nothing less.

Furthermore, the packaging is kept very small – no spacious cardboard box, but little space is required. Nevertheless, almost all necessary information is clearly visible, but we would like to see the expected reading and writing performance on the cardboard. Neutral, space-saving, restrained – we otherwise find it appropriate.

The SSD comes with a small, pre-installed heatspreader – printed with the X-Power logo. In 2280 format, the SSD is 22 mm wide and 80 mm long – no surprises are expected here.

The backside is equally unsurprising. A sticker with all the relevant data – such as serial number, model number, etc. – is found on the back. – but no other visible components of the SSD.

Test system

We installed the following components as our test system:

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Box*
• MSI B550 Tomahawk
• Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 3000 MHz
• NVIDIA Geforce RTX 3080 Founders Edition
• Seasonic FOCUS GX-750 Full Modular PC Power Supply 80PLUS Gold 750 Watt*

Performance

To compare the SSD’s performance with other SSDs we’ve already tested, we use a number of different benchmarks – specifically AS SSD, CrystalDiskMark, ATTO Disk, and HD Tune Pro.

The Silicon Power XD80 in 512 GB ranks among the top in our benchmarks. It is consistently very good in the AS SSD benchmark, even a new top value with the ISO copy result is in it.

The XD80 also shows its strengths in both the Crystal Disk Mark and the ATTO SSD benchmark. It can constantly stay near the top – even the advertised values are surpassed here. Nice!

New top rates are also called up in the HD Tune Pro. Both the peak and the average values speak for themselves – bundled with very low access times, the XD80 thus moves close to the perfection of the PCIe Gen 3 interface. Hats off!

In terms of performance, the SSD knows how to convince. But see for yourself – below is a comparison to our other tested SSDs.

Conclusion

The Silicon Power XD80 achieves its promised values and consistently convinces in the various benchmarks.

The advertised TBW values also promise a long lifespan. The TLC memory also convinces with its longevity, which some other manufacturers can take a leaf out of. However, at €75 (current: € 58.09 *), the SSD is quite expensive – competitors that are only marginally weaker are already available for a good deal less. An example would be the Crucial P5 – here, the 512 GB version is already available for just over 50 €.

Thanks to the otherwise very good performance – reading, writing and access times – and the long lifespan, the XD80 receives the Gold Award from us. Admittedly, however, very close, the price should be corrected downwards a bit for our taste.