With many companies shifting their focus to M.2 SSDs for their enthusiast offering, TEAMGROUP is still chosing to remain commited to those looking to stay on SATA drives. This week we’re looking at a pair of 2.5″ SATA SSDs from TEAMGROUP’s T-FORCE family of products: the Vulcan Z SSD and the Vulcan Z QLC.
Released late last year, the Vulcan Z SSD offers a compelling price-per-GB option whilst offering similar performance to some popular options out right now. Available in capacities from 240GB up to 2TB, the T-Force Vulcan Z SSD is rated for up to 1600TBW on the 2TB capacity. While under their gaming line, this DRAM-less Silicon Motion SM2259XT-based SSD targets general consumers that have mild speed requirements. This includes primarily OS, application and game drives which are mostly read-based applications.
In this review, we’ll check out how the TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z SSD performs in our benchmark suite and see how it stacks up. We also the TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z *QLC* SSD model in a separate review, check it out once you’re done with this one.
Features & Specification
- 3D NAND best upgrade option for gaming
- Enhanced performance for seamless cutscenes
- Smart optimization to ensure reliable performance
- Shock-resistant, vibration-resistant, and reduced noise interference
| Model | VULCAN Z SSD |
| Interface | SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) |
| Capacity | 240GB / 256GB / 480GB / 512GB / 1TB / 2TB |
| Color | Black |
| Voltage | DC +5V |
| DRAM Cache | NO |
| Terabyte Written | 240GB – 200TBW 256GB – 200TBW 480GB – 400TBW 512GB – 400TBW 1TB – 800TBW 2TB -1600TBW |
| Operation Temperature |
0˚C ~ 70˚C |
| Performance | Crystal Disk Mark： 240GB Read: up to 520MB/s ; Write: up to 450MB/s 256GB Read: up to 520MB/s ; Write: up to 450MB/s 480GB Read: up to 540MB/s ; Write: up to 470MB/s 512GB Read: up to 540MB/s ; Write: up to 470MB/s 1TB Read: up to 550MB/s ; Write: up to 500MB/s 2TB Read: up to 550MB/s ; Write: up to 500MB/s |
| Weight | 45g |
| Dimensions | 100(L) x 69.9(W) x 7(H)mm |
| Humidity | 0°C to 55°C / 5% ~ 95% RH,non-condensing |
| Vibration | 20G (non-operating) |
| Shock | 1500G/0.5ms |
| MTBF | 1,000,000 hours |
| Operating System |
|
| Warranty | 3-year limited warranty |
Closer Look – T-Force Vulcan Z SSD
TEAMGROUP packages the T-FORCE VULCAN Z SSD in a full-colored box featuring a colored hero photo of the product up front. At the back is the product details but not much feature is listed.
Inside the packaging we have the SSD: the T-FORCE VULCAN Z SSD is a standard 7mm thick 2.5″ drive which features a plastic housing. Due to the relatively lower heat output, a metal casing is not necessary.
The drive requires a SATA cable and SATA power to operate and will fit compliant 2.5″ drive bays and caddies. Mounting screws are provided via your case.
Performance Testing – T-Force Vulcan Z SSD
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i9-13900K
Motherboard: ROG Maximus Z690 EXTREME
Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-6400 32GB (2×16)
Storage: Kingston FURY Renegade SSD (OS), tested drive as listed
PSU: FSP Hydro GT Pro 1000W
Cooling: NZXT Kraken X72 RGB
Monitor: ROG PG27UQ
VGA: MSI RTX 3050 Gaming X
Our sample for this test is the TEAMGROUP T-FORCE Vulcan Z 2TB and the T-FORCE Vulcan Z QLC 4TB (QLC version reviewed separately)
Crystal DiskMark
CrystalDIskMark has been the most actively updated disk benchmark amongst all the ones we use and is effectively the most reliable. Unfortunately, version to version results are not comparable which limits the ability to extrapolate comparative data. Still its a reliable and direct benchmark. Like the previous, it allows control over test data pattern, the test data size, amount of passes and individual benchmark control.
PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark
PCMark 10 introduces a set of four storage benchmarks that use relevant real-world traces from popular applications and common tasks to fully test the performance of the latest modern drives.
3DMark Storage Benchmark
The 3DMark Storage Benchmark uses traces recorded from popular games and gaming-related activities to measure real-world gaming performance, such as:
- Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
- Loading Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
- Loading Overwatch® from launch to the main menu.
- Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
- Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
- Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
- Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.
Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark
Final Fantasy XIV has a standalone benchmark application for PC, always updated to the latest game expansion with the latest Endwalker benchmark delivering some very nice graphical updates. A long-standing feature of the Final Fantasy XIV standalone benchmark is the loading data is captures which is a summary of all the load times between scenes in the benchmark.
Conclusion
Arguably the biggest appeal of the T-FORCE VULCAN Z SSD is its price but with e-commerce sites also flooded with older TLC and QLC 2.5″ SATA SSDs, the playing field is still stacked against the T-FORCE Vulcan Z SSD. For those who are not savvy enough to distinguish the differenece, an SSD from 2017 would be the easier choice due to the price but performance and not to mention far lower endurance ratings going down to the 100 TBW mark or less.
With that said, even the 240GB capacity T-Force Vulcan Z SSD is rated for 200TBW, which may be something that are looking to really stretch their investment in terms of longevity should consider. Beisdes that, a bump in performance also assures a fairly decent upgrade over older drives.
All in all, the TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z SSD is an affordable storage upgrade for aging systems that need a quick shot in the arm in terms of storage, the T-FORCE Vulcan Z SSD is perfect for legacy laptops or systems that just need a snappy storage drive to improve usability especially coming off a mechanical hard drive.
The TEAMGROUP T-FORCE VULCAN Z SSD is available now and comes with a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty. I give it my B2G Value Award.
