Corsair MP700 Elite Review: First Phison E31T Gen5 SSD Tested
HDTune v5.75 Benchmarks
HD Tune Pro had the Corsair MP700 Elite and Phison E31T finishing right on top of each other, trading victories in the sequential read and write tests. The Corsair MP700 Elite trailing the pack in terms of read performance, but outpaced Samsung's current flagship SSD 990 Pro and the reference E31T in the write test. Write latency was also competitive with the Corsair MP700 Elite, through read latency was ever so slightly higher than the higher-end drives.
CrystalDiskMark x64 Benchmarks
CrystalDiskMark is a synthetic benchmark that tests both sequential and random small and mid-sized file transfers using incompressible data. It provides a quick look at best and worst case scenarios with regard to SSD performance, best case being larger sequential transfers and worse case being small, random transfers.
CDM's sequential tests had the Corsair MP700 Elite performing relatively well, and exceeding its rated specifications. The drive was once again able to outrun all of the PCIe Gen 4-based offerings, and trailed only the higher-end Phison-based drives.
The Corsair MP700 Elite's performance in CrystalDiskMark's random transfer tests were mixed. At the higher queue depth, the Corsair MP700 Elite trailed all but the reference E31T. At QD1, however, which we'd consider the much more important test, the Corsair MP700 Elite offered highly competitive reads and writes.
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker Game Level Load Times
We also tested game level load times using the Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker benchmark. This tool loads an array of different game levels during its graphics benchmark and outputs the average result when complete.
Level load times in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker were excellent on the Corsair MP700 Elite. In this test, the Corsair MP700 Elite outran all of the PCIe Gen 4 drives and finished within striking distance of the higher-end Phison E26-based MSI Spatium M570 Pro.
UL's 3DMark Gaming Storage Benchmark
UL recently added a gaming-centric storage benchmark to 3DMark that leverages trace-based tests of actual PC games and gaming-related activities (such as streaming with OBS) to measure real-world gaming performance in a variety of scenarios. The tests include things like loading Battlefield V, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Overwatch from the initial launch to the main menu, recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS while playing Overwatch, installing The Outer Worlds and saving game progress. And finally, copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive from one drive to another.
The Corsair MP700 Elite's latency performance was good, trading with the PCIe Gen 4 drives once again, and trailing only the top-end drives with DRAM. In terms of its average latency and overall scores, the Corsair MP700 Elite is right in the mix with some of the fastest PCIe Gen 4 drives on the market, which is pretty impressive considering it's a mainstream, DRAM-less drive targeting a wider range of lower-power applications.
UL's PCMark 10 System Drive Storage Test
We like PCMark 10's new quick storage benchmark module for its real-world application measurement approach to testing. PCMark offers a trace-based measurement of system response times and bandwidth under various scripted workloads of traditional client / desktop system use cases.
In PCMark's trace-based tests, we once again see the Corsair MP700 Elite land about in the middle of the pack. The Samsung SSD 990 Pro is the only Gen 4 drive to pull ahead, but Corsair's drive beat out the reference E31T.
Corsair MP700 Elite: The Verdict
As we mentioned when we covered the reference platform, the Phison E31T is not a replacement for the company’s higher-end E26 PCIe Gen 5 SSD controller. The E26 and E31T will coexist in Phison’s line-up, with the former targeting high-performance, enthusiast applications, and the latter more mainstream platforms. The same will hold true for many of Phison's partners, like Corsair. The MP700 Elite will co-exist in Corsair's line-up alongside higher and lower-end drives. The Corsair MP700 Elite, however, strikes a great balance in our opinion.
The Corsair MP700 Elite will be available in four flavors -- 1TB and 2TB capacities, with and without a heatsink, starting today. The MSRPs for the drives range from $149 (1TB w/o heatsink) on up to $259 (2TB w/ heatsink). The heatsink option adds $10 to the price at both capacities. At those prices, the Corsair MP700 Elite's cost per GB works out to over $0.12, which is slightly lower than flagship Phison E26 based drives, but significantly higher than virtually all Gen 4 drives. While we really like the balanced power / performance of the E31T and Corsair MP700 Elite, and its lower power operation will make it suitable for more devices and form factors, pricing at this time is just too close to higher-end drives in our opinion. For example, the Crucial T705, which is one of the fastest consumer SSDs we've ever tested, is only $15 - $20 more at the moment. If you've got a desktop system that can handle the power and cooling requirements of a drive like the T705, it makes sense to go for it. Of course, the T705 isn't suitable for small form factor or notebook systems, which is where drives based on the Phison E31T controller, like the Corsair MP700 Elite, come in. We suspect street pricing for the Corsair MP700 Elite will drift southward as availability ramps and other E31T-based drives hit the market, though. In fact, the Corsair MP700 Elite is already for sale on Amazon just below its MSRP.
In any case, if you're looking for a fast PCIe Gen 5 SSD for virtually any type of system, the Corsair MP700 Elite is a great choice. The drive performs well, is backed by a solid warranty, and is somewhat more affordable than higher-end E26 based drives.
