Corsair news: Water block, fast and cheaper PCI Express 4.0 SSD
Corsair has been dealing with SSDs in recent days. In a short time sequence, it first announced and then released two extra-fast SSDs, of which the cheaper one with NAND QLC memory. These are not yet widely used among models with PCI Express 4.0 support. But the real curiosity is the third thing on the list – a water block with which you can order the more expensive SSD or buy it separately for your own one.
The number of SSDs with PCI Express 4.0 support is growing. The motivation for manufacturers is probably the ever-growing popularity of the AMD platform, which still exclusively supports PCIe 4.0 in desktop. But around the corner is Intel’s Rocket Lake, which will also have full support for the most powerful SSDs, and the selection will expand even more intensively. Corsair is now the one releasing a new SSD.
The more powerful SSD is called MP600 Pro. As far as you know the label, a significant part of it is inherited from the MP600, which was the first SSD to use a controller with PCI Express 4.0 Phison E16 interface support. However, the new “Pro” variant is already built on the more powerful Phison E18 controller. Achieved sequential read speed of MP600 Pro should be up to 7000 MB/s and sequential write up to 6550 MB/s. Of course, these values count on the pSLC cache acceleration. However, what is the capacity reserved for it and how much performance will be lost after its filling, the manufacturer is obligatorily concealing. However, the specifications reveal the performance of 4K random access. It should be up to 800,000 IOPS for read and 660,000 IOPS for write. All these paper specs refer to the larger capacity variant with 2 TB. The 1-terabyte one will have a slower sequential write (5500 MB/s) with a smaller pSLC cache, and the random 4K write should be roughly above half of that (360,000 IOPS).
The memory used is NAND TLC, but we don’t know exactly what they are yet. But it could be a 96-layer Toshiba, similar to the MP600. The number of rewrite cycles is rather average here and the TBW is given at 700 TB and 1400 TB for the 2 TB model, respectively.
By default, the MP600 Pro will come with a pre-installed heatsink. It is relatively large, but for those to whom it would not be enough, a configuration with a pre-installed water block will also be available. It has two terminals with G1/4″ threads, so it can be conveniently connected to a standard water loop. With an estimated power draw of 6–7 W (e.g. Samsung 980 Pro with 1 TB has a peak of 6.5 W) it is of course nothing crucial. The traditional aluminum heatsink with high ridges is likely to be more than sufficient in a case with proper airflow.
Whatever you decide, the extra charge for the water block on an SSD will be about $25, which means that the 1 TB SSD will cost about 250 euros and a larger one with 2TB around 460 euros. With an “ordinary” heatsink, it will be 25–30 euros less. Corsair will also allow you to buy the XM2 Hydro X water block separately, which of course will not be as favorable as when you buy it together with the SSD. It will cost you about 40 euros.
For those who don’t care about the water block and find the MP600 Pro expensive even at base with finned heatsink, Corsair gives another option. Namely a cheaper and slower design of MP600 Core with NAND QLC memory. This SSD is equipped with an older Phison E16 controller (as you may know from the first generation PCIe 4.0 SSD). However, it is still a higher class and the SSD has its own DRAM buffer.
Again, capacity variants with 1 and 2 TB are available, to which a 4-terabyte is also added (the MP600 Pro could later get it as well). Sequential read speeds are 4700–4950 MB/s and write 1950–3950 MB/s, depending on the capacity variant, with the 1-terabyte one expected to be significantly slower than the others. The MP600 Core has a lower TBW value for using QLC memory – 200, 400 and 800 TB. The mention of power draw is remarkable. At maximum power, it should climb up to 7.4 W. This will probably apply to the largest capacity variant (4 TB) with the highest performance. Its recommended price is 650 euros, 2 TB then 320 euros and 1 TB “only” 160 euros.
SSD Corsair MP600 Pro (also in configuration with water block) and MP600 Core, as well as the water block XM2 Hydro X separately, are available in some limited quantities, for example on Amazon. Our vendors have not yet added any of Corsair’s new products to their offer. Hopefully, they will do so soon.
