Acer FA300 1TB SSD detailed specs (2026)
The Acer FA300 1TB is a PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD that pairs Silicon Motion's ultra-efficient SM2504XT controller with Kioxia's 218-layer TLC NAND for fast transfers without the heat.
Controller & Memory
Acer's FA300 marks the brand's first entry into the PCIe 5.0 SSD market, and it takes a notably different path from most Gen5 drives. Rather than chasing maximum benchmark numbers with a power-hungry controller, the FA300 is built around Silicon Motion's SM2504XT, a DRAM-less controller designed for efficiency. It uses the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) protocol to borrow a small slice of system RAM for mapping tables instead of carrying dedicated DRAM onboard. This keeps the physical footprint small and power draw low, at roughly 2.4 W under active load.
The NAND flash is Kioxia BiCS8 218-layer TLC, a mature and well-regarded 3D NAND generation that offers good endurance and consistent performance across operating temperatures. The FA300 is a single-sided M.2 2280 design, meaning all components sit on one side of the PCB. That matters for laptop compatibility, where double-sided modules can physically conflict with socket retainers. The drive supports NVMe 2.0 and runs across four PCIe 5.0 lanes.
Within Acer's own lineup, the FA300 sits below the Predator GM9000 and GM9, both of which carry DRAM and target higher sustained performance. The FA300 is positioned as a value-oriented Gen5 option. Competitors in this space include the Samsung 9100 EVO, which uses a similar DRAM-less approach with HMB, and the Kingston FURY Renegade 5.0, which carries DRAM and draws more power. The Crucial T705 is another alternative but at a higher price point. The FA300's combination of single-sided layout, low wattage, and Kioxia TLC makes it one of the few Gen5 drives genuinely suited to thin notebooks, ultrabooks, and PS5 consoles without added cooling solutions.
Storage Comparisons:
FA300 Performance & Benchmarks
Acer rates the 1TB FA300 at up to 11,000 MB/s sequential read and 9,400 MB/s sequential write. These numbers are slightly below the 2TB model, which reaches 10,000 MB/s write thanks to having more NAND dies for parallel writes. Random performance comes in at up to 1,600,000 read IOPS and 1,600,000 write IOPS, strong figures for a DRAM-less drive that relies on HMB rather than onboard cache memory.
Acer FA300 1 TB vs M.2 5.0 peers
Switch between sequential throughput and random IOPS to see how this drive stacks up against other M.2 5.0 SSDs in our database. The highlighted bar is the drive on this page — click any other bar to open that drive.
- Corsair MP700 Pro XT 1 TB: 14,900 MB/s read, 14,200 MB/s write
- Corsair MP700 Pro XT 2 TB: 14,900 MB/s read, 14,500 MB/s write
- Corsair MP700 Pro XT 4 TB: 14,900 MB/s read, 14,400 MB/s write
- Crucial T710 1 TB: 14,900 MB/s read, 13,800 MB/s write
- Acer FA300 1 TB (this drive): 11,000 MB/s read, 9,400 MB/s write
Because the SM2504XT lacks dedicated DRAM, sustained sequential writes eventually fall to the native TLC write speed once the SLC cache is exhausted. The SSD Review confirmed that the FA300 maintains competitive transfer rates in typical consumer workloads including game loads and file copies, where burst performance matters more than steady-state throughput. The review also found that the FA300 achieved over 1.5 million IOPS in testing, approaching the controller's rated ceiling.
Thermally, the FA300 excels. In The SSD Review's comprehensive laptop battery test comparing 13 SSDs, the FA300 ran cooler than every other Gen5 SSD tested and delivered the best battery life results. The SM2504XT's extremely small die area and low voltage requirements keep surface temperatures well below throttling thresholds even without a heatsink.
For everyday use such as game loading, OS boot, application launches, and general file transfers, the FA300 1TB delivers PCIe 5.0 responsiveness without the thermal throttling that plagues higher-power alternatives from Samsung, Crucial, and Corsair.
Acer FA300 vs Competitors
See how the FA300 stacks up against other M.2 5.0 drives in our database:
Compare with rival drives:
Endurance, TBW & Warranty
Acer covers the FA300 with a five-year limited warranty. The 1TB model is rated for approximately 800 TBW (terabytes written), which is proportional to the 1,500 TBW figure Acer specifies for the 2TB capacity. At 800 TBW over five years, that works out to roughly 438 GB of writes per day to reach the warranty threshold. Even a heavy user writing 50 GB daily would take over 40 years to exhaust the endurance rating. The FA300 also supports standard SMART health reporting so you can monitor total bytes written and remaining spare capacity through tools like CrystalDiskInfo. This endurance level is competitive for a DRAM-less Gen5 drive and reflects the reliability of Kioxia's 218-layer TLC flash.
Acer FA300 1 TB Specifications
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 1 TB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 5.0 |
| Controller [?] | Silicon Motion SM2504XT |
| Memory type [?] | Kioxia 218-L TLC |
| DRAM [?] | HMB |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 11000 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 9400 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 1600000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 1600000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 800 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | 1500000 |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 5 |
Verdict: Is the FA300 Worth It in 2026?
The Acer FA300 1TB is a strong fit for laptop owners and compact desktop builders who want PCIe 5.0 speeds without excessive heat or power draw. Its single-sided layout, sub-2.5 W active power, and Kioxia TLC NAND make it one of the most practical Gen5 upgrades for notebooks and the PS5. Desktop users chasing peak sustained write speeds or running heavy continuous workloads should look at DRAM-equipped alternatives like the Samsung 9100 Pro or Acer's own Predator GM9000. For mainstream gaming, general productivity, and OS drive duty, the FA300 delivers Gen5 responsiveness at a sensible efficiency point and competitive price.
+ Pros
- Single-sided M.2 2280 fits laptops and PS5
- Very low active power draw at roughly 2.4 W
- 11,000 MB/s sequential read on Gen5
- Kioxia 218-L TLC for reliable flash media
- Five-year warranty with 800 TBW endurance
- Cons
- DRAM-less design limits sustained write performance
- 1TB write speed at 9,400 MB/s trails 2TB model
- No included heatsink in retail packaging
- Newer model with limited long-term reliability data
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