Final Words & Conclusion
The MP600 Elite, equipped with the Phison E27T controller, exhibits mediocre performance across various benchmarks. This drive's speed is discernibly lower compared to others in its class, including other models in Corsair's MP600 series. The recent trend in Phison's controller performance has been a tad unclear, often suggesting potential issues with overheating (especially in the PCIe Gen 5.0 range) or a lack of competitiveness. Meanwhile, brands like Innogrit are drawing more interest due to their notable performance distinctions.
Endurance
We've talked about endurance previously; it's the number of times NAND cells can be written before they begin to malfunction. It is sufficient to remark that the values for QLC written (4 bits saved in a single NAND cell) are not particularly good at it. On this point, however, I always like to paraphrase Einstein: "Relativity, my man," he said (somewhat). You can improve endurance by increasing the volume of your NAND. Volume sizes that are larger result in more NAND cells, and more NAND cells result in greater endurance. This SSD however uses TLC written NAND. A 1TB model has 600 TB written capacity, the 2TB model has 1200 TB written capacity for endurance. Now, if a NAND cell fails, it does not necessarily mean that your data is lost. Many algorithms are constantly monitoring and managing your data; for example, if a cell's lifetime is about to expire, the bits inside that cell will be relocated to a more healthy cell. So how long does a storage unit last before NAND flash cells go the way of the dodo? Well, if you are a truly extreme user, you might be writing 50 GB per day (really, normal users probably won't even write that per week), but based on that value, 50GB x 365 days = 18.25 TB per year written. You get 1200 TBW (for this 2TB model), so that's almost 66 years of usage and half that for the 1 TB SSD version. Let me make it very clear, 50 GB per day each day of the year is a very ambitious number.
Performance
The MP600 Elite solid-state drive (SSD) demonstrates consistent performance in mainstream and sustained workload scenarios. Although the SSD showed disappointing results in the game traces, it is important to note that such benchmarks might not fully represent overall performance. In practical applications, the SSD remains efficient, albeit with marginal differences from its competitors. Its read and write speeds of 5-6 GB/sec are commendable but do not position it as a market leader. Our trace testing reveals robust performance, particularly in random 4K IOPS queues.
Concluding
The MP600 Elite NVMe SSD should represent an advancement over the existing series, offering compatibility with Gen4 motherboards. However as it turns out, results disappointed in several segments. Now, we're really not sure if you'd ever notice it in a real-world usage scenario, but we expected more, especially when you carry the word 'Elite' in your product name. At 10 cents per GB the SSD as such feels a little bit too expensive as well. This SSD is designed for a wide range of users, including professionals, creators, gamers, and general consumers. Notably, it includes a heatsink SKU. The MP600 Elite features advanced technologies such as dynamic write acceleration, adaptive heat protection, error correction code, and full-drive encryption.
In terms of performance, the MP600 Elite is positioned among the high-end PCIe Gen3 and mainstream Gen4 drives. Its performance varies based on factors like workload. As a PCIe Gen 4 drive, it utilizes TLC flash memory, providing a cost-effective alternative to similar products. The drive exhibits decent sequential performance, with CrystalDiskMark tests showing write speeds in the 6000~7000MB/s range and read speeds exceeding 7000MB/s. Its 4K random read/write performance at small queue depths is relatively modest, yet it achieves high-end NVMe performance for specific workloads. Corsair offers a five-year warranty or up to the TBW (Total Bytes Written) limit, whichever comes first. The SSD is available in 1TB, and 2TB capacities.
Our review spotlighted the MP600 Elite performance in critical workload scenarios. Performance drops have been noticed which we rarely see anymore. Still falling back at 1 GB/sec, who'd even notice unless you professionally use your PC? The MP600 Elite aligns with performance expectations for mainstream PCIe 4.0 devices, and as such we feel it should be priced like that. Users can optionally choose a heatsink version, but also a regular version that you can tuck away under standard motherboard heatsinks is available. The 2TB model price point of 200/210 euro is simply put, too high.
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