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A Worthy Gen4 Upgrade!
Review Summary
The Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB is a fast PCIe Gen4 SSD that’s great for upgrading from older drives, offering strong speeds and solid gaming performance. It doesn’t have DRAM, so it leans on your system RAM, and it can run hot without a heatsink—which isn’t included. Still, it’s a reliable and speedy option with good endurance and a 5-year warranty.
Hours Tested: 7
Overall
Pros
- Excellent Sequential Speeds
- Great Gaming Performance
- 5 Years Warranty
Cons
- Does not include heat spreader
- DRAM Cache is not included
We’re taking a look at Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB today. This storage solution is from the renowned MP600 series, which was introduced in 2019 utilizing the PCI-e 4.0 x4 interface. The Elite is the upgrade over its older sibling. The Controller in question is Phison E27T for the mainstream, enabling more bandwidth, meaning improved sequential speeds.
The SSD uses 3D TLC Nand and its compact M2 2280 Form-factor drive, which can fit in almost every motherboard. Since this SSD does not utilize the additional DRAM on the chip, it uses the HMB (Host Memory Buffer), which operates a very small portion of your RAM to write the cache.
We have tested and reviewed the MP600 Elite 2TB before as well, but that variant came with a heatsink, whereas for this we will use our motherboard’s NVMe heatsink.
Here are the key specs:
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4 |
| Capacity | 2TB |
| NAND Technology | High-Density 3D TLC NAND |
| Controller | Phison E27T (DRAM-less, 4-channel) |
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 7,000 MB/s |
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 6,500 MB/s |
| Random Read IOPS | Up to 1,000K |
| Random Write IOPS | Up to 1,200K |
| Endurance (TBW) | 1,200 TBW (Terabytes Written) |
I recommend checking our round-up of the best M.2 SSDs for gaming if you want to explore more options.
Unboxing & Design
Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB NVMe comes in yellow outer packaging and is secured in a plastic container; however, there is no heat spreader included in the box. There are two variants of this SSD; one comes with the heat spreader, which is $20 more expensive. Overall, the packaging is very simple and straightforward.
PCB Pictures
The PS5027-E27T controller supports PCIe Gen4X4 built on TSMC 12nm Process. The NAND flash shares the part number T2BIGA5A1V, which uses TLC 162 Layer ( Technology) (Also Supports QLC) manufactured by Kioxia. This NVMe comes with two Nand Flash Memory chips, each chip carrying a capacity of 1000GB; this controller does not feature a DRAM cache but offers a 64 MB host memory buffer. It can reach a speed of 7,400MB/s Read and 6,700MB/s, slightly more than the Corsair advertised on its marketing page.
Controller Overview
The Controller is PS5027-E27T from Phison, which powers the CorsairMP600 Elite 2TB built on the TSMC 12nm Process. This controller was announced in 2022, and many manufacturers, such as Corsair, Crucial, and Team-Group, are using the same controller in some of their budget SSDS, targeting the mainstream market. It is important to note that the DRAM cache is unavailable in this drive. The controller only features the HMB (Host Memory Buffer) Feature that allows SSD to use some of the RAM on the PC system.
Software
Honestly, The Corsair SSD Toolbox feels outdated compared to their known ARGB software iCUE; I was expecting something fancy. However, apart from the UI, the toolbox provides all the necessary information, such as the drive status, overprovision, disc clone, optimization, and secure wipe. It is not required to keep the SSD toolbox installed all the time for the SSD to function properly.
Testing Setup
I benchmarked the drive on this setup:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X
- RAM: XPG Lancer 16×2 6400MHz CL28 Tuned
- Motherboard: MSI B650 TOMAHAWK WiFi
- Cooler: Deepcool Mystique 360 Liquid Cooler
- GPU: ZOTAC SOLID RTX 5080
- Storage: Samsung 970 EVO 512GB (OS). WDSN770 1TB, Corsair MP600 Elite 1TB
- BIOS: 1M3 – AGESA ComboAM5PI 1.2.0.3a Patch A
- Windows Version: Windows 11 24H2 (OS Build 26100.3775)
Testing Scenario
| Category | Application | Scenario |
|---|---|---|
| Real-World Test | 3DMark Storage Gaming Benchmark | Measures gaming performance using traces from real games (loading, saving, installing, recording gameplay). |
| Real-World Test | PCMark 10 Storage ‘Quick’ Benchmark | Shorter test with lighter real-world traces, ideal for smaller system drives. |
| Real-World Test | PCMark 10 Storage ‘Full System Drive’ Benchmark | Comprehensive test using diverse real-world traces for modern high-speed drives. |
| Synthetic Test | CrystalDiskMark | Measures sequential & random read/write speeds (MB/s), 4KiB performance, and latency. |
| Monitoring Tool | HWiNFO | Monitors SSD temperatures and other health metrics during testing. |
| Games Loading Times | Cyberpunk 2077, Red Dead Redemption II | Game opening time and loading time are tested. |
Real World Test Results
In the 3D Mark Storage Gaming Benchmark, Corsair MP600 Elite is on par with WD SN770 1TB NVMe with a margin of error difference. However, compared with the older Samsung 970 EVO NVMe, the difference is significant. Thanks to its Gen 4.0 capabilities, we are almost twice as fast, and response time is cut to half.
