Team Group MP34 NVME SSD (512GB) review - Introduction

Team Group MP34 M.2. NVMe SSD (512GB)
At 15 Cents per GB, the performance SSD steal of the year?

Team Group recently released a new NVMe SSD (M2), the MP34 series is aimed to be a properly fast NVMe proposition at a reasonable price. We had the opportunity to test the 512GB model thoroughly. This M.2. NVMe SSD has Toshiba and Phison written all over it, literally. The MP34 is an M.2 2280 SSD with a storage capacity of 256GB / 512GB and 1TB versions. The drive uses the PCIe Gen3 with 4 lanes. According to the manufacturer, the SSD achieves read speeds of up to 3000 MB/s and write speeds of up to 1700 MB/s. All very decent especially considering that the TBW values for this SSD are really hood, 800 TBW for this 512 GB version, and even 1660 TB written for the 1 TB model.

It gets even better as the 512GB model you'll spot for only $79 and the 1 TB model for $159 with prices in Euro close to that. The new SSD allows you to purchase NVMe storage in the 15 cents per GB region! The 256GB model is costing 42 USD, thus 16 Cents per GB. So again 15 Cents per GB for NVMe 1.3 and three years of warranty or that TWB value reached, whichever comes first. That's pretty awesome eh?

The random 4K performance is rated up-to 160/190 random read IOPS writes and reads. Being M.2., you do need a modern motherboard with capable NVMe supported M.2 (PCI-Express Gen 3.0 x4 connected) interface, please do check out your motherboard manufacturer for that. But ever the past year or two all Intel and AMD chipset released in the mainstream to high-end class support it very well. M2 is interesting stuff, these smaller form factors storage units are evolving from being "just as fast" as a regular SSD towards double, tripling, heck... even quadrupling that performance. It comes in a different package, M.2. The M.2 interface is so much more capable as it can deal with way more bandwidth using PCI-Express lanes. As such, M.2 solutions are intended for enthusiast class motherboards. The series M.2 SSDs are a breathtaking series of storage technology as they offer enthusiast class performance yet remain reasonable in pricing depending on NAND type. 

The SSD is the latest iteration of their consumer-ready Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) M.2 form factor SSD series. The SSDs have been fitted with Toshiba NAND (64-layer) and an 8-channel Phison NVMe 1.3 controller. The SSD follows a normal M.2 2280 (8cm) form factor so it will fit on most ATX motherboards capable of M.2 just fine. SSDs in the 250GB range is becoming less attractive - they contain fewer memory chips, the speed is often lower, and because the basic production costs are (almost) the same as those of higher-capacity units, they are relatively expensive. Next tot hat, most people deem 512 GB NAND flash storage to be a good default value for a modern day 2019 PC. 

As the performance in most benchmarks will be more than fine, especially comparing towards the regular SATA3 SSD this is a cheaper choice whilst offering faster performance. Team Group offers a decent 3-years warranty on this product. Have a peek, and then let's head onwards into this review.

 TeamGroup MP34 series M2 NVMe 1.3 SSD with Phison controller and Toshiba 64-layer TLC Flash NAND