Team Group has been around since 1988, but it’s only recent they’ve made a splash in the world of gaming. Today, we’re looking at a particularly neat drive that’s completely sold on the RGB Revolution with the T-Force Delta RGB SSD. We set this drive up against some of the best devices in our review repertoire. Is it all flash without function or does it have the speeds to back its looks? Let’s find out how it stacks up.
Specifications
- MSRP: $84.14 (250 GB), $144.53 (500 GB), $253.43 (1 TB), Prices all current from Newegg.com
- Capacities: 250 GB (reviewed), 500 GB, 1 TB
- Interface: Data: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6 Gb/s) – with backwards compatibility to SATA Rev. 2.0
- RGB Signal: USB Micro B Type
- Voltage: DC 5V
- Operation Temperature: 0°C ~ 70°C
- Sequential Read: up to 560 MB/s (250 GB, 500 GB, 1TB)
- Sequential Write: up to 500 MB/s (250 GB, 500GB), (1TB 510MB/s Write)
- IOPS: 250 GB 4K Random Read/Write: 90K/80K IOPS Max, 500GB 4K Random Read/Write: 90K/80K IOPS Max, 1TB 4K Random Read/Write: 90K/85K IOPS Max
- Dimensions: 100(L) x 69.9(W) x 9.5(H)mm
- Humidity: 0°C ~ 55°C / 5% ~ 95% RH, non-condensing
- Vibration: 20G (non-operating)
- Shock: 1500G
- MTBF: 1,000,000 hours
- Warranty: 3-year limited warranty
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The T-Force Delta RGB SSD comes into a market full of competitors looking to take the storage and speed crown. Over the last few years Team Group has been listed in the top 10 in global memory product suppliers, and now are making the push into the RGB SSD game. The Delta boasts the largest luminous RGB area with a ratio of 5:3. It comes with 16.8 million RGB colors with configurable mixed color light effects. These lighting effects can be synced up with a motherboard that has a 5v ADD header also.
Lighting isn’t everything, though. The Delta SSD has a speed increase of four times faster than a traditional hard drive, coming in with a read speed of up to 560 MB/s and a write speed of up to 500 MB/s. Bootup and load times of this drive are mere seconds. These stats are standard for the 250 GB and 500 GB models of the Delta SSD while the 1 TB drive has a similar read speed and a slightly higher 510 MB/s write speed. The T-Force comes lightweight and thin with the industry standard 2.5-inch size, suitable for laptops or desktops, and 9.5mm in height. The lighting is set up to use the motherboards built-in software. I have the MSI Mystic Light Sync software to control the lighting effects along with my MSI hardware already installed.
Video credit: HardwareCanucks
The video above is surprisingly representative of what you can expect. The lighting is vibrant and the diffusion shield allows for a nice flow of color across its face.
The T-Force Delta RGB SSD (5V version) uses a 3D NAND flash memory chip, a durable and shockproof option for your storage options. It is resistant to drops and falls and protects the most precious data you could store on it. This is a big plus for those who want to use this drive for storing school projects, working on big assignments for work, or for most of us the most important thing in computers, our gaming data. The drives have no moving parts which make them faster and have a much longer life than the drives that still employ older methods of functionality. This drive sports a smart algorithm mechanism that has functions such as garbage collection, which helps with the efficient operation of the drive. The ECC (Error Correction Code) function on the drive also helps to enhance the data transfer within the Delta. Other important features which help reduce drive degradation include, Windows TRIM optimization, access control technology of NCQ which helps speed up transfer and write performance, and overall helps the drive stay working longer.
Benchmark Testing
While testing SSDs, there are certain steps we start with to compare the speeds of the drives we have on hand. This starts with testing synthetic benchmarks to gather a picture of the “best case scenario” sequential transfer speeds and then moving into random access tests to approximate real world performance.
For more practical application, we then perform a file transfer test, moving a selected file between drive for a read/write/copy test. I have used my Star Wars: The Old Republic game folder which comes in at 38.7 GB in size. Finally, we look at load times of several popular MMORPGs, loading into capital cities from a cold, no-cache first-boot.
To begin, we took the T-Force Delta RGB SSD Drive and ran it through ATTO Disk Benchmark to gather sequential read and write times. In the real world, these results are not the most representative since most people do far more random reads and writes. It does, however, give us a “best case scenario” for the performance of a drive. Manufacturers will very often quote their own ATTO scores in marketing materials.
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As you can see from our test, the peak read came in just shy of the max and the peak write came in just above the max as well. Team Group’s claims check out.
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CrystalDiskMark is our next stop in test run. Unlike ATTO, CDM will take a look at and assess both the sequential and random performances on multiple levels. This test will provide us with another look at the “best case” sequential speeds, the potential “worst case” with its 4KQ1T1 testing. Our 4KQ1T1 test stresses the drive by only allowing it to “anticipate” on piece of data at a time, whereas the 4KQ32 test allows it to prepare for a long string, similar to a common game load.
As you can see, the write speeds on the drive are fairly good, topping out our other 3D NAND SATA SSDs. Read speeds, on the other hand, drag behind.
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After our synthetic tests have been completed, we take our SSD testing into the real world. We used the previously mentioned transfer file to assess copy speeds from the Delta, to my main to and from a second, high speed SSD, ensuring there are no bottlenecks. As you can see, my transfer speeds came in at a max of 426 MB/s, a minimum speed of 143 MB/s, and an average transfer speed of 285 MB/s. These results place it behind the other SATA SSDs we’ve been able to test.
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The end of our testing, we took a look at MMO load time comparisons. Because MMOs require so much loading, particularly in capital cities with dozens of other players, they give us the unique ability to stress our SSDs. Star Wars, World of Warcraft, and Guild Wars 2 all load similarly to other drives we’ve tested. The two new games to this test, Bless Online and Lord of the Rings Online, had significantly increased load times; however, these games had much larger areas areas to load in. We were not able to assess load times for each drive in time for this review; however, we believe these additional load times are likely to be quite similar based on the Delta’s performance on the three other MMORPGs. Still, we’d advise taking these with a grain of salt until we can compare further.
Final Thoughts
The T-Force Delta RGB SSD (5V) is a cheap alternative to some of the comparable drives but has mixed benchmark scores. When it comes to gaming, however, it provides comparable results to the other more expensive drives we’ve had in for testing. While the T-Force Delta won’t be winning any speed rewards, the load times remain mostly in-line with other drives we’ve tested and the RGB definitely adds a good dose of flair to your system. If you’re on board with the “RGB all the things” revolution and need a low cost drive to load a few games, the T-Force Delta fits the bill.
Pros
- Affordable price
- Game loads are in line with other similar SSDs
- Comes in Multiple Sized Drives
- Vibrant illumination
Cons
- After the 250 GB sized drive, the price increases exponentially
- Middle of the road performance
