ADATA Legend 710 M.2 PCIe3x4 256GB SSD

Description

Budget NVMe With a Heatsink — Rare at This Price Point

The LEGEND 710 heatsink works to lower operating temperatures by 15% for optimal performance and stability. At this price tier, shipping a heatsink in the box is unusual and genuinely useful — most M.2 drives at this level leave thermal management entirely to the user. The heatsink uses a royal blue colour scheme with gold accents, and adds only a few millimetres of height. Check clearance against your motherboard’s M.2 slot before installing, particularly in laptops.

LC NAND — Know What You’re Buying

The 256GB Legend 710 uses SpecTek 232-layer QLC NAND flash paired with the Realtek RTS5766DL controller. QLC stores four bits per cell, allowing for higher storage density and lower cost per gigabyte — but carries a trade-off in raw write endurance and sustained write performance compared to TLC drives. For read-heavy everyday workloads — booting, browsing, application loading, media playback — this is largely a non-issue. For sustained heavy writes, the SLC cache will eventually exhaust and write speeds will drop. Buyers prioritising write endurance should consider the ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro (TLC, 160TBW) or Silicon Power P34A60 (TLC, 150TBW) instead.

HMB and SLC Caching

The Legend 710 is equipped for productivity with SLC caching and HMB (Host Memory Buffer) technology. The SLC cache absorbs burst writes in faster single-level cell mode before folding to QLC, while HMB borrows a portion of system RAM to supplement the lack of dedicated on-drive DRAM. Together these help maintain good burst performance for typical workloads on Windows 10 and later.

LDPC ECC and AES-256 Encryption

With LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check Code) and AES 256-bit encryption, the Legend 710 ensures accurate data transfers and data security. LDPC ECC is the gold standard for NVMe error correction — a strong inclusion at this price point. Hardware AES-256 encryption is a welcome addition for users working with sensitive data, and operates at the drive level with no CPU overhead.

ADATA SSD Toolbox

SSD Toolbox automatically ensures you have the latest firmware for optimal performance and allows you to monitor drive health and remaining lifespan through S.M.A.R.T. attributes, as well as track current operating temperature, capacity, and total used storage space. Useful for keeping tabs on a drive that’s being pushed close to its TBW limits.

⚠️ QLC NAND — important to understand — the 256GB Legend 710 uses QLC flash, which has lower write endurance than TLC drives. Suited to read-heavy workloads and light daily use. For write-intensive use, consider a TLC alternative in our NVMe range.

⚠️ TBW note — the 256GB Legend 710 carries a 65TBW endurance rating — the lowest in our NVMe range. Fine for light OS and application use, but not the right choice for sustained write-heavy workloads or high-turnover storage.

ℹ️ Heatsink clearance — the included heatsink adds approximately 1mm of height to the drive. In most desktop M.2 slots this is fine, but verify clearance against adjacent PCIe slots or the motherboard chipset heatsink before installing. Not recommended for installation in laptops where space is tighter.

ℹ️ 256GB-specific specs — the 2,400/1,800MB/s figures widely advertised for the Legend 710 apply to the 512GB and 1TB variants. The 256GB model is rated at 2,100 / 1,000MB/s read/write with 90K/130K random IOPS.

Key Highlights

• Capacity: 256GB
• Form Factor: M.2 2280
• Interface: PCIe Gen3 x4 / NVMe 1.4
• Sequential Read/Write: Up to 2,100 / 1,000 MB/s
• Random 4K Read/Write IOPS: Up to 90,000 / 130,000
• NAND: SpecTek 232-layer QLC (Micron-derived)
• Controller: Realtek RTS5766DL (DRAM-less)
• DRAM Cache: None (HMB + SLC caching used)
• Error Correction: LDPC ECC
• Encryption: AES-256-bit hardware
• Shock Resistance: 1,500G / 0.5ms
• MTBF: 1,500,000 hours
• Operating Temp: 0°C – 70°C
• Storage Temp: -40°C – 85°C
• Dimensions (with heatsink): 80 × 22 × 3.13mm
• Weight (with heatsink): 9g
• TBW: 65TB
• Software: ADATA SSD Toolbox
• Warranty: 3-year limited

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