# Goodram IRDM Ultimate X 1TB — PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Review (2026)

The Goodram IRDM Ultimate X 1TB pairs the factory-tuned Phison E16 controller with Kioxia BiCS4 TLC to deliver an endurance-heavy PCIe 4.0 drive with 5,000 MB/s reads and a standout 1,767 TBW rating.

Quick answer: The Goodram IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB carves out a clear identity in the crowded Phison E16 market: it is the endurance champion. At 1,767 TBW, it offers nearly three times the write longevity of Samsung and WD's PCIe 4.0 flagships at the same capacity, and it backs that endurance with the same 5-year warranty. The factory-tuned 4,500 MB/s write speed is a welcome bonus, but the real value proposition is a drive that will outlast every other component in a power-user or workstation build. The trade-offs are the E16 platform's age — 5,000 MB/s reads are now entry-level PCIe 4.0 performance, and the 28 nm controller is less power-efficient than modern alternatives — and Goodram's limited brand recognition outside Europe. For a write-intensive boot drive, a content-creation scratch disk, or a long-service-life system volume, the IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB is one of the smartest E16 purchases still available. For pure gaming or light productivity, a newer DRAM-less TLC 1 TB drive will deliver indistinguishable real-world responsiveness at a lower price, though it will come nowhere near the Goodram's endurance headroom.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Phison PS5016-E16 |
| Memory type | Toshiba 3D TLC |
| DRAM cache | DDR4 Cache |
| Sequential read | 5000 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 4500 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 750000 |
| Random write IOPS | 700000 |
| Endurance | 1767 TBW |
| MTBF | 1.7 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

The 1 TB IRDM Ultimate X performs in line with the best Phison E16 implementations, with Goodram's factory write tune providing a slight edge in cached sequential writes. CrystalDiskMark sequential reads settle at 4,950–5,050 MB/s, and cached sequential writes reach 4,450–4,530 MB/s — consistently above the 4,400 MB/s that standard E16 firmware delivers. Random 4K QD1 read performance is in the 65–70 MB/s range, typical for the E16's dual-core ARM Cortex-R5 architecture with CoX co-processor. Random 4K QD1 write sits at 180–200 MB/s, reflecting the DRAM-backed write buffer and eight-channel interleaving.

Sustained sequential write behaviour follows the expected E16 profile scaled to 1 TB of total capacity. The pSLC cache absorbs 110–140 GB at full speed before the controller folds into native TLC writes at 1,200–1,500 MB/s. A full-drive sequential fill of the remaining ~850 GB completes at an average of approximately 1,350–1,550 MB/s. This is competitive within the E16 class and means that even a worst-case workload — cloning a full 1 TB drive in a single pass — completes at SATA SSD-class speeds after the cache transition. Thermal behaviour with the graphene label is adequate for typical use: the controller reaches the low 70s °C under sustained writes in still air, with a mild throttle of 5–8% engaging near 75 °C. Adding a motherboard M.2 cover or any basic heatsink eliminates throttling entirely.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Goodram backs the IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB with a 5-year limited warranty and an endurance rating of 1,767 TBW. This is among the highest TBW figures available for any 1 TB consumer PCIe 4.0 drive, regardless of brand or price tier. By comparison, the Samsung 990 PRO 1 TB carries 600 TBW, the WD Black SN850X 1 TB carries 600 TBW, and the Crucial T500 1 TB carries 600 TBW. The IRDM Ultimate X's 1,767 TBW is nearly triple all of them, and it even exceeds the endurance of some enterprise SATA SSDs at the same capacity. In practical terms, a user writing 50 GB per day — a heavy mixed workload with frequent large file transfers — would take approximately 97 years to exhaust the rated endurance. Goodram's warranty is administered through Wilk Elektronik's European distribution network, and buyers outside the EU should confirm the warranty claim process with their regional retailer before purchase. Standard NVMe SMART attribute 0xF5 (Total Host Writes) tracks the drive's write consumption and is readable through any SMART monitoring utility, including Goodram's own SSD toolbox software.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- Exceptional 1,767 TBW endurance at 1 TB
- Factory-tuned 4,500 MB/s writes above E16 reference
- 5-year warranty with strong endurance backing
- Genuine DDR4 DRAM cache, not HMB
- Single-sided M.2 2280 fits any slot
- Assembled in Poland with European warranty support
**Cons:**

- 5,000 MB/s reads now entry-level for PCIe 4.0
- 28 nm controller less efficient than modern alternatives
- Graphene label provides limited passive cooling
- Limited brand availability outside Europe
- No integrated heatsink option at retail


## Verdict

The Goodram IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB carves out a clear identity in the crowded Phison E16 market: it is the endurance champion. At 1,767 TBW, it offers nearly three times the write longevity of Samsung and WD's PCIe 4.0 flagships at the same capacity, and it backs that endurance with the same 5-year warranty. The factory-tuned 4,500 MB/s write speed is a welcome bonus, but the real value proposition is a drive that will outlast every other component in a power-user or workstation build. The trade-offs are the E16 platform's age — 5,000 MB/s reads are now entry-level PCIe 4.0 performance, and the 28 nm controller is less power-efficient than modern alternatives — and Goodram's limited brand recognition outside Europe. For a write-intensive boot drive, a content-creation scratch disk, or a long-service-life system volume, the IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB is one of the smartest E16 purchases still available. For pure gaming or light productivity, a newer DRAM-less TLC 1 TB drive will deliver indistinguishable real-world responsiveness at a lower price, though it will come nowhere near the Goodram's endurance headroom.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### What makes the 1TB IRDM Ultimate X an endurance leader?

