Sabrent has a hot seller on its hands right now, and for good reason. The company’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 is cooked up with the same ingredients as the other Gen4 SSDs on the market so far. This means it’s packing Kioxia’s latest 3D TLC NAND and is powered by none other than Phison’s PS5016-E16 NVME SSD controller. And, while fairly expensive per GB, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 is priced it well under most high-end competitors, making it one of the best bang-for-your-SSD -buck Gen4 drives yet.
Just note that Sabrent’s warranty policy will only cover the Rocket NVMe 4.0 for up to 1 year if you do not register the SSD within 90 days of purchase. But, if you do, you will receive a longer 5-year warranty instead. That’s a small price to pay for a lower price on checkout.
While you have to manually register your Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 for its full warranty, you shouldn’t ever have to worry about the device’s endurance. With class-leading endurance ratings, our sample is covered to withstand up to 3,600TB of writes within the warranty period.
It comes in an M.2 2280 form factor and is available in three capacities: 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. In terms of price, the drive is hard to beat within its niche; it undercuts most other Gen4 SSDs out there. The 1TB and 2TB capacities are rated to hit sequential speeds of up to 5/4.4 GBps and up to 750,000 IOPS, and the smaller 500GB model’s write speed peaks at 2.5 GBps, along with lower peak random performance.
Software and Accessories
Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 comes supported by a few pieces of software. You get a free OEM copy of Acronis True Image. If you have any issues cloning due to the device’s sector size, there is Sabrent’s Sector Size Converter (SSC) which will allow you to change between 4K and 512e sector sizes for compatibility in that case. Additionally, Sabrent provides a Control Panel application, an SSD Toolbox which you can use to monitor the device and upgrade the firmware if an update is ever released.
A Closer Look
We have to give kudos to Sabrent on the black PCB and very attractive label design. The copper label looks nice and helps to aid in cooling, but on our 2TB sample, it may not be enough to prevent throttling under heavy loads. We will explore this more later on.
At the heart of the SSD is the Phison PS5016-E16 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.3 SSD controller. Built on a 28nm process node and featuring dual Cortex R5 CPU cores with dual co-processors (dubbed CoXProcessor 2.0), the overall design is similar to the Phison’s E12. The main difference between the two is not only the PCIe Gen4 PHY but additionally, it boasts Phison’s updated 4th Gen LDPC ECC engine. It utilizes a DRAM caching architecture to maintain strong performance under heavy workloads. Our 2TB sample features two 1GB SK Hynix chips for the task of FTL table mapping.
It also supports thermal monitoring, TRIM, and the Format NVMe command to securely wipe data. Plus, it has end-to-end data protection to keep data safe and power management support for better efficiency.
Also, the device’s Kioxia’s BiCS4 96L TLC, which means our Rocket NVMe 4.0 sample is utilizing thirty-two 512Gbit NAND dies spread out into the four NAND packages on the PCB. And the drive has 9% of the NAND set as over-provisioning space to optimize garbage collection.
Comparison Products
We put Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 up against quite a few high-end competitors. Intel’s Optane SSD 905P is by far the most expensive, but offers the lowest random latency of the bunch and doesn’t slow down due to garbage collection. We also threw in the Samsung 970 Pro and Samsung 970 EVO Plus and Adata’s XPG SX8200 Pro, one of our favorite SSDs for the price.
Additionally, we threw in Patriot’s Viper VPR100, which utilizes Phison’s E12 NVMe controller and the Viper VP4100, which has a Phison E16 controller powering it. For reference, we also added in the Intel SSD 660p, featuring cheap QLC NAND flash, as well as Crucial’s MX500 and WD’s Black hard drive, both SATA based.
Game Scene Loading – Final Fantasy XIV
The Final Fantasy XIV StormBlood and Stormbringer are two free real-world game benchmarks that easily and accurately compare game load times without the inaccuracy of using a stopwatch.
Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 is It is significantly faster than an HDD, but it falls near the end of the pack with some of the slowest times out of the SSD bunch. However, the difference is only a few moments and the E16 powered Rocket NVMe 4.0 is faster than the E12-powered Viper VPR100.
Transfer Rates – DiskBench
We use the DiskBench storage benchmarking tool to test file transfer performance with our own custom blocks of data. Our 50GB data set includes 31,227 files of various types, like pictures, PDFs, and videos. Our 100GB includes 22,579 files with 50GB of them being large movies. We copy the data sets to new folders and then follow-up with a reading test of a newly written 6.5GB zip file, 8GB test file, and a 15GB movie file.
When it comes to moving around moderate-sized folders, the Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 shows great performance. As well, it earns top ranks in the 100GB transfer and various large file read tests.
Trace Testing – PCMark 10 Storage Tests
PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and common tasks to measure the performance of storage devices. The quick benchmark is more relatable to those who use their PCs lightly, while the full benchmark relates more to power users. If you are using the device as a secondary drive, the data test will be of most relevance.
Trading blows with Viper’s VP4100, the other E16 contender and leading over any other NAND-based competition, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0’s strong performance carries over to PCMark 10’s latest storage tests. Only the Intel Optane 905P can best the Phison-based drives in application requested tasks.
Trace Testing – SPECworkstation 3
Like PCMark 10, SPECworkstation 3 is a trace-based benchmark, but it is designed to push the system harder by measuring workstation performance in professional applications.
