With the same combination of Micron’s Phison E18 and 176-layer NAND controller, the Corsair MP600 Pro XT competes for top performance among consumer SSDs with PCIe 4.0 after the Seagate FireCuda 530. In a direct swap of bumps, both products have its own advantages and disadvantages despite the identical base.
XT means a memory upgrade
With the MP600, Corsair launched its first PCIe 4.0 SSD in 2019. The cheapest MP600 Core (test) and the fastest MP600 Pro (test) followed in 2021. In addition to the interface and a Phison controller, the MP600 family is characterized by a huge heat sink.
Corsair stays true to this line with the new MP600 Pro XT. As with the already very fast MP600 Pro, the Phison E18 is used. However, it is paired with Micron’s new 176-layer NAND (B47R). The Seagate FireCuda 530 (test) with the same combination recently showed that even higher performance can be expected as a result.
On paper, the performance difference compared to the MP600 Pro is initially very small: up to 7,100MB / s read means just 100MB / s more for the MP600 Pro XT. It even promises to write a little less with up to 6,800 MB / s. The differences in the manufacturer’s information on random read and write are greater: here, the MP600 Pro XT should achieve 1.0 million read IOPS and 1.2 million write. The MP600 Pro has a maximum of 660,000 / 800,000 IOPS.
Phison E18 accelerated with Microns 176-layer NAND
The Phison E18 8-channel controller made in 12nm is already used in various SSDs such as the Corsair MP600 Pro (test) or the Mushkin Gamma (test). Combined with Micron’s 176-layer NAND alias Micron B47R offers even more performance. The memory is also used in the Crucial P5 Plus (test), but in combination with a Micron controller.
The test pattern in detail
For the test, Corsair provided the MP600 Pro XT with 2 TB of storage space, which, thanks to the same storage capacity, allows a direct comparison with models such as the MP600 Pro, FireCuda 530 and Samsung 980 Pro (test). Like the FireCuda 530 pattern, the SSD is equipped on both sides with a total of eight NAND packets (IA7BG94AYA), which in turn combine 256GB of storage capacity. The two 1GB DRAM chips from SK Hynix, which are of the type DDR4-2666 (H5AN8G6NCJR-VKC), are also identical to the FireCuda 530.
New or old wakü refrigerator
Corsair has fundamentally changed the pre-assembled heatsink design compared to previous models. The inclined cooling fins run vertically and not parallel to the board. With the new cooler, the height increases to 19mm, which is another 4mm more than with the MP600 Pro and has to be taken into account for compatibility.
As with the MP600 Pro, a water cooling block (Hydro X) is also used for the MP600 Pro XT with surcharge (10 to 20 euros) Offered. However, this is only available for the models with 2 TB and 4 TB of storage volume and not for the version with 1 TB of storage.
Equipment and prices at a glance
Like almost all NVMe SSDs, the MP600 Pro XT is also offered with a five-year limited manufacturer’s warranty. However, the period ends prematurely if a certain amount of writing is exceeded (“Total Bytes Written”). At 700 TB, 1400 TB and 3000 TB, the MP600 Pro XT’s TBWs are on par with the MP600 Pro. The old MP600 offered much more and Seagate also mentions a higher TBW for the new FireCuda 530 with the same memory.
What Seagate lacks in the FireCuda 530 is the ability to encrypt data with 256-bit AES on the hardware. Corsair again offers this feature of the Phison E18 with the MP600 Pro XT.
The MP600 Pro XT is in the Corsair store currently available at prices around 220 euros (1 TB), 440 euros (2 TB) and 1,080 euros (4 TB).
In free trade, there is currently no availability. However, the prices will be lower in the competition between online stores. This is already evident with sales prices starting at around € 194 (1TB), € 387 (2TB), and € 998 (4TB). Prices per gigabyte are currently between 19 and 25 cents.
On the next page: Benchmarks, Cache Analysis, and Temperatures
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