ADATA XPG Mars 980 Blade M.2 PCIe5x4 1TB SSD
R5,135.00 inc. VAT
ADATA’s second-generation PCIe Gen 5 SSD under the XPG gaming brand — and the first in this range to be specifically designed for both desktop and laptop use without active cooling. The Mars 980 Blade uses the Silicon Motion SM2508 controller paired with 232-layer 3D TLC NAND and 2GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache, delivering sequential read speeds up to 14,000MB/s and write speeds up to 10,000MB/s at 1TB. Backed by a 5-year warranty and 740TBW endurance per TB of capacity — and quietly one of the best Gen 5 drives for random OS workloads available today.
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Description
SM2508 — The Most Efficient PCIe Gen 5 Controller Available
The SM2508 is an 8-channel PCIe Gen 5 controller built on TSMC’s 6nm process, using a quad-core 32-bit ARM Cortex-R8 processor running at 1.25GHz, capable of NAND transfer speeds up to 3,600MT/s per channel. The SM2508 contributes to a maximum full SSD power consumption of just 7W — making the Mars 980 Blade up to 1.7 times more energy-efficient than earlier PCIe Gen 5 controllers. That efficiency is the key reason this drive can run without active cooling in environments that would throttle less efficient Gen 5 alternatives. It supports full drive AES-256 encryption, TCG Opal 2.0, Hardware SHA-256/384, and TRNG security protocols.
Purpose-Built for Laptops — But Excellent in Desktops Too
The Mars 980 Blade is specifically designed for laptops, featuring PCIe Gen5 x4 and NVMe 2.0 support in a compact design that ensures stable performance even in tight spaces. The SM2508’s advanced 6nm process delivers superior performance-to-power efficiency, significantly reducing heat generation compared to older-generation controllers — the key enabler for its blade design that allows it to run cool without an elaborate cooling setup. A separate heatspreader is included in the box for desktop use or wherever additional thermal management is needed. For laptops with an M.2 slot, this installs bare without any heatspreader.
Exceptional Random Performance — Best for OS Workloads
The Mars 980 Blade’s random 4K performance makes it currently the best NVMe SSD to run your operating system from. With up to 1,600,000 read and 1,650,000 write IOPS at 1TB, the drive handles the small, random file access patterns of an OS and daily applications with exceptional responsiveness. Benchmarks confirm the drive exceeds its rated sequential speeds in testing — CrystalDiskMark returns figures beyond the advertised 14,000MB/s read and 10,000MB/s write for the 1TB.
232-Layer TLC NAND With 2GB On-Drive DRAM Cache
The Mars 980 Blade uses two 1GB Samsung DDR4-2666 packages on board — one on each side of the PCB — alongside Micron 232-layer TLC NAND packages also distributed equally across both sides. The DRAM cache stores the drive’s mapping tables for fast random access, a meaningful performance and latency advantage over HMB-based DRAM-less designs. The TLC NAND stores three bits per cell — strong endurance relative to QLC alternatives at this tier.
Double-Sided PCB — Know Your System Before Installing
The 1TB Mars 980 Blade has components on both sides of the PCB. This is the trade-off for packing 2GB of DRAM and 1TB of NAND into a slim design — some ultra-thin laptops with single-sided M.2 clearance restrictions may not accommodate this drive. Verify your laptop’s M.2 slot specification before ordering for a mobile system.
PS5 Compatible — No Heatsink Required for Console
The Mars 980 Blade supports PS5 expansion, delivering read speeds up to 6,500MB/s in the console. The slim profile without heatspreader fits the PS5’s M.2 slot directly, and the Sony-required heat dissipation note is satisfied by the drive’s own thermal label. The included heatspreader is not needed for PS5 installation.
740TBW and XPG Toolbox
ADATA backs the Mars 980 Blade with a standard five-year warranty and 740TB of writes per TB of capacity — higher than the typical 600TB per TB seen on most high-end TLC drives. The XPG SSD Toolbox provides drive health inspection, diagnostics, firmware updates, secure erase, benchmarking, and drive optimisation.
⚠️ PCIe Gen 5 slot required — the Mars 980 Blade delivers full performance on a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. It is backwards compatible with PCIe 4.0 at approximately half the rated sequential speeds. Compatible with Intel 13th/14th Gen and AMD Ryzen 7000-series platforms with Gen 5 M.2 support.
⚠️ Double-sided PCB — components are on both sides of the PCB. Most desktops and mainstream laptops support this without issue, but verify your laptop’s M.2 slot specification if installing in an ultra-thin device.
ℹ️ Heatspreader is separate — the drive ships with an optional metal heatspreader. Apply it for desktop installs without a motherboard M.2 heatsink. Do not apply it for PS5 or ultra-thin laptop installs. The adhesive is 3M quality and very permanent once applied — be certain before fitting it.
ℹ️ 1TB write speed — the 1TB model is rated at 10,000MB/s write versus 13,000MB/s on the 2TB and 4TB variants due to fewer NAND dies available for parallel writes. The Crucial T710 1TB delivers higher sequential speeds at this capacity; the Mars 980 Blade is more competitive at 2TB.
ℹ️ PS5 note — while PS5-compatible, PCIe Gen 4 SSDs remain a more reasonable option due to the console’s bandwidth limit. The Mars 980 Blade will work perfectly in a PS5 but you won’t see the full Gen 5 speed advantage in that environment.
Key Highlights
- Capacity: 1TB
- Form Factor: M.2 2280 (double-sided PCB)
- Interface: PCIe Gen 5 x4 / NVMe 2.0 (backwards compatible with PCIe Gen 4)
- Sequential Read/Write: Up to 14,000 / 10,000 MB/s
- PS5 Sequential Read: Up to 6,500 MB/s
- Random 4K Read/Write IOPS: Up to 1,600,000 / 1,650,000
- NAND: Micron 232-layer 3D TLC
- Controller: Silicon Motion SM2508 (8-channel PCIe 5.0, TSMC 6nm)
- DRAM Cache: 2GB Samsung DDR4-2666 (1GB per side of PCB)
- SLC Cache: Yes
- Heatspreader: Separate (included; optional; metal)
- Error Correction: LDPC ECC
- Encryption: AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0, Hardware SHA-256/384, TRNG
- PS5 Compatible: Yes (without heatspreader)
- Power Consumption: ~7W maximum
- Shock Resistance: 1,500G / 0.5ms
- MTBF: 2,000,000 hours
- Dimensions (with heatspreader): 80 × 22 × 4.5mm
- Dimensions (without): 80 × 22 × 3.2mm
- Weight: 12g (with) / 8g (without heatspreader)
- TBW: 740TB
- Warranty: 5-year limited
- Software: XPG SSD Toolbox
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