We have also tested the NVMe in the PCMark 10 Quick Benchmark; the Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB struggles to match the performance of WDSN770.
Our Corsair NVMe is still slower than WDSN770 in the Full System Drive Benchmark. These results are great examples that show that higher sequential speeds do not guarantee better performance in the real world.
Synthetic Test Results
For the synthetic results and everyone’s favorite benchmark, we use crystal disc mark, where Corsair MP600 Elite reaches 7333MB/s Read and 6540 MB/s, more than what Corsair advertised. The SSD is almost hitting this speed’s limitation of PCIe Gen4 capabilities. However, the Random 4KiB results demonstrated inconsistent performance in write speeds and disappointed, performing worse than even older Samsung 970 EVO PCIe Gen3x4.
Gaming Loading Time
Gaming loading does not require high-end NVMe or storage solutions; we have tested two games, Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption II. Our results include the gaming opening time and loading time right from the beginning of the splash screen. Corsair MP600 wins in Red Dead Redemption II by 6 seconds, which is impressive, and that’s also why it is our top choice for a gaming SSD.
Temperatures
We’ve run the tests of 10 minutes in the PCMark Consistency Test, which is extremely heavy as this test writes an extremely large amount of data; Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB peaked at 70C at the room temperature of 25C since this variant of MP600 Elite did not come with the heatsink we utilized our motherboard NVMe Heatsink. SSD is installed in the first slot. Considering how fast this SSD is, the temperatures are excellent and within the normal range.
Should You Buy It?
Buy It If
✅ You are upgrading from the older storage: Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB delivers an excellent upgrade over PCIe Gen3x4 SSDs. Sequential Speeds Peaking up to 7400MB/s and 6500MB/s is a massive jump from the traditional 3000MB/s Gen3 SSDs.
✅ You want quicker loading times in games: Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB delivers incredible game loading times, beating WDSN770 in Red Dead Redemption II by 6 seconds.
Don’t Buy It If
❌ You want the storage with DRAM Cache: Without the DRAM Cache, SSDs rely on the Nand Flash or HMB (Host Memory Buffer), leading to reduced write performance/operations.
❌ Your motherboard does not support PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe: Corsair MP600 Elite is the Gen4x4 Fast NVMe Storage Device. Though it can run on PCIe Gen3x4, it can do so at much lower speeds.
Conclusion
Corsair MP600 Elite 2TB is an excellent NVMe Storage Solution. Thanks to its Phyison E27T controllers, which power this NVMe and run extremely fast in synthetic benchmarks, especially in sequential read and write benchmarks. The SSD peaks at 7,400MB/s on reading and 6,500 on writing, which is extremely fast for daily use.
The retail price for this SSD is slightly higher, at $149.99. It’s a DRAM-less drive, but if you are a gamer, this SSD won’t disappoint you. This SSD does not come with the heat spreader or heatsink, which is very disappointing considering this SSD is extremely fast and can run very hot, in our stress-test our SSD peaked at 70ºC maximum with the heatsink, which is still on the hotter side, but it’s still safe.
Corsair should have provided at least an aluminum heatsink with it, as they don’t cost a lot; you can find them cheap for 10 bucks easily. However, in real-world tests, such as game copying/transferring files, recording gameplay, or streaming, this SSD is incredibly fast and matches the mid-range WDSN770 SSD. The 2TB variant has an endurance of 1200 TBW (Terabytes Written). This storage also comes with 5 years of coverage. If you are in the market for a brand-new storage solution, the Corsair MP600 Elite can be a good purchase.
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I’m Usman Sheikh, I started my tech journey in 2014 with the largest Pakistani gaming community forum as the senior administrator. I have always been deeply passionate about PCs, testing new gadgets and hardware, and learning new things every day. As a Senior Hardware Reviewer at Tech4Gamers, I bring over a decade of experience and spend my days stress-testing graphics cards, CPU coolers, motherboards, and more. I also love overclocking and I occasionally share tips and optimization guides for CPUs and graphics cards.
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