Performance
The performance has been tested on a desktop PC with a Ryzen 9 7950X processor and an ASRock X870 Nova motherboard. All tests were performed on Windows 11 Pro x64 with the latest updates as of the date of this review. Everything else is less important as it doesn’t affect the X2 MAX performance.
Let’s begin as usual with the ATTO Disk Benchmark.
Results in the ATTO benchmark are not as high as the maximum specified, but it’s normal in this benchmark. The X2 reached 935MB/s read and 895MB/s write bandwidth, which is pretty respectable for a portable SSD.
CrystalDiskMark shows better results, but still slightly below the maximum specified. It’s still as much as most large USB 3.2 SSDs offer.
The PCMark 10 Storage benchmark also suggests high performance for this type of storage. There are not many faster USB 3.2 Gen2x1 SSDs, especially not in a similar size.
One more benchmark, and the conclusion is not much different. The 3DMark Storage Benchmark yields around 1000 points per run, which is as much as expected.
The Blackmagic Disk Speed Test results suggest that we may have issues with real-time writes at 8K or higher resolutions. However, the X2 MAX is not designed for these tasks, so the overall test results are still impressive.
Ultimately, the AIDA64 Disk Benchmark. Since the X2 MAX is designed for sequential operations rather than random ones, we concentrate on the linear read test.
The linear read test yields excellent results throughout, with no thermal throttling observed. In these extended tests, we observe a remarkably consistent bandwidth, which is not often the case.
The X2 MAX portable SSD is slightly slower in our tests than the previously reviewed X1 MAX. However, the maximum operating temperature is 15-20°C lower, which means that we can’t see thermal throttling during extended high load, and we can safely hide the SSD in our pocket soon after the work is done. It’s even more important than a couple of MB/s more.
