Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Good real-world efficiency
- Decently reasonably priced
- 2230 type issue for Steam Deck and ROG Ally
Cons
- Only 100MBps writes when secondary cache runs out
- Very low TBW score
Our Verdict
The Corsair MP600 Core Mini is a worthy improve in your Steam Deck or ROG Ally, although it faces stiff competitors from WD’s SN770M as our prime suggestion.
Price When Reviewed
1TB: $94.99 I 2TB: $199.99
Best Prices Today: Corsair MP600 Mini Core SSD
$94.99
$99.99
Because of the rising recognition of handheld gaming gadgets such because the Steam Deck, which solely settle for smaller 2230 type issue (22mm broad, 30mm lengthy) SSDs, we’re seeing extra of those tiny wonders from distributors as of late.
Corsair’s MP600 Core Mini is one such, and it proved a really succesful performer below practically all circumstances.
Further studying: See our roundup of the best PCIe 4.0 SSDs to find out about competing merchandise.
What are the Corsair MP600 Core Mini’s options?
As famous, and as you would possibly guess from the identify, the MP600 Core Mini is a 2230 NVMe SSD. It’s a PCIe 4.0 x4 (4 lane) drive that employs a Phison PS5021-E21 and stacked QLC (Quad-Level Cell/4-bit) NAND. Corsair didn’t get again to us on the layers, however we’re assuming there are 176 as with most QLC drives.
The MP600 Core Mini is a number reminiscence buffer (HMB) design that eschews DRAM for main cache, as a substitute relying in your system’s primary reminiscence for these duties. Secondary caching is dynamic SLC (Single-Level Cell), the place the QLC is written like the previous, utilizing solely a single on/off voltage degree.
Writing at QLC’s native 16 voltage ranges requires in depth error-checking to verify the correct degree was certainly obtained and slows writes fairly a bit. See the “How fast” part under.
Corsair backs the MP600 Core Mini with a five-year guarantee, which is mitigated by a moderately parsimonious score of 250TBW (terabytes which may be written over the lifetime of the drive) per terabyte of capability.
That mentioned, different QLC designs such because the Sabrent Rocket Q4 and the 2280 Crucial P3 carry even stingier rankings, 225TBW and 220TBW per terabyte, respectively. Longevity doesn’t appear to be a energy of this explicit sort of NAND.
The solely 2230 SSD we’ve examined that makes use of 3-bit, TLC is the WD SN770M, which you’ll see together with the Rocket This fall within the charts under. It carries a much more reassuring 600TBW score.
I ought to be aware that 250 terabytes is definitely numerous knowledge — greater than most customers will write in 5 years. Still, it’s not an confidence-inspiring quantity.
How a lot does the Corsair MP600 Core Mini value?
At the time of this writing, the 2TB MP600 Core Mini we examined was out there on Amazon for $200 and the 1TB model for $95. You’re in fact paying a premium for the shape issue, i.e., a drive that may slot in your Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally. Miniaturization premium or not, the competing WD SN770M was fairly a bit cheaper on the time of this writing.
How quick is the Corsair MP600 Core Mini?
If you don’t throw absurd quantities of knowledge at it, as we do in testing, the MP600 Core Mini affords greater than acceptable efficiency. As you may see from the checks under, it’s on par for a QLC/HMB design, and excellent at real-world duties — to some extent. A degree I’ll describe on the finish of this part.
The MP600 Core Mini matched the equally designed Sabrent Rocket 4 in CrystalDiskMark 8’s sequential checks, however didn’t come near the SN770M with its TLC NAND.
Things had been a bit sunnier for the Corsair design in CrystalDiskMark 8’s 4K checks, with the moderately inconsistent SN770M faring considerably poorly within the single-queue write check. Again, the MP600 Core Mini was in a statistical near-dead warmth with the Rocket 4.
The MP600 Core Mini lastly matched the WD SN770M in our 48GB transfers. This efficiency can also be on par with many 2280, DRAM-caching, and even PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs. In different phrases, it’s an excellent consequence — even within the grand scheme.
Sweet triumph lastly befell the MP600 Core Mini’s within the 450GB write. That’s quite a lot of knowledge — nevertheless, learn on, because the drive didn’t maintain this pace for for much longer.
No sooner had our drive-filling 1.35TB write (with 450GB already written) commenced, than the MP600 Core Mini’s write pace dropped spectacularly to round 100MBps to 120MBps. That’s sluggish even for a contemporary laborious drive, however it’s really regular for such a QLC written natively. You can see the phenomenon under.
Though it’s extraordinarily, and I imply extraordinarily, unlikely that you just’ll expertise such a situation with the MP600 Core Mini in a gaming system, it would make for a protracted afternoon on a PC. I say go 2280/TLC in any system that enables it.
Should you purchase the Corsair MP600 Core Mini?
To reply that query: Yes, in the event you’re intent is upping the storage capability of your Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, or different small system. But relying on worth. At the time of this writing, the better-performing, Best Buy-only SN770M is the cheaper deal. We do, nevertheless, anticipate the value of the MP600 Core Mini to drop considerably briefly order. It must, to compete.
How we check
Internal drive checks presently make the most of Windows 11, 64-bit operating on an X790 (PCIe 4.0/5.0) motherboard/i5-12400 CPU combo with two Kingston Fury 32GB DDR5 4800MHz modules (64GB of reminiscence complete). Both 20Gbps USB and Thunderbolt 4 are built-in to the again panel and Intel CPU/GPU graphics are used. The 48GB switch checks make the most of an ImDisk RAM disk taking on 58GB of the 64GB of complete reminiscence. The 450GB file is transferred from a 2TB Samsung 990 Pro which additionally runs the OS.
Each check is carried out on a newly formatted and TRIM’d drive so the outcomes are optimum. Note that in regular use, as a drive fills up, efficiency might lower as a result of much less NAND for secondary caching, in addition to different elements. This is much less of an element with the present crop of SSDs with their far sooner NAND.
Caveat: The efficiency numbers proven apply solely to the drive we had been shipped and to the capability examined. SSD efficiency can and can range by capability as a result of extra or fewer chips to shotgun reads/writes throughout and the quantity of NAND out there for secondary caching. Vendors additionally sometimes swap elements. If you ever discover a big discrepancy between the efficiency you expertise and that which we report, by all means, tell us.