Sabrent Offers 5 GB/s SSDs For The Steam Deck

Sabrent has unveiled its new Rocket 2230 SSD, which adheres to the M.2 2230 form factor and is intended for tiny devices such as the Steam Deck, Microsoft Surface, ultrabooks, and Intel NUCs.

Because of the design of the Steam Deck, the portable gaming console can only accept M.2 2230 SSDs, and there are not many possibilities on the market. One Steam Deck owner discovered a mod that allows longer SSDs, such as M.2 2242 SSDs, to be inserted into the device. However, the designer of the Steam Deck warns against such modifications because they can cause overheating difficulties on the console and significantly reduce its life expectancy. Sabrent's new Rocket 2230 SSD makes it easier and safer to upgrade the SSD inside your Steam Deck.

The Rocket 2230 has a single-sided design that allows it to fit into the smallest of spaces with ease. Sabrent's Rocket 2230 formula contains Phison's brand-new E21T SSD controller and Micron's 176-layer TLC NAND. The Rocket 2230, when combined with a PCIe 4.0 interface, can achieve speeds of up to 5 GBps. However, performance varies depending on capacity. Speaking of capacity, Sabrent sells the Rocket 2230 in 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB capacities, so there is plenty of room to store your data or, in the case of the Steam Deck, games. The sequential read and write speeds on the 256GB variant are up to 4,650 MBps and 1,900 MBps, respectively. The 512GB model supports sequential reads at 5,000 MBps and sequential writes at 3,700 MBps. The 1TB model is the most powerful, with sequential read and write speeds of 4,750 and 4,300 MBps, respectively. In terms of random performance, the 256GB SSD has 220,000 IOPS reads and 470,000 IOPS writes, while the 512GB SSD has 440,000 IOPS reads and 920,000 IOPS writes. The 1TB model has random read and write performance of up to 450,000 and 545,000 IOPS, respectively. Sabrent used KDiskMark, an alternative to CrystalDiskMark, to compare the brand's Rocket 2230 1TB SSD against the Kingston OM3PDP3512B-A01, which came inside one of the Steam Deck. The sequential read and write speeds of the Kingston drive were 2,427.26 MBps and 1,077.39 MBps, respectively. The Sabrent SSD, on the other hand, achieved sequential read speeds of 3,530.6 MBps and sequential write speeds of 2,713.23 MBps. As a result, the Rocket 2230 provided 45% faster sequential reads and 152% faster sequential writes.

The Rocket 2230's endurance is not exceptional, but it is adequate for everyday use. Sabrent rates the 256GB and 512GB devices as having 200 and 300 TBW endurance, respectively. The 1TB model has a 600TBW rating. Sabrent backs the Rocket 2230 with a five-year limited warranty, but the user must register the drive. A free copy of Acronis True Image software is also included, allowing users to clone their old discs to the new SSD.

Unfortunately, Sabrent did not reveal the Rocket 2230's price.