# Team Group T-Force Cardea II 1TB NVMe SSD — Full Review (2026)

The Team Group T-Force Cardea II 1TB is the flagship of the Cardea II lineup, delivering the full Phison E12 performance envelope — 3,400/3,000 MB/s — with a patented finned heatsink and 1,665 TBW endurance.

Quick answer: The Team Group T-Force Cardea II 1TB is a well-executed E12 NVMe SSD with genuinely effective thermal management and exceptional endurance. The 3,400/3,000 MB/s speeds are competitive with other PCIe 3.0 drives, and the 1,665 TBW endurance is among the best at any price point. The finned heatsink is both an asset (thermal performance) and a liability (height compatibility). For desktop builders who want a cooled, high-endurance gaming NVMe drive and have the clearance for the heatsink, the Cardea II 1TB is a strong choice. For builds with existing M.2 cooling, the Team Group MP34 1TB offers similar endurance and performance without the heatsink premium. The Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB provides a longer warranty and slightly better peak performance but lower endurance.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 3.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Phison PS5012-E12 |
| Memory type | Toshiba 64L 3D TLC |
| DRAM cache | DDR3 or DDR4 |
| Sequential read | 3400 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 3000 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 180000 |
| Random write IOPS | 160000 |
| Endurance | 1665 TBW |
| MTBF | 2 |
| Warranty | 3 years |

## Performance

The Cardea II 1TB delivers 3,400 MB/s sequential read and 3,000 MB/s sequential write — the full E12 platform ceiling at this capacity. Guru3D's testing confirmed the drive performs identically to other E12-based 1TB drives, which is expected since the E12 is a reference design with manufacturer-specific firmware tweaks.

Random performance at 180K read and 160K write IOPS is competitive with other E12 drives at 1TB. At QD1, the drive handles gaming, OS boot, and application launches responsively. Guru3D found the finned heatsink effective at maintaining peak speed during extended write workloads, with temperatures staying well below throttling. The SLC cache at 1TB is estimated at roughly 333 GB — generous enough for virtually all consumer burst-write scenarios. Post-cache sustained writes hold steady at TLC-native speeds, and Guru3D noted the drive handles heavy workloads without the performance drops seen on some thinner-cooled E12 drives.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

The 1TB model carries a 1,665 TBW endurance rating — one of the highest among consumer PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives at this capacity. This is more than double the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB (600 TBW) and on par with the Team Group MP34 1TB (1,660 TBW). The warranty is 3 years, which is the Cardea II's main compromise versus premium 5-year drives. At 50 GB of daily writes, the 1,665 TBW rating translates to roughly 91 years. The MTBF is rated at 2.0 million hours.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- 3,400 MB/s read, 3,000 MB/s write
- 1,665 TBW endurance is exceptional
- Patented finned heatsink prevents throttling
- Phison E12 with DRAM cache
- 1 TB capacity for OS and game library
**Cons:**

- 3-year warranty on a gaming-branded drive
- Heatsink too tall for laptops and some motherboards
- PCIe 3.0, not Gen4
- No management software available


## Verdict

The Team Group T-Force Cardea II 1TB is a well-executed E12 NVMe SSD with genuinely effective thermal management and exceptional endurance. The 3,400/3,000 MB/s speeds are competitive with other PCIe 3.0 drives, and the 1,665 TBW endurance is among the best at any price point. The finned heatsink is both an asset (thermal performance) and a liability (height compatibility). For desktop builders who want a cooled, high-endurance gaming NVMe drive and have the clearance for the heatsink, the Cardea II 1TB is a strong choice. For builds with existing M.2 cooling, the Team Group MP34 1TB offers similar endurance and performance without the heatsink premium. The Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB provides a longer warranty and slightly better peak performance but lower endurance.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the Team Group Cardea II 1TB good for gaming?

Yes. The 3,400 MB/s read and 3,000 MB/s write speeds handle game loading, installs, and system responsiveness well. The 1TB capacity holds the OS plus 8 to 15 modern AAA games. Guru3D's review confirmed the drive performs identically to other E12 1TB drives in their test suite. The finned heatsink keeps temperatures low during extended gaming sessions, maintaining full speed. For gaming use, the Cardea II 1TB is a competent PCIe 3.0 drive with the added benefit of built-in cooling.

### What is the TBW endurance of the Cardea II 1TB?

The Cardea II 1TB is rated for 1,665 TBW (terabytes written) — one of the highest endurance ratings among consumer PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives. This is more than double the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB (600 TBW). At 50 GB of daily writes, the endurance would last roughly 91 years. The 3-year warranty is the practical limiting factor, not the TBW rating.

### Can I remove the Cardea II heatsink?

Yes. The finned aluminum heatsink is attached with thermally conductive adhesive and can be removed with gentle pressure. Once removed, the bare M.2 2280 drive fits under motherboard-integrated M.2 heatsinks and is compatible with standard M.2 slot clearances. Removal is recommended for systems that already have M.2 cooling, as the motherboard heatsink combined with the drive's own would exceed most slot height limits.

### How does the Cardea II compare to the Team Group MP34?

Both use the Phison E12 controller with Toshiba TLC and offer similar endurance (1,665 vs 1,660 TBW at 1TB). The Cardea II includes the finned heatsink and is marketed as a gaming product; the MP34 is a bare drive at a lower price point. Performance is essentially identical since both share the same platform. The MP34 is the better value for builds with existing M.2 cooling; the Cardea II makes sense when a bundled heatsink is desired.

### Does the Cardea II 1TB have DRAM?

Yes. The drive includes DDR3 or DDR4 DRAM for the flash translation layer mapping table (the exact type varies by production batch). This is a full DRAM design, not DRAM-less HMB. The DRAM ensures consistent random performance and responsive real-world operation across all capacities in the Cardea II lineup.

### Is the Cardea II good for video editing and content creation?

For most content creation workflows, yes. The 3,000 MB/s write speed handles 4K preview files, and the 1,665 TBW endurance absorbs heavy write workloads that would exhaust lower-endurance drives. The 1TB capacity provides adequate working space for active projects. For heavy 8K or multi-stream 4K editing, a PCIe 4.0 drive would offer higher sustained throughput, but for most creators the Cardea II 1TB is more than sufficient.

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Last updated: 2026-05-17. Source: https://ssdrive.net/team-group-t-force-cardea-ii-1-tb