SSD by stefan @ 2023-07-11
Again, we have noted that the usage of TLC NAND is beneficial versus drives which use QLC; not only the MTBF value is noticeably higher, but the sustained write rates do hover at about 1GB/s after the pseudo-SLC cache has been completely filed up, which is good to consider when writing large quantities of data to the drive from a single session.
At first, we would like to thank Sabrent for offering a sample of their Rocket 4TB M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD for testing and reviewing.
“At Sabrent, we create products that help people realize the power of technology and make people’s lives easier and better.
We have a proven track record to consumers and distribution partners, who are part of the rapidly growing Sabrent family.
Deliver the latest technology at an affordable price.
offer a broad product selection, specializing in items that sell.
Maintain large inventory levels and provide same day shipping.
Attractive retail packaging.
Instant live customer service and technical support, including remote access sessions.
No-nonsense product exchanges.
Sabrent’s commitment is to offer the latest technology and the highest quality consumer electronic products at an affordable cost to everyone. Since its founding, Sabrent has consistently delivered to market a full line of computer peripherals and accessories that incorporate style, quality and the latest technologies available.”
Incredibly Fast
Fast and reliable solution for typical use such as web browsing, email, gaming, streaming, and more
Free Acronis
All Sabrent SSDs come with Sabrent Acronis True Image for Sabrent, a free and simple to use cloning software
Unmatched Reliability
Lower power consumption than a hard drive, but with far better performance; also faster than a SATA SSD
Perfect for You
Whatever your needs are, whatever files you need stored, we have you covered with 4TB of storage
Incredibly Fast Next-Gen SSD
Enter the next generation of data storage technology. The Rocket NVMe SSD delivers amazing speeds, unmatched reliability, and capacity options up to 4TB. Experience a faster, cooler, and quieter computer. Unleash your creativity and experience the future with the Sabrent Rocket NVMe SSD.
Industrial Quality
Based on TLC NAND flash memory. Each drive meets the specifications of the M.2 2280 form factor for maximum compatibility, including for enclosures.
Rocket NVMe - Overview
The Sabrent Rocket NVMe delivers all the advantages of solid state with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface, using a powerful controller and reliable TLC flash. It has long been one of our most popular drives, and for good reason! It's a great, affordable upgrade for just about any system.
SKU: SB-ROCKET-4TB
Performance: Up to 3,450/3,000 MB/s Seq. Read/Write
Endurance: Up to 6,820TB Total Bytes Written
Dimensions:
Length: 3.15 in.
Width: 0.86 in.
Height: 0.11 in.
Weight: 0.2 oz.
Package Content:
M.2 2280 PCIe 3.0 NVMe TLC SSD
User manual
Another interesting product from Sabrent has reached our test lab and to be more exact we are talking about the Rocket NVMe SSD, with the capacity of no less than 4TB! This is a NVMe 1.3 compliant product, with APST/ASPM/L1.2 power management support and was designed to function on a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface; in terms of sizing, we are happy to report that we are dealing with the standard 2280 format, compatible with most machines.
The manufacturer does report a 3450/3000 MB/s sequential read/write speed rating, while the product is shipped inside a very compact, sealed cardboard enclosure, highlighting the inclusion of the Acronis True Image Cloning software, downloadable from the Sabrent website:
Right from the frontal area of the packaging, we will get to see a photo of the drive, but also the total storage capacity:
On the side, we will be informed of the full product name, along with its code name:
The back side does reveal another shot of the product, which is accompanied by a web resource address and the serial number:
After removing the top packaging layer, we will note that the drive is held secure inside an aluminum enclosure, with the two halves held together by the middle sticker:
The drive is also accompanied by an Installation Guide:
On the top area of the Rocket NVMe 4TB drive, we will note a large sticker which does also double as a heatsink:
On the back side, we will find a DRAM IC for caching purposes, but also four NAND ICs, covered by a smaller, regular sticker; on it, Sabrent has placed the code name, a QR code but also the product serial number:
By removing the top sink, we will note the secondary set of DRAM IC/NAND combos, but also a Phison controller:
The DRAM cache IC is a Kingston D2516ECMDXGJD DDR3L with an operating frequency of 1866MHz; we have two of these chips on board (front/bottom), so the total capacity is 2GB:
The main controller is a Phison PS5012-E12S-32, which features a dual-CPU architecture with built-in microcontroller, manufactured on TSMC’s 28nm process technology, does support up to 8 channels with 32 chips enable and drives with capacities of up to 8TB:
The eight Kioxia BiCS 96-layer 512GB TLC NAND flash memory ICs make up for a total of 4TB of storage:
The test system did incorporate a AMD Ryzen 5 7600X 6-core CPU, a Sabrent Rocket 2x16GB DDR5 4800MHz C40 memory kit, a PowerColor Red Dragon Radeon RX 5700 video card but also a Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus NVMe 4.0 2TB SSD; all these were connected to the BIOSTAR X670E VALKYRIE AM5 motherboard. As a power supply we have chosen a Cooler Master 850W non-modular and the system was running the latest Windows 11 OS build as well.
The drive has arrived unformatted, but for testing purposes, we have formatted it NTFS:
With the help of AIDA64, we could extract more information regarding the drive:
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To continue the second stage of the tests, we do need to fill the drive over 50% and check out its behavior during this time. Before sending data to the drive, we noted an optimal IDLE temperature:
The transfer has started at optimal speeds:
We noted a sharp decrease in performance after we did write about 77GB to the drive:
The speed has stabilized at about 1GB/s and remained that way until the end:
The drive temperature has stabilized as well at about 68 degrees Celsius, which remained the maximum value we have seen after writing continuously to the drive no less than 2TB!
Filled SSD
Filled SSD
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Again, we have noted that the usage of TLC NAND is beneficial versus drives which use QLC; not only the MTBF value is noticeably higher, but the sustained write rates do hover at about 1GB/s after the pseudo-SLC cache has been completely filed up, which is good to consider when writing large quantities of data to the drive from a single session.
The Sabrent Rocket NVMe 3.0 drive does also excel in terms of available storage space, 4TB being enough for most applications, while the drive does not get very hot during long workloads, if the airflow is optimal, something we cannot say about the majority of PCIe 4.0 drives.
The HD Tune Pro write workload does show that the drive can sustain a high write rate, while the pseudo-SLC cache is not filled up:
The 4TB version of Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe PCIe 3.0 drive can be found online for about $300, at the Online Amazon shop.
We would like to thank again to Sabrent for making this review possible!