Corsair MP600 Pro XT 2TB SSD Review

1. Introduction2. Corsair MP600 PRO XT3. Testing Methodology4. CrystalDiskMark5. ATTO Disk Benchmark6. AS SSD7. 128KB Sequential Performance8. 4K Random Read v QD Performance9. 4K Random Write v QD Performance10. 4K 70/30 Mixed Performance11. 4K Random Performance QD1-QD812. Throughput13. PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark14. Performance Stability15. Drive Temperatures16. Real Life File Testing17. Closing Thoughts18. View All Pages

It doesn't seem that long ago that we were looking at the original Corsair MP600 Pro, Corsair's second-generation PCIe Gen 4 drive. But Corsair has just launched the next generation of the Pro, the Pro XT. Like the MP600 Pro, the Pro XT comes in a standard version using a well-designed heatsink, and a version that uses a copper interior water block, dubbed the Pro XT Hydro X edition. The MP600 Pro XT comes in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB capacities at launch while the Pro XT Hydro X comes in only the larger two capacities.

Although the MP600 Pro XT uses the same Phison PS5018-E18 controller as the previous MP600 Pro, the NAND it employs is the latest and fastest (at the time of writing) Micron 3D TLC NAND, the 176-layer B47R compared to the 96-layer of the previous drive. Micron's B47R is the world's first 176-layer 3D TLC NAND using Microns 2nd generation Floating Gate technology. Micron has stated that the new NAND offers 35% faster read and write times over 96-layer NAND and a 25% improvement over 128-layer.

The official maximum Sequential read/write performance figures for the 2TB MP600 Pro XT are up to 7,100MB/s and 6,800MB/s respectively. Using the ATTO benchmark we couldn't quite hit either of these figures, but the 6,820MB/s read and 6,550MB/s write speeds we did see, confirms the drive's strong performance. The tested read figure of 6,820MB/s is the same as we saw for the previous MP600 Pro but the change in NAND has seen a 217MB/s increase in write performance for the Pro XT. However, switching over to the CrystalDiskMark 8 benchmark saw test results that confirmed the official maximums with reads of 7,396MB/s and writes of 6,879MB/s.

Officially the MP600 Pro XT is rated at up to 1M IOPS for 4K random reads and up to 1.2M IOPS for writes. Using our 4-threaded 4K tests we couldn't get close to these official maximums. The best random read figure we saw was 671,105.71 IOPS and the best write result came in at 587,184.33 IOPS, both of which came through testing with the CrystalDiskMark 8 benchmark.

Just like the MP600 Pro, Corsair has fitted the MP600 Pro XT with a well-designed aluminium heatsink to help alleviate any overheating issues when the drive is working with heavy workloads. The heatsink uses the same four clip release system so the drive can be easily removed if you want to use it in a motherboard that has its own cooling system for M.2 drives.

Corsair has priced the 2TB MP600 Pro XT at £414.99 (inc VAT). The Pro XT Hydro X costs a tenner more.

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Pros

• 176-layer NAND technology.
• Sequential performance.
• Ease of removal of the heatsink.

Cons

• Couldn’t match the official random write figures under testing.
• Needs a PCIe 4.0 supporting motherboard for best performance.

KitGuru says: For their latest flagship drive, Corsair has teamed up the controller of choice for the current batch of Gen 4 drives, Phison's PS5018-E18, with Micron's latest and fastest 3D TLC NAND to date, the 176-layer B47R. That pairing results in a very quick drive.

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