Corsair MP600 Mini NVMe (Hardware)
Official GBAtemp Review
Product Information:
Corsair has taken their traditionally sized NVMe and hit it with a shrink ray, bringing it down to fit the form factor of the Steam Deck. 2230 NVMe drives are on the rise thanks to the Deck, and with the upcoming ROG Ally utilizing them as well, these mini drives are all the more integral to the portable gaming experience. Demand is already outpacing supply, so if you're going to be able to grab one at all, is the MP600 Mini worth putting into your beloved Steam Deck?
In terms of available 2230 NVMe drives, there aren't many on the market. iFixit offers a 1TB Micron that is officially backed as ideal for the Steam Deck, but it doesn't offer the best speeds. Western Digital's option is being scalped at rates higher than MSRP, and Sabrent is struggling to keep their Rocket 2230 in stock. Corsair, should they have the ability to not get trapped in back-ordered purgatory, has the best drive of the bunch, with its sequential read/write speeds of up to 4,800MB/s. (a major improvement over the Steam Deck's out-of-the-box 3,500MB/s)
The MP600 Mini uses PCIe 4.0 x4, which is great, especially if you're one of the few using it in a Microsoft Surface device, but Valve's Steam Deck only supports PCIe 3.0 x4, which feels like overkill, even if it makes it future-proof outside of that use-case. Again, coming back to the ROG Ally, it's worth noting that it will use PCIe 4.0, so it'll be able to take full advantage of the MP600's speeds. When used in a PC, CrystalDiskMark measured just a tick under Corsair's claimed speeds, resulting in 4,708MB/s write and 4,654MB/s read.
Installing the drive is a seamless experience, especially due to iFixit's detailed guide. You can back up your initial install of SteamOS, or you can just roll with a clean install if you're okay with starting from scratch. Games installed to the NVMe run wonderfully fast, and while you might find yourself hard-pressed to notice a speed improvement while playing games, you'll most certainly feel the effects of having so much extra storage space. I hope to see a 2TB version offered in the future as well.
Tech Specs
- Capacity 1000GB
- Form Factor M.2 2230
- Interface NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4
- Controller Phison PS5021-E21T
- NAND 3D TLC
- NAND Cache Size Dynamic SLC
- Encryption AES 256-bit
- Trim Support Supported
- S.M.A.R.T Support Supported
- Garbage Collection Supported
- TBW Rating 600
- MTBF 1,500,000hrs
- Average Active Read Power 4.15W
- Average Active Write Power 4.3W
- Operating Temperature 0° C~70° C
- Dimensions 22mm x 30mm x 2mm
- Sequential Read (CDM) Up to 4800MB/s
- Sequential Write (CDM) Up to 4800MB/s
- 4KB Random Read Up to 850K
- 4KB Random Write Up to 1100K
Coming in at an MSRP of $104.99, the Corsair MP600 undercuts the competition, giving you the best dollar-to-performance value available. Whether or not you'll be able to get your hands on it is another story entirely. Corsair plans to make the drive available on May 23rd, so be sure to keep an eye out.
Verdict
- PCIe 4.0 means it's future-proof for upcoming handhelds
- Solid value
- Runs fairly cool
- Hard to get ahold of