The best NVMe SSDs of today are fast, but upcoming models that can leverage the PCI Express 4.0 bus kick things up a notch, with sequential read speeds rated at around 5,000MB/s. What about cost? Preorder pricing for Corsair's Force Series MP600 SSDs offers some clarity on the subject.
Over on Amazon, Corsair's MP600 is now listed at $249.99 for the 1TB model and $449.99 for the 2TB model. Pricing and capacity eluded Corsair's MP600 unveiling last month, but now we know.
Compared to our roundup of the best SSDs for gaming, Corsair's new drives are competitively priced with today's fastest SSDs. You're looking at around $0.25 per gigabyte for the 1TB model and $0.22 per gigabyte for the more capacious 2TB model.
Here's how those prices stack up to some of the higher performing, current-generation alternatives:
- Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB—$217.99, Amazon
- Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2TB—$488.89, Amazon
- WD Black SN750 1TB—$215.99, Amazon
- WD Black SN750 2GB—$529.99, B&H Photo
Some of those are sale prices, such as the 1TB Samsung 970 Evo Plus—its MSRP is $249.99, same as Corsair's upcoming MP600.
There are far cheaper alternatives, of course, particularly in the realm of SATA SSDs where a 1TB model can be under for under $100 these days. However, Corsair's pricing on its newfangled PCIe 4.0 SSD line is surprisingly in line with today's best performing NVMe SSD models.
Not that you need a PCIe 4.0 SSD for gaming. In Corsair's case, the MP600 is rated to deliver up to 4,950MB/s of sequential read performance. Samsung rates its 970 Evo Plus at 3,500MB/s for the 1TB model, and the WD Black SN750 is not far behind at 3,470MB/s.
The fastest SATA models typically top out at around 550-580MB/s. The added speed of an NVMe SSD, whether it's a PCIe 3.0 model or an upcoming PCIe 4.0 model, is largely wasted for gaming. For some tasks, however, there is a tangible benefit to having faster file transfers (moving around large video files, for example).
One thing to keep mind is that you'll need a PCIe 4.0 motherboard to fully leverage a next-gen SSD, otherwise you'll never hit those rated ~5,000MB/s speeds. As of right now, that means planning a build around a third-generation Ryzen processor and X570 motherboard. Both of those will be available next month.
