Adata Legend 960 Max SSD Review: Now With Extra Toppings

The Adata Legend 960 Max is another common PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for your PS5 or desktop PC, with the added advantage of a heatsink to keep things cool. Overall, it’s a Legend 960 in disguise, simply with an added heatsink, but this works well with the drive’s chemistry. Although it sets no real records, the ability to write for a long time while keeping cool could make this drive interesting for some uses. However, it faces stiff competition, so it has to be priced right to be meaningful.

Specifications

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Product 1TB 2TB 4TB
Pricing $84.99 $169.99 $369.99
Form Factor M.2 2280 M.2 2280 M.2 2280
Interface / Protocol PCIe 4.0 x4 PCIe 4.0 x4 PCIe 4.0 x4
Controller SM2264 SM2264 SM2264
DRAM DDR4 DDR4 DDR4
Flash Memory 176-Layer Micron TLC 176-Layer Micron TLC 176-Layer Micron TLC
Sequential Read 7,400 MBps 7,400 MBps 7,400 MBps
Sequential Write 6,000 MBps 6,800 MBps 6,800 MBps
Random Read 730K 750K 700K
Random Write 610K 630K 550K
Security N/A N/A N/A
Endurance (TBW) 780TB 1560TB 3120TB
Part Number ALEG-960M-1TCS ALEG-960M-2TCS ALEG-960M-4TCS
Warranty 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year

The Adata Legend 960 Max, as with the original Legend 960, comes in 1TB, 2TB, or 4TB flavors. During the time of review the prices dropped on these to $84.99, $169.99, and $369.99, respectively. This pricing feels a bit high at 1TB with heatsinked drives like the Lexar Professional NM800 Pro around and there’s fair competition at 2TB, too. At 4TB the Legend 960 Max is reasonable for a high-end PCIe 4.0 SSD if you want a svelte heatsink, possibly for PlayStation 5 use, but the WD Black SN850X is otherwise attractive.

The Legend 960 Max reaches up to 7,400 MBps / 6,800 MBps for sequential reads and writes and up to 750,000 / 630,000 IOPS for random reads and rights. TBW is at 780TB per TB of capacity and the drive is backed by a five-year warranty.

Software and Accessories

Adata provides a download for its SSD Toolbox software package. This application has drive information, diagnostics, cloning, TRIM optimization, a firmware updater, and the ability to perform a secure erase.

A Closer Look

The Legend 960 Max is quite similar to the original Legend 960 with the primary change being the addition of a full-fledged heatsink. This is a nice addition as the original drive could get quite hot during sustained workloads. It’s possible to add your own heatsink or to use a motherboard heatsink on the original, although currently these drives are priced similarly. What we spot otherwise is a double-sided drive with one DRAM and two NAND packages on either side, with the controller centralized on the top side.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

 The Legend 960 Max uses the same controller and DDR4 as the Legend 960. There’s plenty of DRAM and the controller has proven itself capable, but not exceptional. SMI was a little late to the market this time around.

(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

The flash is Micron’s ubiquitous 176-Layer TLC, or B47R. In time we expect Micron’s 232-Layer design to become more common, particularly on higher-end drives. This includes a range of upcoming PCIe 5.0 SSDs. That flash has twice the typical density of B47R, which promises to help kick capacity up a notch.

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