Team Group T-Force M200 1TB USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Rugged SSD

warhammer23 · August 28, 2022

Wanted to get something really fast where I can store some movies, random data for back-up etc. From what I saw there are a handful of external USB 3.2 Gen2x2 (20Gbps) SSD enclosures on the market that can offer these speeds. As you would imagine, I found out after I got it, that my motherboard an ASUS B550-I STRIX, despite so many new bandwidth protocols, it still doesn’t have a USB 20Gbps port, so this M200 SSD is almost like a future proof item for me now.

The M200 line-up consist of 6 different size options to choose from, with models from 250GB all the way to 8TB! I got the 1TB one which was close to $187.

The overall design takes great inspiration from a popular sniper rifle, the CheyTac Intervention M200, hence the same name is used. It comes with just two cables, but only the Type-C to Type-C is the 20Gbps capable one. I really like that I can even pass some paracord through it.

Anyway, let’s test it. Since my rig can only output 10 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen2), I decide to try my girlfriend’s Macbook Pro M1 from 2020 which has two Thunderbolt 3 ports. But there is a highly known conflict for any drive outside the Apple ecosystem and thus I only got barely over SATA 600 speeds.

The M200 then is compatible pretty much with any device that has a Type-C port. I did a quick test on my Note10+ and the transfer speeds were really good.

But I wanted to see those 20 Gbps speeds in action and the only way I would achieve that is by getting a Silverstone PCI-E x4 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 adapter card on my secondary system. And voila, it did the max promised bandwidth.

Overall, this T-Force M200 is one impressive bit of kit, since it is compact, light and very fast, as long as you have a Gen2x2 USB port. This, in itself, can be a bad thing or a good one, depending how you look at it. Bad, as in you might need a PCI-E x4 adapter card to fully access the available bandwidth, but you are stuck if you have a gaming console or an older Apple laptop. However, it can be a good thing, because this protocol might take a while until it becomes standard on all quality tier levels of motherboards.

Also I discovered it has an ample amount of SLC cache (over 150GB?) for my 1TB model when I copied over 123GB in one go, the AC Valhalla game folder. Too bad it doesn’t have an IP rating as well, considering its rugged/military theme.