The Corsair MP600 Elite is the primary inner SSD we have reviewed that includes a DRAM-less controller from Phison, a key participant within the NAND flash controller market. As is typical of DRAM-free SSDs, the MP600 Elite is modestly priced; even higher, the heatsink-equipped model of the drive prices solely $5 greater than the bottom mannequin at each its 1TB and 2TB capacities. (The drive begins at $89.99 for a 1TB model and not using a heatsink; it is $169.99, as we examined it, in its 2TB taste with one.) This M.2 drive turned in robust sequential and 4K learn and write scores, though its PCMark 10 outcomes, which measure a drive’s efficiency at quite a lot of commonplace duties, had been unimpressive. That classifies it as an excellent mainstream choose however not an elite performer, opposite to its title. For frequent jobs that contain writing massive, steady recordsdata, you may need to go for a DRAM-equipped drive just like the Essential T500 or the Samsung SSD 990 Professional.
Design: Drop the Cache, Drop the Worth
The MP600 Elite is a four-lane PCI Specific 4.0 M.2 drive using TLC 3D NAND flash reminiscence. It is manufactured on an M.2 Kind-2280 (80mm lengthy) “gumstick” printed circuit board and makes use of the NVMe 1.4 protocol over the PCIe 4.0 bus. Its Phison 5027-E27T controller is noteworthy, for the reason that MP600 Elite is the primary SSD we’ve got examined with this new, DRAM-less controller, which Phison touts for its energy effectivity and cost-effectiveness. With out its personal DRAM cache, the MP600 Elite makes use of host reminiscence buffer (HMB) know-how, enlisting a bit of your pc’s most important reminiscence. (New to M.2 and PCIe jargon? Try our information to SSD terminology.)
The MP600 Elite is offered both with or with out an built-in passive steel heatsink in each its capacities (1TB and 2TB). As talked about, you pay a modest premium for the models with the heatsink.
The MP600 Elite’s sturdiness rankings (expressed by way of lifetime write capability in complete terabytes written or TBW) match these of many different PCIe 4.0 speedsters. The Essential T500, the Essential P5 Plus, the Samsung SSD 990 Professional, and the WD Black SN850X all carry the identical ranking of 600TBW and 1,200TBW for his or her 1TB and 2TB capacities. Just a few PCI Specific 4.0 drives supply considerably larger sturdiness rankings; the MSI Spatium M470, for instance, is rated at 1,600TBW for 1TB and three,300TBW for 2TB. On the different excessive, the Mushkin Delta, which makes use of less-durable QLC reminiscence, is rated at simply 200TBW for 1TB, 400TBW for 2TB, and 800TBW for 4TB. (QLC drives are likely to have the bottom TBW rankings at any given capability.)
The TBW spec is an estimate, in keeping with the producer, of how a lot knowledge may be written to a drive earlier than some cells start to fail and get taken out of service. TBW tends to scale 1:1 with capability, because it does for the MP600 Elite. Corsair warranties the drive is for 5 years or till you hit the rated TBW determine in writes, whichever comes first. A five-year guarantee is frequent amongst high-end SSDs, although some storage makers restrict their drives’ warranties to a few years.
(Credit score: Tony Hoffman)The MP600 Elite works with Corsair’s SSD Toolbox, a downloadable app that shows drive and S.M.A.R.T. info and permits for overprovisioning, safe erase, cloning, and TRIM optimization. The drive additionally helps AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption, which is the gold normal in knowledge encryption.
Testing the Corsair MP600 Elite: Blended Outcomes
We take a look at PCIe 4.0 inner SSDs utilizing a desktop testbed with an MSI X570 motherboard and AMD Ryzen CPU, 16GB of Corsair Dominator DDR4 reminiscence clocked to three,600MHz, and a discrete Nvidia GeForce graphics card. We put the Corsair MP600 Elite via our typical suite of solid-state drive benchmarks, comprising Crystal DiskMark 6.0, PCMark 10 Storage, and 3DMark Storage.
Crystal DiskMark’s sequential velocity assessments present a conventional measure of drive throughput, simulating best-case, straight-line transfers of enormous recordsdata. On these assessments, the heatsink-equipped Corsair MP600 Elite simply exceeded its rated write velocity and—particularly—its rated learn velocity. This situates it properly amongst among the many elite PCIe 4.0 speedsters that populate our comparability group that you just see within the tables beneath.
In Crystal DiskMark’s 4K learn take a look at, which measures how lengthy it takes to entry a bunch of recordsdata in 4K cluster sizes, the MP600 Elite’s rating was within the prime tier of a carefully packed group of comparability drives. Its 4K write rating was the second highest, trailing solely the WD Black SN850X.
PCMark 10’s general storage take a look at measures a drive’s velocity in quite a lot of routine duties resembling loading video games and launching the Home windows working system and different applications. The MP600 Elite was somewhat pokey on this take a look at, with the second-lowest rating amongst our comparability group.
PCMark hint testing evaluates a few of the particular person elements that go into the general rating, and within the traces the MP600 Elite’s scores had been additionally lackluster. It did greatest in Adobe Photoshop launching and in two game-loading assessments (Battlefield 5 and Overwatch), whereas turning within the lowest rating amongst our comparability group within the ISO and file copy assessments and in Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 4 sport launching, and the next-to-lowest rating in booting Home windows and launching Adobe Premiere Professional.
Lastly, in 3DMark Storage (which evaluates an SSD’s velocity in quite a lot of gaming-related duties), the MP600 Elite’s rating was within the decrease tier of a carefully packed batch of scores of our comparability group.
Verdict: An Inexpensive, Cool, Safe PCIe 4.0 SSD
As the most recent DRAM-free inner SSD, the Corsair MP600 Elite is available in at a proletarian value, with the heatsink-equipped model that we examined costing solely a tad greater than the barebones variant. It sizzled in our in our Crystal DiskMark testing, chalking up zippy sequential and 4K learn and write scores, whereas its PCMark 10 scores—which measure a drive’s efficiency at a variety of frequent duties—had been much less spectacular. This energy-efficient, inexpensive PCIe 4.0 SSD will get the job achieved and stays cool doing so, however for extra actually “elite” efficiency, contemplate the Essential T500 or the Samsung SSD 990 Professional.
