AGi AI838 PCIe Gen4 SSD Lightning Review: Peak PCIe 4.0 Speeds From A Not-So-Known Brand

AGi isn’t a brand many you’d be familiar with, and the AI838 is most certainly not a household name in the realm of the DIY PC community when it comes to storage solutions. The brand actually reached out to us during our coverage of Computex this year and actually asked if we would be willing to test out one of its SSDs.

The AGi AI838 is an M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 SSD that looks nothing out of the ordinary. Out of the box, this SSD is packaged simply, containing the component itself and a heatsink.

On a PCB level, the AI838 features an Innogrit 5236 controller, as well as memory chips on both sides of the PCB. On that note, the SSD is available in two storage configurations, 1TB and 2TB, and the unit I have in my lab is the latter. The heatsink, for that matter, is attached and held together via the thermal pad at the bottom, which also contains an adhesive that keeps attached to the memory stick with a little heat.

In keeping with its advertised speeds, the AI838 is able to attain average sequential read and write speeds of up to 7,400MB/s and 6,700MB/ when in use. Interestingly, and I don’t expect you to notice this unless you pay exceptionally close attention to it, there is also a red LED embedded into the SSD, which blinks and holds intermittently, indicating that the drive is functioning properly.

Oh, and the overall temperature of the AI838 doesn’t seem to break past 54°C even when working on a full load. That being said, my lab is kept at a comfortable 20°C at all times.

You would think that because AGi isn’t a household name, the AI838 would at the very least be comparably cheaper than the competition, but sadly, that’s not the case.

Officially, pricing starts at RM757 for the 1TB variant, while the 2TB model retails at RM1,638. That’s really expensive, especially when you consider that the average cost of a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD with similar sequential speeds are going between RM400 and RM500, while 2TB SSDs of similar speeds cost less than RM1,000. For that matter, AGi only offers a 3-year warranty period for its SSD.

At those price tags, it’s not an exaggeration for me to say that it is difficult to recommend AGi’s AI838 SSDs. Again, this isn’t a brand that is as well-known as some of the more prominent players on the market – WD, Samsung, and Corsair, to name a few – and effectively charging more than RM1,500 for 2TB when the competition charges the same for double the capacity makes this an incredibly hard sell. But, as always, if you’ve got oodles of disposable income and you’re in a “because I can” mood, then by all means. Have at this.