Conclusion
...the Cardea C440 does well enough in performance tests.Consumer NVMe M.2 SSDs can be split into three camps. At the bottom reside PCIe 3.0 models which excel in a cost-per-GB perspective. At the top are the newest drives that offer up to 7GB/s transfers and benchmark-leading performance at a high cost. In the middle are PCIe 4.0 models offering a bit of everything, including futureproofing, and this is where the TeamGroup T-Force Cardea C440 comes in.
Priced at £175 for a 1TB model, or about twice that of an entry-level drive of the same capacity, the Cardea C440 does well enough in performance tests. There's no evidence of technical or thermal throttling when run through demanding workloads such as SPECwpc so they're unlikely to be an issue for the prosumer.
We'd prefer a black PCB, wider availability and some baked-in security. In summary, the TeamGroup T-Force Cardea C440 1TB NVMe SSD is a solid offering that's worth putting on a shortlist if you find it on sale closer to £150.
The Good The Bad Solid performance everywhere
No obvious slowdowns
Five-year warranty No built-in security
Hard to find in stock
Competitors are legion
TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Ceramic C440 1TBHEXUS.where2buy*
TBC.
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