Spectrix S40G – XPG’s RGB SSD in test

The Spectrix S40G was already introduced in July 2019. The SSD comes in a compact M.2 form factor and uses PCIe 3.0 x4 and NVMe 1.3. However, the most striking feature is probably the flat heat sink with RGB lighting.

The SSD is available with capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB and 4 TB. We have the version with a storage capacity of 1 TB for the test.

We took a close look at the SSD in the test to find out whether the Spectrix S40G can still convince more than a year after its release. In addition to the performance, we will of course also look at the RGB lighting.

Technical data

The Spectrix S40G, as mentioned at the beginning, comes in the compact M.2 format. This is the widely used M.2-2280 size with a width of 22 mm and a length of 80 mm. The SSD is connected via four PCIe 3.0 lanes and the NVMe protocol in version 1.3. XPG promises a read speed of up to 3500 MB/s and a write speed of up to 3000 MB/s for the 1 TB model. XPG uses TLC NAND, a DRAM cache and an SLC cache to achieve these values. The installed controller is the RTS5762 model from Realtek. Furthermore, error-correcting code (ECC) is also supported to detect and correct possible errors.

The warranty period is 5 years and is valid up to a write performance of 640 TB, if this is exceeded before.

In addition to the technical data, which is convincing on paper, XPG relies on a flat heatsink with RGB lighting to stand out from the numerous competitors. This also fits completely, since Xtreme Performance Gear (XPG) is a sub-brand of ADATA, which primarily wants to appeal to gamers.

The performance test

We tested the performance of the SSD with the very common programs ATTO Disk, AS SSD, CrystalDiskMark and HD Tune Pro.

While most manufacturers only give a max read and write value or few values, XPG gives exact values for ATTO, CrystalDiskMark and AS SSD in the data sheet, which of course makes the review easier and much more accurate.

XPG used QD64T1 in CrystalDiskMark, we continue to use QD32T1 for better comparability between the different SSDs. We even slightly exceeded the manufacturer’s specifications with 3546 MB/s in read, but we were ~9% lower with 2721 MB/s in write. An additional test with QD64T1 gave us very similar rates to QD32T1.

In the AS SSD benchmark, we achieved 2833 MB/s in sequential read and 1496 MB/s in write. Thus, we were also slightly below the manufacturer’s specifications. In the copy benchmark, the XPG SSD performed very well, also compared to the previously tested SSDs. We achieved 314348 IOPS in 4K random read and 212631 IOPS in 4K random write. Thus, we are slightly above the manufacturer’s specifications in 4K Random Read and slightly below in 4K Random Write.

The performance fluctuates in the ATTO Disk Benchmark. While the Spectrix S40G is usually relatively far behind in small file sizes, it fights its way to the front with increasing file sizes. In the end, it is overall in the midfield of our previously tested SSDs.

Even though we could not quite reach the manufacturer’s specifications, the performance is still good to very good overall.

Our test system

• • Asus TUF B360-PRO Gaming Motherboard
  • Intel Core i5-8400 processor
  • 32GB G.Skill RipJaws V 3200 RAM
  • MSI Radeon RX 5500 XT Gaming X 8G graphics card
  • Kingston KC2000 1TB SSD
  • be quiet! Pure Power 10 400W power supply

Benchmark

The RGB lighting

While many SSDs are very similar purely in terms of performance and differ only slightly, XPG delivers a unique selling point with its RGB lighting. The SSD features eight LEDs that can be controlled individually via the XPG RGB software. Either individual colors can be selected for the individual LEDs, but also predefined effects, such as Breathing, Strobing, Cycle and Rainbow. Of course, the brightness, speed of the effects and direction is also customizable. Alternatively, the RGB lighting can also be completely disabled.

Thanks to the given compatibility with the software of the motherboard manufacturers Asus, Gigabyte, MSI and ASRock, the RGB lighting can also be easily integrated into the lighting concept of the entire system.

Since additional RGB lighting leads to higher consumption and partly also temperature problems, we observed this throughout the test. On the desktop, we reached 38°C without RGB lighting and 39°C with it. During the benchmarks, the temperature increased to a maximum of 71°C (without RGB lighting). With RGB lighting, a maximum of 73°C was read under load. The temperature is thus relatively high, but harmless.

Conclusion

After the extensive testing, we can clearly answer yes to the question posed at the beginning. Even more than a year after release, the XPG Spectrix S40G is worth recommending.

We would have wished for a bit more performance in some benchmarks, but overall the performance is good to very good and the RGB lighting is also appealing. Furthermore, the Spectrix scores with a very good price-performance ratio. Despite a 5-year warranty and RGB, it is one of the cheapest SSDs in its performance class.

If you don’t want to do without RGB in an SSD, you can buy it without hesitation. But all other users also get a convincing overall package with the XPG Spectrix S40G.