ZADAK Announces First PCIe SSD: The Spark RGB M.2, NVMe Up to 2 TB
by Gavin Bonshor on June 10, 2020 5:00 PM EST_678x452.jpg)
ZADAK, a company that up until now has primarily been known for its memory modules, has just announced its first-ever PCIe 3.0 SSD. The ZADAK Spark PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 is exactly what the name says on the tin – a PCie 3.0 x4 M.2 SSD – and like so many other products these days, includes integrated RGB LED lighting, which is built into the inclusive aluminium heatsink.
In terms of performance metrics and specifications, the ZADAK Spark RGB PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 is rated for sequential read speeds of up to 3,200 MB/s, while sequential write speeds go up to 3,000 MB/s. Meanwhile the drive will be available in three different capacities: 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB.
One of the drive's more unique design feature focuses on the integrated RGB LEDs, which look to be equipped to the rear of the SSD. This design gives the Spark RGB PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 SSD more of an under glow, as opposed to a direct light source from the top of the black and silver aluminum heatsink. And rather than reinventing the wheel by developing their own lighting control system, ZADAK has opted to focus on making the the integrated RGB lighting compatible with the major motherboard manufacturers' existing ecosystems. As a result, the RGB lighting can be used with ASRock, ASUS, MSI, and GIGABYTE's RGB customization software, allowing users to sync the drive's RGB lighting with compatible RGB-lit motherboards and memory modules.
Unfortunately, ZADAK hasn't released a list of detailed specifications for the drive; so we don't currently have any information on the controller type, the thickness of the heatsink, nor has it released the type of 3D NAND technology it is using. But we do know that the ZADAK Spark RGB PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 SSD is set to be available in late July, with the 512 GB model starting at $119, while the the 2 TB version will go for $389.
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Source: ZADAK
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MenhirMike - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
A 512 GB PCIe 3 SSD for $120? That's... pretty terrible.sing_electric - Thursday, June 11, 2020 - link
But it's got RGB! And a heatsink so think that the drive will probably stay nice and toasty even after your PC's been off for half an hour.way2funni - Friday, June 12, 2020 - link
To my eye, this appears to be a product aimed at older systems without M2 slots who want to upgrade from SATA port driven SSD's and jazz up their system a little at the same time. I'm thinking that holdout who is still rocking a 2600k. Some older boards going back to the Haswell release have a BIOS update that allow a PCIe converter to M2 slot adaptor but they are hit an miss. This would allow anyone, even the guy rocking a Intel Core 2 Quad q6600 with an open PCIe slot to get 3,200 read and 3000 write.To my eye, that's the only way they justify that price premium for this product which otherwise only offers a 5 cent LED as a premium - they can get away with this right now because they are the only player in that space and if you are that guy who really wants M2 speeds and has no M2 slot and doesn't want to swap their entire core system just yet and just wants to get by for another year or two - they might spring for this. I would.
Slash3 - Saturday, June 13, 2020 - link
It is literally an NVMe M.2 drive, not a PCI Express Add-In-Card, so none of that applies. The article is just worded a bit oddly and I can see others making the same mistake, though.Dug - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
I knew I needed more RGB! This is just the ticket.rrinker - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
Hmm, the two AMD motherboards I recently used have a shield over the m.2 slots. Most of the new Intel boards previewed over the past week have the same sort of shields. So you'd never see that RGB lighting.Makaveli - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
Hmm have you seen the size of that. Its not something that is gonna fit under a stock M2 shield that comes with most motherboards so you will be using that as is, or if the heat sink is removable then you can install under a m2 shield.ballsystemlord - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
Is this for professional markets or every day people or OEMs?shabby - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
It has rgb so its for gamers.wpcoe - Wednesday, June 10, 2020 - link
Will it fit under a motherboard? Several mobos have the M.2 slot on the reverse side, and this SSD looks like it might be too thick?