Biwin Black Opal X570 PRO Review – A new player on the market with an interesting product and minor weaknesses

1 - Introduction and Technical Data 2 - Teardown with Component and Material Analysis 3 - Streaming and Root Cause Analysis of Drops 4 - Synthetic Benchmarks 5 - Workstation Benchmarks 6 - Temperatures, Power Consumption and Conclusion

The circuit board and its components

Before the teardown, the Biwin X570 PRO 4TB SSD is in a functional condition with a conspicuously labeled label on the front. This large label bears the model name, the Biwin logo and graphic elements reminiscent of data paths. The surface is slightly textured and metallic reflective, which already indicates a possible heat-conducting function. The label covers the entire front of the SSD and conceals all active components such as the controller, DRAM cache and NAND flash. The height remains low despite the sticker, which makes the SSD suitable for use in flat systems. According to the manufacturer, the sticker on the front is a layer with graphene components, which is intended to distribute heat.

The rear has a classic type plate that contains technical information such as the model number (BX570DN04TB-RGX), serial number and various conformity marks (CE, FCC, UKCA, RoHS etc.). Here too, the label covers part of the circuit board. The warning that removing labels or screws will invalidate the warranty is clearly printed. However, the back of the board has no NAND flash and is flat.

Only by carefully removing the front label with a hot air gun can the complete assembly structure be seen. This later revealed a multi-layer structure with functional materials, the more precise analysis of which brought to light interesting details about the thermal connection of the components, but this will be discussed in more detail later on. The board of the Biwin X570 PRO 4TB SSD shows a modern and technically sophisticated M.2-2280 assembly for PCIe Gen5 x4. At the center is the SM2508G AC controller from Silicon Motion. This chip is manufactured using the advanced 6 nm process and supports eight NAND channels, each with up to 2400 megatransfers per second. The architecture is based on the latest generation of NVMe 2.0 controllers and integrates numerous error correction functions such as LDPC-ECC, RAID level ECC, end-to-end data protection and thermal management mechanisms. The PCIe 5.0 x4 connection provides a theoretical bandwidth of just under 16 GB/s, which is sufficient to achieve the specified 14 GB/s for sequential reading in practice.

The SM2508G AC from Silicon Motion is predominantly rated positively in specialist circles, particularly in comparison to Phison’s PS5026-E26, as it offers a high level of energy efficiency. It achieves sequential read and write speeds of up to 14.5 GB/s and 14 GB/s respectively and supports up to 2.5 million IOPS for random accesses. In comparison, the Phison E26 achieves similar sequential speeds but with a higher power consumption of around 5W, while the SM2508G AC consumes less than 3.5W. It is also known that the SM2508G AC lags slightly behind the Phison E26 in certain scenarios, especially random writes, which I can confirm (see AJA test on the next page). In addition, the availability of SSDs with the SM2508G AC is currently still limited, which makes practical evaluation and comparison more difficult.

The DRAM cache labeled BWCC2K32N2A-32G-X, a 4 GB LPDDR4 module from Biwin’s own production or as a rebrand of an OEM component, is located directly next to the controller. It takes over the task of the mapping cache for the flash translation layer and makes a decisive contribution to maintaining the high performance. Without this DRAM, managing the large 4 TB NAND capacity would lead to significant performance losses. The chip is likely to be connected with a 16- or 32-bit bus and typically operates at clock frequencies of up to 4266 MT/s at a low core voltage of around 1.1 volts.

The NAND flash is housed in several BGA packages, visible here as BMT2BN8FF-002T1 with production code 25071660A. It is a 3D TLC flash with 232 layers. ONFI 5.0 compatibility allows full utilization of the SM2508 controller, which ensures high transfer rates with low latency. The internal structure with presumably four dies per package makes it possible to accommodate the capacity required for the 4 TB class on two sides of the PCB without overloading the thermal requirements. The programming cycles are in the range of 1000 to 1500 P/E cycles, which is standard for a TLC memory of this generation.

These three main components, i.e. controller, DRAM and NAND, form the backbone of the SSD. Their coordination and the consistent support of current interface and protocol standards make the Biwin X570 PRO a powerful PCIe 5.0 SSD with serious ambitions at enthusiast and workstation level, even if the write performance in particular does not quite match that of the top dogs.

