New the Adata Legend 960: Solid Performance but Lacking the Wow Factor in a Competitive SSD Market

The Adata Legend 960: A Respectable NVMe SSD

The Adata Legend 960 is a respectable NVMe SSD that offers solid performance, but it lacks the "wow factor" that is becoming increasingly important in a market that has already seen everything possible from Gen 4 drives, and often at lower prices. The design of the Adata Legend 960 is very similar to the brand's budget XPG Gammix S70 Blade, which was launched in 2021. The drive comes with an exposed SSD heatsink that has a sticky back to cool the NVMe's components.

Legend 960 Performance and Components

The Adata Legend 960 is equipped with the tried-and-true SM2264 controller, which has been around since late 2020. While it is by no means a bad performer, it is not as powerful as the top-end Phison E-18 controller, as Silicon Motion's offering tops out at 7,400 MB/s read and 6,800 MB/s write. Although this read speed is top-of-the-line, there are already many Gen 4 drives that excel to the 7,000 MB/s write mark, such as the Kingston Fury Renegade or PNY CS3140. The Adata Legend 960's 176-layer Micron TLC flash memory is its saving grace, which is nearly the cap for what NVMe 1.4 can do.

The Adata Legend 960's Heatsink

The Adata Legend 960's heatsink is a nice touch, but it isn't robust or sturdy. It's thin and has an adhesive layer to connect with the silicon, making it ideal for the most M.2 port, but it doesn't offer the same level of protection as what you'll find with the Kingston Fury Renegade SSD. Despite this, the Adata Legend 960 is a solid performer when slotted into a PC or Mac and has consistent file transfer rates of around 1GB/sec, which scales with the file sizes. These rates are fast, but the drive is ever-so-slightly slower than the Seagate FireCuda 530 and the cheaper XPG Gammix S70 Blade.

Is Adata Legend 960 a suitable choice for those in need of a high-speed storage solution?

In conclusion, the Adata Legend 960 is a solid NVMe SSD with consistent performance and a sleek design, but it falls short of providing highest performance that many consumers are looking for in today's market. Its tried-and-true SM2264 controller and thin, adhesive heatsink make it a suitable choice for those in need of a high-speed storage solution. However, with many Gen 4 drives offering faster write speeds at a lower price point, and with more robust heatsinks and protection options available, the Adata Legend 960 faces stiff competition in a crowded marketplace. While it remains a respectable performer, it may struggle to stand out in a market that has already seen everything possible from Gen 4 drives.

Data Recovery on an SSD

It's worth noting that data recovery on an SSD can be more challenging than on traditional hard drives, as SSDs store data differently using flash memory cells. When an SSD fails, it can be difficult to recover lost data. It's important to make regular backups of important files to ensure that they can be recovered in the event of an SSD failure. Additionally, some SSDs may come with built-in data recovery options, but these may come at an additional cost or require special software. It's always a good idea to research the data recovery options for an SSD before purchasing one to ensure that you're prepared in case of a failure.