ADATA Premier Pro SP920 SSD (512GB) Review – An Exceptional SSD At A Great Price

ADATA has definitely proven that they are a force to be reckoned with so far this year. We first checked in with them at CES, where we got to see their newly coloured DRAM modules, wireless device charging technology, as well as their line up of new solid state drives. Shortly thereafter, ADATA released their SSD Toolbox software, which allows for you to monitor the health of your ADATA solid state drive. Today, ADATA goes one step further by releasing the ADATA Premier PRO SP920 SSD, and we have the opportunity to take an in-depth look at the 512GB model.

WHAT IS A SOLID STATE DRIVE?

If you have never heard of a solid state drive before, or an SSD, then you may be in for shock as to how much time you have wasted waiting on your computer’s hard drive. To briefly explain, a solid state drive is a storage device that is found within your computer and will hold all of your data, including your operating system, pictures, videos and documents. The largest difference between your hard drive and a SSD is the fact that SSD’s increase your system’s speed immensely, never mind that they also come with a bunch of other features that make them far superior to that of a hard drive. If you are interested in learning more, then we encourage you to head over to our big-sister site, The SSD Review, and take a look at our ‘Learning To Run With Flash’ series.

ADATA PREMIER PRO SP920 SSD SPECIFICATIONS

If you are looking to upgrade the disk drive in your system, your first worry may be the capacity of the drive. ADATA’S SP920 is available in capacities of 128, 256, 512GB and 1TB, and the SP920 is now available on Amazon. (Check Here!). ADATA has noted that the SP920 will reach read speeds of up to 560MB/s, and write speeds of 180, 360, and 500 MB/s, depending on capacity. Included with the SP920 is a full, free download of Acronis True Image HD that will easily allow for you to transfer all of your files from your old hard drive to your new SSD. Lastly, the ADATA Premier Pro SP920 also features a 3 year limited warranty.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The ADATA Premier pro SP920 SSD has an MSRP of $89.99 (128GB), $159.99 (256GB), $334.99 (512GB) and $529.99 (1TB) and their should be availability at the time this report is posted. These price points are amazing, considering that this puts the SP920 as low as $0.51 per GB!

ADATA PREMIER PRO SP920 COMPONENTS

When checking the shelves for the ADATA Premier Pro SP920, you will easily spot the packaging by looking for their trademark hummingbird. Within exterior packaging, you will find the 2.5″ SP920 SSD, the 2mm spacer, a desktop bracket to adapt the SSD for 3.5″ drive bays, as well as a quick start guide.

The SP920 is comprised of a brushed aluminum exterior that can be easily removed via four screws found on the top of the drive. Remember, we open our SSD’s so that you do not have to!

As we open the ADATA SP920 SSD, we can immediately see the drive’s main components on the green printed circuit board (PCB). On this side of the PCB we can see eight (8) synchronous NAND memory modules, made by Micron. Micron also uses shortened model numbers (FBGA) to brand their memory modules. Using their FBGA Decoder, we can enter the FBGA and it will return the full model number, in this case the number is MT29F256G08CECABH6.

As we flip the PCB over, we can see the other eight additional Micron memory modules. In the case of our 512GB SP920, each module will account for 32GB of storage. On this side of the PCB we can also see the brains of the solid state drive, known as the controller.

When taking apart the SP920, there is a small thermal pad that makes contact with the Marvell controller and exterior aluminum housing in order to help dissipate heat. Unfortunately in doing so, the pad makes for a difficult picture to take, but we are able to see that the ADATA SSD is controlled by a Marvell 88SS9189-BLD2 controller