# Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB: PCIe 5.0 NVMe with active cooling (2026)

The Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB is a PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe SSD built on the Phison PS5026-E26 controller with LPDDR4 DRAM, rated 12,000 MB/s reads and 700 TBW on the 1 TB model.

Quick answer: The Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB is a solid PCIe 5.0 NVMe entry: Phison E26 controller, Micron 232-layer TLC NAND, LPDDR4 DRAM, 12,000 MB/s reads, 700 TBW, and a 5-year warranty. The bundled active-cooling heatsink with integrated fan addresses the E26's thermal sensitivity more directly than the passive designs on most competing drives, making it a practical choice for builds with limited M.2 slot airflow.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 5.0 |
| Controller | Phison PS5026-E26 8 Channel |
| Memory type | Micron 232-L TLC |
| DRAM cache | Yes |
| Sequential read | 12000 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 11800 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 1400000 |
| Random write IOPS | 1400000 |
| Endurance | 700 TBW |
| MTBF | 1600000 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

The Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB is rated at 12,000 MB/s sequential reads and 11,800 MB/s sequential writes over PCIe 5.0 x4 — well above the practical ceiling of any PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive and roughly double the throughput of the fastest Gen4 designs. Random IOPS are rated at 1,400,000 read and 1,400,000 write under 4K workloads with appropriate queue depth.

In practice, sequential throughput on any TLC NVMe drive is split into two phases: an initial SLC write cache burst, and a sustained out-of-cache write once that buffer is saturated. On a 1 TB TLC drive the SLC cache is smaller than on a 2 TB or 4 TB model — at 1 TB of nominal capacity the dynamic SLC partition is correspondingly constrained. For everyday use — OS, game loading, application data — the drive operates almost entirely within the SLC burst window, and the rated 11,800 MB/s write speed is representative. For large sequential writes that exceed the cache, sustained throughput on a 1 TB Phison E26 drive will drop to the range typical for direct TLC writes on this NAND generation, which is still competitive with mid-range PCIe 4.0 drives. The active-cooling heatsink that ships with the AS2280F4 is directly relevant here: sustained write performance on the Phison E26 is thermally sensitive, and the fan-assisted design helps maintain the E26 controller below its throttle threshold more reliably than passive solutions.

For gaming, the 12,000 MB/s sequential read capability provides headroom for DirectStorage-enabled titles that stream compressed assets directly from the SSD to the GPU. In conventional game loading the bottleneck is random small-block reads rather than sequential bandwidth, and the 1,400,000 IOPS rating comfortably addresses those workloads.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Apacer covers the AS2280F4 with a 5-year global warranty, confirmed on the official product page and in third-party reviews. The 1 TB model carries a rated endurance of 700 TBW (terabytes written) — the total cumulative write budget before coverage expires. Coverage ends at whichever threshold arrives first: the 5-year time limit or 700 TBW of cumulative writes.

At a typical consumer write rate of 30 GB per day, reaching 700 TBW on the 1 TB model would take approximately 64 years, so the 5-year clock will expire long before endurance becomes relevant for most buyers. Even at 100 GB per day, the drive would take around 19 years to reach its TBW limit. Only users writing 500 GB or more per day — continuous video encoding or large database workloads — will see the endurance boundary within a practical timeframe, and those users are better served by the 2 TB or 4 TB models with higher TBW ratings. Warranty service is handled through Apacer's regional authorised support network.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- 12,000 MB/s sequential reads on PCIe 5.0 x4
- 11,800 MB/s sequential writes — confirmed for 1 TB
- Phison PS5026-E26 with LPDDR4 DRAM cache
- Bundled active-cooling heatsink with integrated fan
- 700 TBW endurance rated for the 1 TB model
- 5-year global warranty
- NVMe 2.0 compliant, M.2 2280 form factor
**Cons:**

- 1 TB is the entry capacity — smaller SLC cache than 2 TB and 4 TB models
- Sustained write throughput drops after SLC cache saturation
- Requires PCIe 5.0 x4 slot — no speed benefit on Gen4 or Gen3 platforms
- Active-cooling fan adds noise compared to passive designs
- No independent long-term reliability data yet for this specific model


## Verdict

The Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB is a solid PCIe 5.0 NVMe entry: Phison E26 controller, Micron 232-layer TLC NAND, LPDDR4 DRAM, 12,000 MB/s reads, 700 TBW, and a 5-year warranty. The bundled active-cooling heatsink with integrated fan addresses the E26's thermal sensitivity more directly than the passive designs on most competing drives, making it a practical choice for builds with limited M.2 slot airflow.

Buy it if you have a PCIe 5.0-capable platform and want a Phison E26 drive with reliable out-of-box thermal management and a 5-year warranty. The 700 TBW rating comfortably covers any mainstream desktop workload.

Skip it if your motherboard tops out at PCIe 4.0 — a WD Black SN850X or Samsung 990 Pro delivers equivalent real-world performance at lower cost. Power users regularly writing hundreds of gigabytes at a stretch should step up to the 2 TB model for its larger SLC cache and higher TBW budget.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What is the TBW endurance of the Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB?

The Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB is rated at 700 TBW (terabytes written). This is the total cumulative data write budget covered by the warranty. At a typical consumer workload of 30 GB per day, reaching 700 TBW would take approximately 64 years — the 5-year warranty will expire long before endurance becomes relevant for most buyers. Even at a heavy 100 GB per day write rate, the drive would take around 19 years to exhaust its rated endurance. Users writing 500 GB or more per day on a sustained basis should consider the 2 TB model, which carries a higher TBW budget due to its larger NAND die pool.

### Does the Apacer AS2280F4 have a DRAM cache?

Yes. The AS2280F4 uses the Phison PS5026-E26 controller, which pairs with an LPDDR4 DRAM chip to store the drive's logical-to-physical address mapping table in dedicated on-board memory. This is distinct from DRAM-less designs that use the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) mechanism, borrowing system RAM via the PCIe bus for the same purpose. A dedicated DRAM cache improves sustained random access performance and reduces the latency penalty when the controller needs to look up block addresses outside the SLC cache window.

### What is the warranty on the Apacer AS2280F4?

The AS2280F4 carries a 5-year global warranty, confirmed on Apacer's official product page and independently verified in third-party reviews. The 1 TB model's coverage is subject to a 700 TBW endurance limit — the warranty expires at whichever threshold is reached first: five years from purchase, or 700 TBW of cumulative writes. Warranty service is handled through Apacer's regional authorised support network. Note that an earlier database entry listed a 3-year warranty; the correct manufacturer-stated term is 5 years.

### Does the AS2280F4 work with PCIe 4.0 motherboards?

The AS2280F4 is a PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe drive. It is physically and electronically backward-compatible with PCIe 4.0 and PCIe 3.0 M.2 slots — the drive will install and function normally. However, the maximum link speed will be capped at PCIe 4.0 x4 (approximately 7,000 MB/s) or PCIe 3.0 x4 (approximately 3,500 MB/s). None of the drive's 12,000 MB/s read or 11,800 MB/s write performance is accessible on a PCIe 4.0 platform. If your motherboard only supports PCIe 4.0, a similarly-priced PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive will deliver equivalent real-world performance at a lower cost.

### How does the Apacer AS2280F4 1 TB compare to the 2 TB model?

Both the 1 TB and 2 TB AS2280F4 use the same Phison E26 controller and Micron 232-layer TLC NAND, but the 2 TB has more NAND dies available for parallel operation. This means the 2 TB model benefits from a larger dynamic SLC write cache, higher sustained write throughput after the SLC window is exhausted, and a higher TBW endurance rating. For gaming and OS use the difference is negligible since workloads rarely push past the SLC buffer. For sustained sequential writes — video production, large backup operations — the 2 TB is the meaningfully better choice. The 1 TB is appropriate for users where capacity requirements and budget point to the entry model.

### Is the Apacer AS2280F4 good for gaming?

Yes, for gaming on a PCIe 5.0 platform. The AS2280F4's 12,000 MB/s sequential read speed provides the bandwidth that DirectStorage-enabled titles require to decompress game assets directly from the SSD to the GPU, bypassing CPU decompression overhead. In games that support DirectStorage, the benefit over PCIe 4.0 drives is measurable. In conventional titles without DirectStorage, game loading is driven by random 4K read performance rather than sequential bandwidth, and the 1,400,000 IOPS rating handles those workloads well. On a PCIe 4.0 platform, the AS2280F4 offers no advantage over a good Gen4 NVMe in gaming scenarios, so it is only worth the premium on a Gen5-capable system.

### Does the Apacer AS2280F4 come with a heatsink?

Yes. The AS2280F4 ships with an active-cooling heatsink that includes aluminium cooling fins and an integrated mini-fan. Apacer states this setup achieves up to 25% lower operating temperatures compared to passive heatsink designs. This matters for the Phison E26 controller, which runs warmer than PCIe 4.0 predecessors due to the higher signalling rates of Gen5 and the 12nm manufacturing process. The included active cooler helps maintain the controller below its thermal throttle threshold during sustained sequential write workloads, preserving the rated 11,800 MB/s write performance for longer than a passive solution would allow.

### What controller does the Apacer AS2280F4 use?

The AS2280F4 uses the Phison PS5026-E26, an eight-channel PCIe 5.0 NVMe controller built on TSMC's 12nm process with dual Arm Cortex-R5 CPU cores and Phison's fifth-generation LDPC ECC. The E26 is the most widely deployed PCIe 5.0 NVMe controller in the consumer market, found in drives from Crucial, Corsair, Seagate, Sabrent, and others. Its maturity means firmware refinements have addressed early thermal and sustained-write consistency issues. The controller pairs with Micron 232-layer TLC NAND and LPDDR4 DRAM in the AS2280F4 configuration.

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Last updated: 2026-06-13. Source: https://ssdrive.net/apacer-as2280f4-1-tb