ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB M.2 SSD

Here you will find a detailed speed, performance and benchmark test review. Tested was the M.2 NVMe SSD LEGEND 960 with 2TB (ALEG-960-2TCS) from the brand ADATA.

Performance score 
8408
Price/GB
0.25 $
Read
7,400 MB/s
Write
6,800 MB/s
Connector
M.2 2280
Interface
PCIe 4.0 x4
Technical specifications (manufacturer information)
Product image Product image LEGEND 960
Manufacturer ADATA  
Model number ALEG-960-2TCS
Capacity 2048 GB (1908 GiB)
pSLC cache 188 GB approx.
Read speed 7400 MB/s
Write speed 6800 MB/s
Interface PCIe 4.0 x4
Connector M.2 2280
Memory module (NAND) TLC
DRAM cache ✓ Yes
TBW (Total Bytes Written) 1560 terabyte
Warranty 5 Years
Controller Silicon Motion SM2264

Product
Score
Price
  Current price
~ 516 $
(= 0.25 $ / GB)
Compare product Compared to the test winner*
Read speed
99 %
Write speed
98 %
*) Test result rated by AS SSD score within the same capacity.

We put the ADATA NVMe M.2 SSD through a detailed test. You can find the test result / test report here:


AS SSD Benchmark

Standard performance test

The standard test was performed with a 5 GB file. A total score of 8408 points was achieved.

AS SSD Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB
AS SSD Read: Write:
Seq
in megabytes per second
6,190.49 MB/s
5,855.74 MB/s
4K
in megabytes per second
71.12 MB/s
181.13 MB/s
4K-64Thrd
in megabytes per second
2,541.26 MB/s
2,775.68 MB/s
Access time
in milliseconds
0.021 ms
0.109 ms
Score
3231
3542
Total score 
8408

Copy performance test

A common everyday scenario is simulated here. Three test folders are created:

  • ISO (folder with two large files)
  • Program (folder with many small files)
  • Game (folder with small and large files)

The three folders are copied using the Windows copy command (cache remains enabled). The real-world test from 10 May 2023 shows performance during simultaneous write and read operations. The lower the duration, the better.

AS SSD TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB
AS SSD Copy Benchmark Transfer rate: Duration:
ISO
two large files
2,243.94 MB/s
1.02 s
Program
typical program folder with many small files
1,148.37 MB/s
6.13 s
Game
a game folder with small and large files
1,942.47 MB/s
3.56 s

Compression performance test

Here, speed is measured depending on how compressible the data is.

AS SSD TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark

Similar to AS SSD, two sequential and two random performance tests are carried out here and the write and read speed (manufacturer specs: 7400 MB/s and 6800 MB/s) the ADATA SSD is measured.

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB
CDM Read [MB/s] Write [MB/s]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
7,435.24
6,918.56
SEQ1M
Q1T1
5,034.44
5,649.18
RND4K
Q32T16
3,576.52
3,019.50
RND4K
Q1T1
75.49
185.01

IOPS (Input/Output operations per second)

CDM Read [IOPS] Write [IOPS]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
7,090.80
6,598.10
SEQ1M
Q1T1
4,801.20
5,387.50
RND4K
Q32T16
873,175.00
737,184.00
RND4K
Q1T1
18,429.20
45,168.50

Average latency

CDM Read [µs] Write [µs]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
1,127.21
1,209.98
SEQ1M
Q1T1
208.10
185.42
RND4K
Q32T16
567.54
690.27
RND4K
Q1T1
54.15
22.01

HD Tune Pro long-term test

A long-term test was performed to fully utilize the storage. You can see at what point the cache (if present) becomes full and write performance drops. A test file of 300 GB was written to the medium. After approx. 188 GB, the cache was full and performance was throttled.
The test file could at least be read with an average read speed of 5,859 MB/s and written at 4,442 MB/s.

HD Tune endurance test TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB

HD Tune Pro Benchmark

HD Tune writes a 5 GB file to the ADATA NVMe M.2 SSD. The transfer data of the read speed is displayed graphically. The minimum, maximum and average values are also determined. The measured access time and burst rate are also shown.

HD Tune TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Here, a 256 MB file is written to the ADATA NVMe M.2 SSD multiple times. The I/O block size varies (from 512 bytes to 64 megabytes). The larger the blocks, the faster writing and reading usually becomes.

ATTO Disk Benchmark TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB

SSD-Z Benchmark

Similar to HD Tune, a 500 MB file is written to the ADATA NVMe M.2 SSD here. The transfer data is displayed. The more consistent the line, the better. Unfortunately, the tool no longer works correctly from around 4,000 MB/s and no line is displayed (and sometimes incorrect min/max data is shown).

SSD-Z TEST: ADATA LEGEND 960 2TB


You can find information about the test system at the bottom of the homepage.
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