Corsair MP700 PRO 2TB Review

Corsair were among the first wave of companies to launch a retail PCIe Gen 5 drive in the market, in the shape of the MP700. Now comes the next take on the concept, the MP700 PRO, which offers faster performance than the original MP700. Corsair rated the 2TB MP700 at up to 10,000MB/s for both reads and writes whereas the 2TB PRO version is rated at up to 12,400MB/s for reads and up to 11,800MB/s for writes.

At launch, just two drives make up the PRO product line, a 1TB entry model and a 2TB flagship (the model Corsair sent us for review). Corsair offers the drives in three versions, standard (1TB & 2TB), active air cooled (1TB & 2TB) and a water block version, 2TB only. The MP700 PRO uses a combination of Phsion's S5026-E26 controller and 232-Layer Micron B58R TLC NAND.  Phsion's S5026-E26 supports eight NAND channels at transfer speeds up to 2,400 MT/s. The controller also provides the AES 256-bit encryption that Corsair has enabled on the drive.

As well as the previously mentioned Sequential speeds, the 2TB MP700 PRO is rated up to 1,500,000 IOPS for reads and up to 1,600,000 IOPS for writes for 4K random performance. The 1TB drive Sequential performance is rated as up to 11,700MB/s for reads and up to 9.600MB/s for writes. Random performance is quoted as up to 1,400,000 IOPS and up to 1,500,000 IOPS for read and writes respectively.

Using the ATTO benchmark we couldn't quite get to the maximum Sequential figures with test results of 11,006MB/s for reads and 11,003MB/s for writes. However, using the default CrystalDiskMark 8 benchmark we could confirm the official Sequential figures with test results of 12,397MB/s for reads and 11,821MB/s for writes.

As for random performance, using our four threaded tests we could get nowhere near the official 1,500,000 IOPS for read and 1,600,000 IOPS for writes with test results of 451,618 IOPS for reads with writes at 495,635 IOPS. However, switching over to the Peak Performance profile settings in CrystalDiskMark 8 we could confirm the official write figure with a test result of 1,623,311 IOPS. The read result of 1,567,072 IOPS didn't quite hit the official maximum but it's not too far away.

Corsair offers the drive with two integrated cooling options (the basic drive you'll need some form of motherboard cooling for), active air-cooling and a water block for liquid cooling. The active air cooling solution uses a well-made aluminium heatsink with a very small fan (the fan uses a SATA power connector) built into one end. The combination works well as the hottest we saw the drive get was 53° C during the CrystalDiskMark 8 default write test. The drive has been designed to start throttling back if it goes above 76° C.

We found the 2TB Corsair MP700 PRO on the Corsair website for £334.99 (inc VAT) HERE.

Pros

• Extremely fast Sequential performance.
• PCIe 5.0 interface.
• Well-designed heatsink.

Cons

• Needs a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot to get the best out of it.
• A little pricey.

KitGuru says: Corsair's MP700 PRO offers a step up in speed from the original MP700 and is available with a choice of three cooling options – none, active air and water block – so there is an option for most. But you do have to shell out around 20 quid extra for the two cooler-equipped drives over the standard model.

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