TeamGroup MP32 M2 NVMe 480GB SSD Review - Introduction

TeamGroup MP32 M.2. NVMe SSD tested

An SSD targeted towards gaming laptops and high-end PCs, it's thin and available in capacities of 128 (€54), 256 (€79), 512 (€149) and 1024 GB (€299) volume sizes. We review the TeamGroup MP32 256GB M2 NVMe SSD. With this Phison 5008-E8  controller based product and Toshiba NAND, the company releases an affordable M2 NVMe SSD. The performance is wat faster than your normal SATA3 SSD, but restricted by making use of just x2 lanes PCIe Gen 3.0. That does not mean this is a slow product though if you can settle for 1500 MB/s reads and 800 MB/sec writes, this might be a well worth SSD.

These units offer peak read performance of up to 1500 MB/s and peak write speeds up to 800 MB/s for the 256GB model, much faster way compared to what you can achieve with a SATA3 device. Being M.2., you do need a modern motherboard with capable NVMe supported M.2 (PCI-Expresse Gen 3.0 x2 (and not 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. 

These M2 sticks are very easy to add-in and have been fitted with Toshiba NAND (64-layer BiCS). The TeamGroup MP32 series M.2 product line is powered by a Phison PS5008 (E8) series NVMe controller. The SSD follows a smaller M.2 2280 (8cm) form factor so it will fit on most ATX motherboards capable of M.2 just fine.  Yeah, have a peek, and then let's head onwards into this review.

 
TeamGroup MP32 series M2 SSD with Phison PS5008-E8 controller and TLC written Toshiba NAND Flash