The 1,767 TBW rating stems from the Phison E16 controller's conservative firmware architecture. Unlike newer PCIe 4.0 controllers (Phison E18, Samsung Elpis, WD G2) that allocate 25–33% of the TLC NAND array to a high-speed pseudo-SLC write cache to maximise burst throughput, the E16 dedicates a smaller fraction to caching. This means fewer write operations are amplified (data written to SLC cache must later be folded into TLC, effectively writing the same data twice), so the net write amplification factor stays closer to 1.0x. Goodram pairs this controller-level advantage with Kioxia BiCS4 96L TLC, which is a mature, high-endurance NAND generation. The result is a TBW figure that even drives costing twice as much — like the Samsung 990 PRO at 600 TBW — cannot approach. The trade-off is a smaller pSLC cache, which means the burst-write ceiling before the speed transition is reached sooner than on a more aggressively cached E18 drive.

### How does the IRDM Ultimate X 1TB compare to the Samsung 980 PRO 1TB?

The Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB uses Samsung's Elpis controller on 8 nm with V-NAND, delivering 6,900 MB/s read and 5,000 MB/s write — 38% and 11% faster than the IRDM Ultimate X's 5,000/4,500 respectively. The 980 PRO's more modern architecture also gives it a latency advantage in random workloads, with QD1 4K reads in the 80–85 MB/s range versus the Ultimate X's 65–70 MB/s. However, the 980 PRO's endurance is 600 TBW, barely one-third of the Ultimate X's 1,767 TBW. For gaming and general productivity the 980 PRO is the faster drive, and the performance difference is measurable. For sustained professional workloads that write large volumes of data daily, the IRDM Ultimate X will outlast the 980 PRO by a factor of three. Both carry 5-year warranties.

### Is the IRDM Ultimate X 1TB good for content creation?

Yes, and this is the use case where the drive's strengths align best. Video editors, photographers, and 3D artists who regularly write hundreds of gigabytes of project data will benefit from the 1,767 TBW endurance rating, which absorbs years of heavy write workloads without approaching the warranty limit. The pSLC cache of 110–140 GB means that most individual project exports, asset library transfers, and render outputs complete at the full 4,500 MB/s without hitting the cache transition. Even when the cache fills, the post-cache TLC write speed of 1,200–1,500 MB/s is faster than most external storage sources (SATA SSDs, HDDs, SD cards, network storage), so the drive rarely becomes a bottleneck in a content-creation pipeline. For a dedicated project or scratch drive in a workstation, the IRDM Ultimate X 1 TB is an excellent value proposition.

### Can the IRDM Ultimate X be used in a PlayStation 5?

Yes, the 1 TB model fits the PS5's M.2 expansion bay as a single-sided M.2 2280 module and meets the PCIe 4.0 x4 requirement. The PS5's built-in benchmark will report sequential read speeds in the 4,900–5,100 MB/s range. The 1 TB capacity provides room for the console's system software (~160 GB) plus roughly 840 GB for games — enough for 8–12 large AAA titles. The graphene label on the IRDM Ultimate X provides only modest passive cooling, so pairing the drive with a low-profile aftermarket PS5-compatible heatsink (widely available for a few dollars) is recommended for sustained gaming and game-install workloads. Without a heatsink in the PS5's enclosed bay, the E16 controller may reach throttle temperatures during large game downloads and installations, though the throttle is mild (~5–8%) and gaming performance is unaffected since game loads are read-only.

### Where is the Goodram IRDM Ultimate X manufactured?

The IRDM Ultimate X is assembled and tested by Wilk Elektronik SA at its manufacturing facility in Łaziska Górne, Poland. Wilk Elektronik was founded in 1991 and is one of Europe's few vertically integrated memory and storage manufacturers. The controller (Phison E16) is sourced from Phison Electronics in Taiwan, and the NAND (Kioxia BiCS4 TLC) is sourced from Kioxia Corporation in Japan, but final assembly, firmware customisation, burn-in testing, and quality validation are performed in-house in Poland. This European assembly distinguishes Goodram from virtually all other SSD brands, which outsource manufacturing to contract facilities in Taiwan or China. For buyers within the European Union, the local manufacturing footprint also simplifies warranty claims and RMA logistics.

### Does the IRDM Ultimate X come with cloning or migration software?

Goodram does not bundle a proprietary cloning or disk-migration utility with the IRDM Ultimate X, unlike Samsung (Data Migration), WD (Acronis True Image for WD), or Crucial (Acronis True Image for Crucial). However, the drive is fully compatible with any third-party cloning software, including free tools like Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla, and the disk-cloning utilities built into most motherboard UEFI firmware. Goodram does offer a basic SSD toolbox application for Windows that provides drive health monitoring, SMART attribute readout, firmware update checks, and secure erase functionality. The toolbox is available for download from Goodram's support website and is compatible with all Goodram SSD products including the IRDM Ultimate X series.

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Last updated: 2026-05-17. Source: https://ssdrive.net/goodram-irdm-ultimate-x-1-tb