Material analysis of the heatspreader

The heatspreader of the controller under investigation consists of a layered metallic composite system that can be divided into three clearly definable zones. The measurement using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in the form of deep drilling, i.e. repeated laser ablation at one and the same point, makes it possible to document the vertical structure of the material on a microscopic level. The first, outer layer consists of pure nickel. This top layer shows a nickel concentration of 100 % in the uppermost measuring points (e.g. 1-3) without any detectable addition of other metals. It primarily serves as a corrosion-resistant, electrically neutral surface layer with high chemical stability. Nickel oxidizes only slowly at room temperature, is mechanically abrasion-resistant and is therefore particularly suitable as an external termination for high-frequency and power semiconductors. The good adhesion properties on underlying metals and the suitability for electroplating processes also speak in favor of this choice.

A clearly recognizable mixed phase occurs in the second layer. The nickel content here is around 51.4 %, while copper is almost equally represented at 48.6 %. This zone can be interpreted as a diffusion layer in which nickel has already migrated from the top layer into the underlying material – in this case copper – either thermally or as a result of the process. It is therefore a so-called intermetallic transition zone, which ensures a coordinated adhesion and reduction of stress cracks both mechanically and thermally. At the same time, this zone acts as a barrier layer to prevent uncontrolled copper migration to the outside, which would be particularly problematic in fine structures under oxidizing conditions.

The third and deepest layer consists entirely of copper. In all other analysis points (e.g. from point 5 onwards), only Cu was detected, with a purity of 100 %. This is classic electrolytically deposited copper with high conductivity. It is the thermal core material of the heat spreader. At around 400 W/m-K, copper has one of the highest thermal conductivities of all technically used metals. However, due to its mechanical softness and susceptibility to corrosion, it is not used directly as an outer layer. Instead, as a solid carrier material, it ensures fast and effective dissipation of heat loss from the controller chip towards the SSD surface or heat sink.

Material analysis of the sticker

The present analysis of the so-called “sticker heat sink” on the front of the Biwin X570 PRO SSD controller provides interesting insights into the actual material structure, which goes far beyond a purely optical label carrier. Based on cross-sectional images and additional LIBS laser drill holes, the complex layer structure can be clearly identified and functionally assigned. The first image shows a cross-section of the complete label, which originally covered the visible surface of the SSD controller. Contrary to the assumption that it is merely a printed plastic film, the structure consists of a total of four clearly distinguishable layers. The top layer is a thin, printed protective and decorative layer bearing the Biwin logo and model designation. Directly below this is a metallic intermediate layer made of thin copper, which serves as a thermally conductive carrier for the significantly thicker functional layer underneath.

The central component of the composite system is the black, optically amorphous intermediate layer, which can be identified as a thermally conductive graphene-based composite material. Under the microscope, the structure shows a high density of embedded particles and defined pore spaces. This porous, flake-like structure is typical of graphene films with a high filler content, which are used for thermal dissipation on irregular surfaces. Its thickness clearly exceeds that of all other layers. Finally, the bottom layer is the adhesive, which is used to bond to the housing of the controller and is chemically stable against heat and solvents.

The second image shows a LIBS laser drilling vertically through the layer structure. The upper measuring points are dominated by carbon (C), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H), with the distribution of carbon in particular indicating over 80 % in several measuring points. Copper is clearly present from about measuring point 1-2, reaches a purity of 75 % at point 8 and completely predominates in the lower layers. This analysis confirms the sequence described above: organic layers above, pure copper below, embedded as a thermally conductive film.

The third image shows a LIBS side hole, i.e. a lateral scan within the graphene layer itself. This analysis documents the uniform composition of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen across the entire depth. It is therefore a continuous homogeneous but porous layer of organic matrix with an embedded graphene structure. Copper is no longer detected in this lateral borehole, which confirms the previous interpretation of a closed intermediate layer. The average carbon values between 58 % and 68 % with typically more than 25 % oxygen indicate a graphene-oxide system embedded in a polymer matrix, a typical structure for industrially applied flexible thermal materials.

In summary, the supposedly simple sticker on the SSD can be characterized as a fully-fledged multilayer heat spreader. It combines a printed protective film, thermal copper, thermally conductive graphene composite and a strong adhesive layer in a single component. This structure makes a significant contribution to the thermal function of the SSD by distributing the heat generated by the SM2508G AC over a large area on the outside of the housing. This solution therefore represents a space-saving and cost-efficient alternative to classic metal heat sinks. This is also a technical detail that would have remained completely hidden without cross-section and LIBS analysis. Let’s call it added value 😀