Completing SPECworkstation 3’s storage benchmark in just under 23 minutes, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 does quite well again. It is second only to the Intel Optane 905P and outperforms the Samsung SSDs as well as the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro. If you are currently using mechanical storage or even a SATA SSD for your professional workflow, this test shows why it may be time for an upgrade.
Synthetics – ATTO
ATTO is a simple and free application that SSD vendors commonly use to assign sequential performance specifications to their products. It also gives us insight into how the device handles different file sizes.
In ATTO, we tested Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 at a QD of 1, representing most day to day file access at various block sizes. PCIe 3.0 SSDs tend to max out at about 3GBps in read/write, but with massive bandwidth available to it over the PCIe 4.0 bus, the Sabrent can hit higher highs. Reaching just under 5/4 GBps read/write, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 is capable of delivering over 15-18x the performance of the HDD.
Synthetic Testing – iometer
iometer is an advanced and highly configurable storage benchmarking tool that vendors often use to measure the performance of their devices.
Under sequential reads and writes, the Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 maxes out at about 5.0/4.3 GBps and peak random performance tops the competition at just about 600,000/550,000 IOPS read/write. At a QD of 1, Intel’s Optane 905P is in a league of its own when it comes to random performance and Adata’s XPG SX8200 Pro and Samsung’s 970 Pro are just a hair more responsive, and Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 3.0 is still very competitive.
Sustained Write Performance, Cache Recovery, & Temperature
Official write specifications are only part of the performance picture. Most SSD makers implement a write cache, which is a fast area of (usually) pseudo-SLC programmed flash that absorbs incoming data. Sustained write speeds can suffer tremendously once the workload spills outside of the cache and into the “native” TLC or QLC flash. We use iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure both the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated. We also monitor cache recovery via multiple idle rounds.
When possible, we also log the temperature of the drive via the S.M.A.R.T. data to see when (or if) thermal throttling kicks in and how it impacts performance. Bear in mind that results will vary based on the workload and ambient air temperature.
Like other Phison E16-powered NVMe SSDs, the Rocket NVMe 4.0 features a write cache that absorbs inbound data at a very high-speed. But once it fills, performance temporarily degrades. Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 wrote a bit less data than the Patriot Viper VP4100 we reviewed previously, reaching 669GB data written before its write performance tanked to about 540 MBps. Once you let it idle a bit, the cache will recover at a rate of about 16GB per 30 seconds.
Temperature-wise, even with the copper label, the 2TB model gets a bit hot under sustained writing. It can get into the 80-plus degrees Celsius range without enough airflow or motherboard heatsink and it will throttle. But, under most day to day use, temps will remain within the rated operating range.
Power Consumption
We use the Quarch HD Programmable Power Module to gain a deeper understanding of power characteristics. Idle power consumption is a very important aspect to consider, especially if you’re looking for a new drive for your laptop. Some SSDs can consume watts of power at idle while better-suited ones sip just milliwatts. Average workload power consumption and max consumption are two other aspects of power consumption, but performance-per-watt is more important. A drive might consume more power during any given workload, but accomplishing a task faster allows the drive to drop into an idle state faster, which ultimately saves power.
With this high-performance controller and 2TB of NAND flash to manage, our sample draws a lot of power. In testing, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 peaked at 7.38W but averaged a bit under the Samsung 970s. With a similar score as the Patriot Viper VP4100, the Rocket NVMe 4.0 places fourth place in our efficiency test. Overall, that makes it about 17 times more efficient than an HDD during file copying and over 90 times more efficient at idle, sipping just 66mW at its lowest idles state on our test bench.
Sabrent wasn’t a big name in SSDs until recent years. With the company’s SSDs packing Phison’s latest controllers, they score top regards by enthusiasts and gamers alike. Launched alongside the release of AMD’s Ryzen 3000 series, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 has been the company’s fastest drive yet. After months of sales, it has soared to the top as one of the best-value Gen4 SSDs available, with its low cost compared to the competition.
Offering up some incredible performance with the Phison E16 powering it, the Rocket NVMe 4.0 is a rocket for sure. Capable of delivering up to 5.0/4.4 GBps read/write in sequential transfers and peaking at almost 600,000/550,000 IOPS read/write, it is one of the fastest SSDs you can buy. It’s so fast, it even outperforms Samsung’s 970 EVO Plus and 970 Pro in various real-world and application testing, while being quite efficient.
Sabrent’s drive has the looks to match its performance, too. With a black PCB and well designed, sleek black and copper label, it’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing M.2 SSDs we have seen without a heatsink on top of it. And, with it being so slim, the Rocket NVMe 4.0 can easily fit underneath your motherboards built-in heatsink, if equipped. Also, with the amount of power the 2TB model can draw, we recommend doing so to keep temps tamed if you are going to be utilizing the drive for professional workflows.
With class-leading endurance ratings, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 isn’t going to wear out on you any time soon, either. Constantly moving around large video files or running various virtual machines, or even into benchmarking your hardware to death, the Rocket NVMe 4.0 will keep on going. Our main complaint against it is that you must register your SSD with Sabrent to receive the longer 5-year warranty, but that’s not exactly a huge hassle. Otherwise, Sabrent’s Rocket NVMe 4.0 is well worth your consideration if you are on the hunt for a new high-performance PCIe Gen4 SSD for a new build.
