MSI DataMag 40Gbps evaluation: Shiny, magnetic USB4 storage

Greatest Costs At this time: MSI DataMag 40Gbps USB4 SSD

Magnetically hooked up SSDs might be helpful, particularly speedy 40Gbps fashions such because the MSI DataMag 40Gbps reviewed right here. They are often mounted in place on any appropriate metallic floor. Alas, that doesn’t embody my aluminum Macs, however it does embody the router proper subsequent to them.

What are the DataMag 40Gbps’s options?

Effectively, the title and intro give away a part of the story — the magnetic ring on the again of the unit (see beneath) and that the drive is 40Gbs USB4. It measures somewhat over 2.5-inches throughout in each instructions, is somewhat below 0.5-inches thick, and has a lanyard opening on the higher proper. Weight is 2.8 ounces, which provides a pleasant strong heft.

The DataMag 40gbps sports activities a Phison U21 controller and stacked/layered/3D TLC (Triple-Degree Cell/3-bit) NAND. The corporate warranties the drive for 5 years, or till the TBW ranking is reached.

Stated ranking is 750TBW (terabytes that could be written) per one terabyte of capability. That’s on the beneficiant facet for an exterior SSD. The norm is three years and 600TBW or much less relying on the NAND concerned.

How a lot is the MSI DataMag 40Gbps?

The DataMag 40Gbps is at present accessible in 1TB/$170 and 2TB/$296 capacities — these costs come from the corporate, which additionally guarantees {that a} 4TB model is on the way in which. These are a tad dear for USB4, however not outrageously so.

The drive additionally hasn’t proven up on Amazon as of this writing, so there could also be reductions available within the close to future.

How briskly is the MSI DataMag 40Gbps?

Quick reply: a lot quick, although there have been areas the place the drive didn’t fairly match the competitors. A part of the difficulty was undoubtedly that the drive MSI despatched us is simply 1TB, that means it had precisely half the NAND to play with because the Adata SE920, and one-quarter the NAND of the top-rated LaCie Rugged SSD4.

Much less NAND means much less secondary cache and dropping to the NAND’s native write price sooner. That stated, the native write price of round 830MBps will nonetheless get the job accomplished in an acceptable period of time in lots of instances.

Much less secondary cache or not, the DataMag 40Gbps was in no hurry to get to its native write price. The truth is, it truly delivered an excellent queued sequential learn rating in CrystalDiskMark 8 earlier than dropping off the tempo.

The DataMag 40Gbps was additionally excellent within the CrystalDiskMark 8 4K exams. Particularly with a number of queues in play. Queues usually are not one thing lots of software program function (Home windows doesn’t), however…

It was in our real-world 48GB transfers that the DataMag 40Gbps started to lag a bit extra. I wasn’t anticipating this to happen with the small file and folder operations; often a great CrystalDiskMark 8 4K rating interprets to a great efficiency with the smaller information and folders.

Being “solely” a 1TB drive little question harm the DataMag 40Gbps’s 450GB write time, which was twice that of the competitors.

Right here you possibly can see the place the lag within the 450GB write started. About 50GB in, the DataMag 40Gbps’s write pace dropped to USB 10Gbps ranges, or round 830MBps.

If MSI had despatched us the 2TB model of the DataMag 40Gbps, it undoubtedly would’ve accomplished higher within the real-world switch exams.

Regardless, it gives a pleasant enhance in sustained throughput over the soon-to-be-reviewed (however already examined) MSI DataMag 20Gbps, and different USB 3.2×2 (20Gbps) SSDs.

Must you purchase the MSI DataMag 40Gbps?

I really like the look, just like the efficiency, and respect that magnetic attachment. Given aggressive pricing I’d give it a nod, however as all the time — learn our different evaluations and store round.

How we check

Drive exams at present make the most of Home windows 11 24H2, 64-bit operating off of a PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Professional in an Asus Z890-Creator WiFi (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard. The CPU is a Core Extremely i5 225 feeding/fed by two Essential 64GB DDR5 5600MHz modules (128GB of reminiscence whole).

Each 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 5 are built-in into the motherboard and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. Inner PCIe 5.0 SSDs concerned in testing are mounted in an Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 adapter card sitting in a PCIe 5.0 slot.

We run the CrystalDiskMark 8.04 (and 9), AS SSD 2, and ATTO 4 artificial benchmarks (to maintain article size down, we report solely the primary) to seek out the storage system’s potential efficiency. Then we run a sequence of 48GB switch and 450GB write exams utilizing Home windows Explorer drag and drop to indicate what customers will see throughout routine copy operations, in addition to the far sooner FastCopy run as administrator to indicate what’s attainable.

A 25GBps two-SSD RAID 0 array on the aforementioned Asus Hyper M.2 x16 Gen5 is used because the second drive in our switch exams. Previously the 48GB exams have been accomplished with a RAM disk serving that goal.

Every check is carried out on a NTFS-formatted and newly TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Be aware that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency might lower attributable to much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different elements. This situation has abated considerably with the present crop of SSDs using extra mature controllers and much sooner, late-generation NAND.