Agile Gear, AGI’s in-house Taiwanese SSD brand, primarily concentrates on 2.5-inch SATA and M.2 PCIe SSD offerings. Employing a DRAM-less primary controller and 3D TLC NAND flash memory, it delivers impressive sequential read and writes speeds of 5000MB/s and 4500MB/s, respectively. With a 3-year product warranty and a highly competitive price of 2,199 yuan for the 1TB version, Agile Gear is an excellent choice for document management and online installation tasks.
Specifications
Capacity: 1TB
Size: M.2 2280
Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.4
Controller: MAXIO MAP1602
Flash memory particle: 3D TLC NAND
Sequential read and write: 5000MB/s, 4500MB/s
Warranty: 3 years
AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD unpacking
The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, an entry-level model from the Taiwanese brand, offers not only a highly attractive price but also competitive sequential read and write speeds of 5000MB/s and 4500MB/s. Additionally, it includes a complimentary self-adhesive AGI heatsink. Users can opt to utilize either the M.2 heatsink present on the motherboard or the provided AGI heatsink to ensure stable SSD performance during use.
The AGI AI818 1TB SSD features an M.2 2280 form factor, PCIe 4.0 x4 communication, NVMe 1.4 specification, and 3D TLC NAND flash memory, backed by a 3-year warranty. For computers designed for entry-level document handling and online installations, using a PCIe 4.0 SSD as the system disk not only delivers higher read and write bandwidth to meet the system’s frequent IOPS demands but also ensures faster access speeds, resulting in smoother computer operation.
Once the front label sticker is removed, the AGI AI818’s internal components can be seen, including the MAXIO MAP1602 SSD controller and four 3D TLC NAND flash memories that work together to provide a 1TB capacity.
The provided AGI heatsink features a 3M heat-conducting adhesive on its back. During DIY assembly, it is recommended that users utilize the M.2 heatsink present on the motherboard. In cases where the motherboard lacks a built-in heatsink, the AGI heatsink can be used instead to provide better temperature control for the SSD.
AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD performance test
The test was conducted using an AMD Ryzen 9 7950X processor and a ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO motherboard, with the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD installed in the first M.2 slot of the motherboard using the motherboard’s heatsink for testing purposes.
The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD was inspected using CrystalDiskInfo, revealing its adoption of PCIe 4.0 x4 and NVMe 1.4 interfaces and support for SMART, TRIM, and VolatileWriteCache functions. The actual usable capacity after formatting was found to be 953GB.
“Usable capacity after formatting” refers to the amount of storage space that is available for use after the SSD has been formatted and any necessary system files have been installed. This value is typically lower than the stated capacity of the drive due to formatting overhead and reserved space for system functions.
When using the CrystalDiskMark test preset +Mix and NVMe random mode, the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD achieved impressive performance results, including a sequential read speed of 5027.85 MB/s and a write speed of 4465.48 MB/s. Additionally, the random RND4K Q32T16 read speed was measured at 2647.63 MB/s, while the write speed reached 3447.88 MB/s.
The ATTO Disk Benchmark utilizes various I/O sizes to test a device’s maximum performance. In the case of the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, it was tested on the 8th layer of the Direct I/O queue, where it demonstrated a maximum read speed of 4.75 GB/s and a maximum write speed of 4.15 GB/s.
Using the ezIOmeter test tool and running the 1 Thread 128KB QD32 test, the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD achieved a sequential read Mean of 4828.56 Mbps and a sequential write Mean of 6240.47 Mbps. Additionally, its 4K random read and write QD32 performance exceeded 600,000 and 400,000 IOps, respectively.
The PCMark 10 storage test function, Full System Drive Benchmark, evaluates a drive’s performance in 23 typical daily storage tasks, including simulating startup, Adobe program startup, office software operation, and file copying. The results are displayed using a total score and also include details such as average bandwidth and access time.
The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD achieved a score of 2833 points in this test, with an average bandwidth of 451.67 MB/s and an average access time of only 59µs.
The 3DMark storage test assesses a storage device’s performance through operations such as game startup, game recording, game installation, game archiving, and game moving. This test provides various bandwidth and access time measurements.
The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD achieved a score of 2810 points in the 3DMark storage test, with an average bandwidth of 482.21 MB/s and an average access time of only 64µs.
In the AIDA64 Disk Benchmark’s Linear Write test, the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD utilizes the SSD controller’s cache algorithm to maintain performance levels close to 4000 MB/s until it reaches 30% of its write volume. However, after surpassing this capacity, its performance drops to around 500 MB/s.
Therefore, it is recommended to use the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD as a system disk, as its 1TB capacity is suitable for accommodating the system and various application programs. It is also advised to prepare another disk for data storage purposes.
DirectStorage supports NVMe and PCIe 4.0 SSDs and can currently be tested with the Bulk Load Demo provided by Microsoft. To check if DirectStorage is supported on a computer, users can open the Xbox Game Bar interface by pressing Win + G and navigating to the Settings > Game Features page. Here, the page will display whether the GPU and disk of the current computer support DirectStorage.
During the DirectStorage test utilizing the Bulk Load Demo, the AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD was used as the disk drive. In this test, it took only 0.54 seconds for the drive to read 8.68GB of model data. With its high performance in feature extraction and GPU decompression, DirectStorage greatly reduces game load times.
Test Platform
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
Motherboard: ROG CROSSHAIR X670E HERO
Memory: CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 32GBx2 5200MHz
Display Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090
Radiator: 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler
Power Supply: Seasonic PRIME PX-1000
Operating system: Windows 11 Pro 22H2
Summary
The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD is capable of delivering relatively stable performance due to the SLC Cache of the controller. It can provide entry-level sequential read and write performance of 5027.85 MB/s and 4465.48 MB/s. When utilizing this SSD, it is recommended to use it as the system disk for a document or internet computer and prepare another disk for storing data. This will ensure that the SSD performance can meet the high-speed access requirements of the operating system.
The AGI AI818 1TB is priced at only 2,199 yuan in Taiwan. Compared to other entry-level PCIe 4.0 SSDs, the price of AGI can be considered quite good. The choice of SSD depends on the player’s budget and installation requirements. The 1TB capacity is more than enough to be used as a system disk, and it is important to reserve some capacity for the SSD to ensure that the SLC Cache mechanism can steadily improve performance.
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Title: The AGI AI818 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD is an affordable, entry-level solution that includes a heat sink right out of the box
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