It may be a little late, but the first crop of PCIe 5.0 SSDs have finally arrived at retailers. The Corsair MP700 is one of the first models, and its leading-edge performance of 10 GB/s sequential read throughput and 1.7 million random write IOPS are good indicators of what to expect from the new wave of drives.
The MP700 is a flagship-class PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD with excellent overall performance, bringing enthusiast-class storage performance to the desktop, delivering high sequential bandwidth and consistent performance. The drive also boasts excellent support from Corsair, a trusted name in SSDs.
However, today’s high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs are good enough for most users and much cheaper. Also coming this year is his faster 5.0 drive. However, the MP700 is a good way to get into the PCIe 5.0 game and have DirectStorage optimized firmware out of the box. Prices could drop soon, but if you want the absolute fastest drive, this is it for the time being.
specification
| product | 2TB |
|---|---|
| price | $289.99 |
| form factor | M.2 2280 |
| interface/protocol | PCIe5.0×4 |
| controller | Phison E26 |
| DRAM | LPDDR4 |
| flash memory | 232 layer micron TLC |
| Sequential read | 10,000MBps |
| Sequential write | 9,500MBps |
| random read | 1,500K |
| random write | 1,700K |
| safety | AES 256-bit |
| Endurance (TBW) | 1,400TB |
| part number | CSSD-F2000GBMP700 |
| guarantee | 5 years |
The Corsair MP700 is designed for 2 TB and has an MSRP of $289.99. This is slightly higher than the Inland TD510’s current price. This is a similar drive that has seen its price drop multiple times since its launch. This means PCIe 5.0 drives are already affordable.
The MP700 is rated at up to 10,000 / 9,500 MBps for sequential reads and writes and up to 1,500K / 1,700K IOPS for random reads and writes. Plus, it comes with a 5-year warranty that includes up to 1,400 TB of data written. Corsair claims AES-256 support, but this is misleading. However, the design of this controller is such that some manufacturers may choose to implement optional features.
Software and accessories
Corsair offers SSD Toolbox software downloads on their site. The application not only displays drive information and SMART health attributes, but also allows him to TRIM, clone, over-provision, or securely erase a drive.
look carefully
We had no issues running this SSD without a fan, but a proprietary high-end cooling solution, either purchased separately or as part of the motherboard’s capabilities, should be more sophisticated.
Corsair apparently agreed. The company originally announced a drive with a cooler, but decided to change course and release this as a bare drive without the reference cooler. But don’t run the drive bare. Otherwise you will eventually get throttled. We have tested with our own motherboard heatsinks to ensure this type of cooling is sufficient.
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This drive has 2 NAND packages on each side for a total of 4 NAND packages, with the controller and DRAM packages on the front. Care should be taken to choose a cooler that can handle double-sided drives, but there are many options on the market, not to mention they may be built right into the motherboard.
We also see the indomitable Phison E26 PCIe 5.0 SSD controller. This is an 8-channel controller with a bus of up to 2400 MT/s for the NAND package, suggesting it could reach up to 15,000 MBps. The MP700 configuration approaches 1600 MT/s and 10,000 MBps.
E26 has the same options I/O+ firmware optimization As E18, currently it only applies to Safe Rocket 4 Plus G For PCIe 4.0 SSDs. These optimizations take full advantage of DirectStorage and also improve sustained performance. Derived from an enterprise design, the E26 is well suited for sustained workloads. It also has many more powerful optional features.
DRAM is Hynix H9HCNNNNCPUMLCR-NEE, or LPDDR4.This is a low power solution, with even more efficient LPDDR4X Lexar Professional NM800 ProThat’s 32 Gb or 4 GB of DRAM, double what you’d expect. This was also the case with the previously previewed reference design. There may be reasons for this decision, but we need to test more E26 drives to get the full picture.
The NAND flash is labeled NV066 which is Micron TLC. This is the latest generation of flash with 232 layers, but currently this drive runs at 1600 MT/s. With newer revisions, peak rates reach 2000 and 2400 MT/s.
Micron went from 4 planes to 6 planes with this design. This improves internal parallelization and therefore performance. The flash dies used here are 1Tb or 128 GB each, so 4 dies in a QDP configuration are used for each of the 4 NAND packages. Using higher density dies means SSDs can reach higher capacities. A drive with a capacity of 4 TB should be common with the E26.
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