Corsair MP400 2TB, M.2 2280 / M-Key / PCIe 3.0 x4

Nach der Einführung von Quad Level Cells (QLC), wo bis zu vier Bits auf eine Zelle geschrieben werden können und sich somit auch die Kapazität von Flash Medien deutlich erhöhen lässt, war es erst einmal wieder ruhiger geworden, denn es gibt aber auch erhebliche Nachteile. Corsair legt mit der MP400 nun eine Serie unterhalb der MP500-Serie und der MP600 auf, die günstig und schnell sein soll, wenn man zur betreffenden Zielgruppe der Nicht-Dauerschreiber gehört. Warum ich dies bereits in der Einführung schreibe, sehen wir gleich noch.

Für einen Preis von aktuell ca. 244 € bietet Corsair mit der MP400 in der 2 TB Variante eine QLC NAND basierte M.2 SSD mit hoher Kapazität und guter Leistung. Die Lese- und Schreibraten der MP400 fielen im Benchmark sehr gut aus und sollten im Alltag ohne Erreichen des Cache Limits definitiv ausreichen. Im Normalbetrieb fällt der Unterschied zwischen QLC und TLC wahrscheinlich gar nicht auf. Die Haltbarkeit leidet im Vergleich zu TLC bei der MP400 mit 400 TBW bei der 2 TB Variante allerdings merklich. Trotz Temperaturen von bis zu 70 °C blieben die Leistungswerte in unserem Test konstant. Insgesamt erhält man mit der Corsair MP400 eine performante und vor allem große M.2 SSD, die uns in ihrem Gesamtpaket überzeugt – weswegen wir eine Empfehlung aussprechen.

Insgesamt zeigt die MP400 als SSDs mit hoher Kapazität in die absolut richtige Richtung. Mit zunehmend attraktiveren Preisen, könnten 4 TB SSDs damit bald zur Standardausstattung bei anspruchsvollen Gamern gehören.

The Corsair MP400 is the company's first QLC-based solid-state-drive. It was released last year, but I haven't had the time to get the review finished until now. I was also waiting for feedback from Corsair regarding the strange write speed patterns in our thermal stress test, more on that later.

After the introduction of Quad Level Cells (QLC), where up to four bits can be written to a cell and thus the capacity of flash media can be increased significantly, things had become quieter for the time being, but there are also considerable disadvantages. With the MP400, Corsair is now launching a series below the MP500 series and the MP600, which is intended to be inexpensive and fast if you belong to the relevant target group of non-permanent writers. Why I am already writing this in the introduction, we will see in a moment.

It is always difficult to find a lot to say about an SSD at this point. After all, a drive doesn’t have as many aspects as other hardware. But there are a few things which we can talk about. After all, not every drive is built the same. Corsair did a great job with the MP400. Not only is it available from a common size option of 1TB and all the way up to 8TB. Granted, at the time of this review, the largest version available on Amazon was the 4TB, but still. It’s just a matter of time before they get stock and the large version is listed. Corsair also did a good job with the design, keeping it simple yet beautiful. The PCB is black and so is the label on top, giving it a unified look for the event that it’s visible in your build.

Corsair might have something special here; the MP400 is ticking all the right boxes. Your QLC scare vanishes the second you opt for bigger volume sizes. I'm not sure if I would want that 1 TB version, but I would be very comfortable with 400TBW for the 2 TB version, and the 4TB version with 800 TBW is, of course, luxurious as these are values we have only seen in Samsungs PRO series NVME storage units. The performance is breathtaking as well; it's premium PCIe Gen 3.0 performance. Typically you'd hit a QLC write hole, however with 4TB and these eight NAND chips, and you're fully utilizing eight channels on the controller. That paired with a bit of a pSLC and DRAM buffer ultimately makes any write hole vanish. And we tested that up-to 110 GB continuously written and full hardcore speeds. Summed up, the MP400 really managed to make me think differently about QLC NAND. When volume goes up, you have more NAND cells available, which prolongs your endurance massively. When one can eliminate the QLC write hole, then there's little left to be worried about. Corsair back this up with a 5-year warranty on this series, 5-years or the TBW value reached, whichever one comes first. This series needs better prices though, at close to 600 EUR for 4TB, people will still purchase an HDD. I think once we reach 10 cents per GB, say 400 EUR for an SSD like this, that's where the industry will hit a sweet spot. But I am impressed, and I myself am a little shocked that I am impressed with a QLC based SSD rethinking all this. But yeah, that's Corsair for ya, always thinking outside the box. Noice!

The next generation of PCIe is here, but that doesn’t stop companies from bringing quality (and still higher-in-demand) Gen3 drives to the market. The MP400 is no exception, as Corsair has created a solid PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD that is a great choice for those looking to both upgrade and add to their current system.