The best way to achieve solid-state performance at an affordable price? A slightly dusty old drive based on outdated high-end features, the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 SSD, tested in a 1TB configuration, is a textbook example of the former.

First introduced in 2019, this SSD is an attractive alternative to newer SSDs that have been pigeonholed to cut costs while offering the latest features, such as PCIe Gen 4 support. In fact, the Adata XPG Gammix S50 Lite offers an alternative route, allowing Adata to meet both needs. More on that later. First, let's take a closer look at the features of the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro.

As for memory, it has a 1GB 64-layer Micron flash chip; Micron's latest memory chips are 96 layers, so like almost all aspects of this 80cm M.2 2280 drive, this is not the latest hardware. However, this is TLC or triple-level cell memory.

This is one of the advantages of using an older drive: instead of pursuing the latest controller chipset features like PCIe Gen 4 support and cutting corners with much slower and less robust QLC flash memory, you can simply connect to an older PCIe Gen 3 controller simply plug in and use the appropriate TLC chip.

Speaking of which, the SX8200 Pro features the Silicon Motion SM2262EN controller chip; as of 2019, this was SM's latest NVMe controller, including a 50% increase in both random and sequential write speed, It boasted a variety of improvements.

Here and now, the SM2262EN's specifications still look decent: an 8-channel controller with DRAM support, running a pair of ARM Cortex R-series processor cores, and NVMe 1.3 support. Of course, it does not have the latest PCIe Gen 4 interface. This is quad-lane Gen 3.

Other notable features include a dynamic SLC cache mode that allows portions of the drive to operate in a faster pseudo-single-level cell mode and a 1GB DDR3 DRAM cache. Finally, the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro is available in a wide range of capacities, starting at 256GB and going up to 2TB.

As for performance, sequential throughput is 3,500 MB/sec read and 3,000 MB/sec write, very close to what one would expect from a drive in this class. IOPS (random access performance), on the other hand, is 390K read and 380K write IOPS, not far behind the best PCIe gen 3 drives, such as the Samsung 980 Pro and WD Black SN750, which achieve over 500K IOPS. [Of course, the latest PCIe gen 4 drives often exceed 7,000MB/s in sequential performance and achieve 1 million IOPS. But it is the alternative approach to affordable performance represented by mainstream, rather than high-end, PCIe 4.0 drives, including Adata's own XPG Gammix S50 Lite, that is the more interesting comparison. [This drive has a PCIe 4.0 controller, albeit with four channels rather than eight, and delivers better overall numbers, including fast sequential and superior random access performance. [In terms of peak throughput, the volume PCIe gen 4.0 option is a bit faster, but not enough to make a difference. This SX8200 Pro is 3.25GB/s read and 3GB/s write; the Gammix S50 Lite is only slightly faster.

Similarly, random 4K performance lags behind newer but more mainstream drives, again by a small margin. Of more concern is sustained performance. In internal file copy tests using the full drive, initial performance of 1GB/s drops to about 500MB/s to 700MB/s after about 125GB of data is stored. This exposes the fundamental performance of TLC memory.

At approximately 650 GB of data, performance again degrades, fluctuating between 300 MB/sec and 600 MB/sec, as data in the SLC cache is flushed and converted to TLC storage as it approaches the limit of remaining TLC capacity. Despite the lack of a heatspreader or cooling block, peak temperatures are kept at 52 degrees Celsius, so thermal throttling is unlikely to be a factor.

Game load performance, on the other hand, proves debatable. Both options have fast load times. In addition, at the time of this writing, 1 TB of storage is available for $130 (£100), which should be enough for a library of games installed on the primary OS drive.

All in all, there is little choice between this legacy-spec PCIe Gen 3.0 drive and a mainstream PCIe Gen 4.0 drive, at least for everyday tasks. The question marks are mainly longevity and sustained performance; the SX8200 Pro's rated write endurance of 640TB is nothing special, and the performance degradation with really large amounts of data is not impressive. On the other hand, it has a 5-year warranty, and this write endurance translates to 350GB of writes daily for 5 years. Few people will need this level of endurance.

After all, it all comes down to money. However, as of this writing, the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB is priced about the same as the Gammix S50 Lite. That remains the same, but we prefer the newer drive. However, it would only take a very slight downward revision for the SX8200 Pro to become a better value proposition.

If you are looking for a new drive, be sure to check out our guide to the best SSDs for gaming.