GoKawiilThe AGI AI828 is not the worst budget drive on the market, but it feels like a last resort by design.
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AGI is back with another drive, this time with one more oriented at budget shoppers who want different capacity options with a heatsink. The AI828 slots in somewhere between the AI818 – a drive that didn’t impress us at all – and the AI858 , a drive that was surprisingly good. The AI828 is a “one size fits all” type of drive that can work in a desktop, the PS5 console, or in a laptop if you don’t use the included heatsink. It’s not the best choice for any of these, but beggars can’t be choosers in this market. After all, we have PCIe 3.0 drives returning and entry-level drives like the TeamGroup NV5000 showing up, as well. The AI828 can outdo those and some of our original PCIe 4.0 favorites like the TeamGroup MP44L . Just don’t expect miracles.
AGI AI828 Specifications
Swipe to scroll horizontally Product 512GB 1TB 2TB 4TB 8TB Pricing N/A $239.99 $449.99 N/A N/A Form Factor M.2 2280 M.2 2280 M.2 2280 M.2 2280 M.2 2280 Interface / Protocol PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 1.4 Controller Varies Varies Varies Varies Varies DRAM N/A (HMB) N/A (HMB) N/A (HMB) N/A (HMB) N/A (HMB) Flash Memory Varies Varies Varies Varies Varies Sequential Read 6,800 MB/s 7,400 MB/s 7,400 MB/s 7,400 MB/s 7,400 MB/s Sequential Write 4,100 MB/s 5,200 MB/s 6,700 MB/s 6,300 MB/s 6,100 MB/s Random Read N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Random Write N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Endurance 350TBW 750TBW 1,500TBW 3,000TBW 6,000TBW Part Number AGI512G44AI828-CB AGI1T0G44AI828-CB AGI2T0G44AI828-CB AGI4T0G44AI828-CB AGI8T0G44AI828-CB Warranty 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year 5-Year
The AGI AI828 covers every capacity you could ever hope for: 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB. Unfortunately, only 1TB and 2TB units were available at the time of review. These were going for $239.99 and $449.99 which is on the expensive side in both cases. Right now, however, this drive comes in and out of stock and can be priced competitively. It’ll probably be difficult to find the 8TB SKU, though.
The drive can hit up to 7,400 / 6,700 MB/s for sequential reads and writes, with no specification for IOPS given. IOPS tend not to be important for this segment – that is, a budget drive – and AGI is likely mixing multiple controllers and flash types based on availability and cost, which makes it less straightforward to try and nail down performance numbers. However, we would expect it to match the Seagate FireCuda X1070 , with more than enough performance for this class.
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AGI’s warranty covers the drive for the standard five years, with a bit extra on the writes front: the drive can absorb up to 750TB of data writes per TB capacity. The industry standard is 600TB. You probably won’t need this amount of writes, but it can be reassuring nonetheless, especially when dealing with less well-known brands and drives. It also suggests, but doesn’t guarantee, that TLC flash is used on the drive.
AGI AI828 Software and Accessories
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