The release of Ryzen Zen 2 processors and X570 chipset motherboards on July the 7th also marks the release of the new PCIe 4.0 standard – the first chipset to utilise this next generation interface.
Only motherboards with the X570 chipset so far will feature the PCIe 4.0 interface and poses a wide range of benefits on its predecessor, PCIe 3.0.
PCIe 4.0 vs 3.0: Benefits of upgrading
A summary of the benefits of PCIe 4.0 vs 3.0 is listed below, though of course, the usefulness of PCIe 4.0 will depend on the NVMe drive’s adoption of this new standard and properly used by consumers.
- Double the bandwidth of NVMe slots, 4x the amount of lanes allowing for up to 4.88GB/s of bandwidth – 50% faster than the speed of the fastest NVMe SSDs on the market today
Today, for upcoming Zen 2 builders out there who want to build a X570, Zen 2 system with PCIe 4.0, I will cover the best PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs currently announced, including the cheapest and best value PCIe 4.0 SSDs for your upcoming Zen 2 build.
Before I cover my personal recommendations and what I think will be the best PCIe 4.0 SSDs for Ryzen 3000, I will overview all currently announced NVMe PCie 4.0 SSDs in 2019 below:
Best PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs – Our Recommmendations
| PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD | Design | Capacity | Sequential Read | Sequential Write | Price | Price/Gigabyte | Heat spreader | Controller | Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 SSD 1TB (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB) |  | 1TB | 5 GB/s | 4.4 GB/s | $230 | $0.23 | No | Phison PS5016-E16 | BiCS4 96L TLC NAND |
| Corsair MP600 PCIe 4 NVMe SSD 1TB (CSSD-F1000GBMP600) |  | 1TB | 4.25 GB/s | 4.95 GB/s | $250 | $0.25 | Yes (Aluminum) | Phison PS5016-E16 | 3D TLC NAND |
| Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 1TB (GP-ASM2NE6100TTTD) |  | 1TB | 5 GB/s | 4.4 GB/s | $260 | $0.26 | Yes (Copper) | Phison PS5016-E16 | 3D TLC NAND |
| Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 SSD 2TB (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-2TB) |  | 2TB | 5 GB/s | 4.4 GB/s | $430 | $0.21 | No | Phison PS5016-E16 | BiCS4 96L TLC NAND |
| Corsair MP600 PCIe 4 NVMe SSD 2TB (CSSD-F2000GBMP600) |  | 2TB | 4.25 GB/s | 4.95 GB/s | $450 | $0.225 | Yes (Aluminum) | Phison PS5016-E16 | 3D TLC NAND |
| Gigabyte AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD 2TB (GP-ASM2NE6200TTTD) |  | 2TB | 5 GB/s | 4.4 GB/s | $480 | $0.24 | Yes (Copper) | Phison PS5016-E16 | 3D TLC NAND |
(Horizontal scrolling is enabled for this chart, best viewed on a full-screen desktop to view all data columns)
1. AORUS NVMe Gen4 SSD
The first NVMe SSD offering that utilises the PCIe 4.0 interface and has been claimed to be extremely fast is Gigabyte’s AORUS PCIe 4.0 SSD – offered in both 1TB and 2TB variants. Built with Toshiba’s NAND flash memory and Phison E16 controller, this PCIe 4.0 SSD for Ryzen 3000 processors has sequential read speeds of up to 5 GB/s and sequential writing speeds of 4.4 GB/s, and enclosed in a copper heat spreader for both aesthetic and functional purposes (apparently reducing temperatures by 14%) – and also suggesting this PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD gets pretty hot hitting those top speeds. This is over twice the performance of current NVMe drives on the market today, such as the Samsung 970 EVO.
This PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD certainly isn’t cheap, with the 1TB variant costing $260 and the larger 2TB model costing $480. Both models come with a 5-year warranty and are expected to release on July 26th.
This will certainly be one of the best PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs for Ryzen 3000 Builds utilising the X570 chipset.
2. Corsair MP600 Gen4 PCIe
Along with the AORUS PCIe 4.0 SSD offering, Corsairs MP600 is one of the first PCIe 4.0 SSDs to be announced supporting the new Ryzen Zen 2 and X570 chipset – making full use of the blistering fast speeds PCIe 4.0 has to offer over PCIe 3.0. The Corsair MP600 NVMe SSD has a read speed of 4.95 GB/s which is pretty extraordinary, with write speeds of up to 4.25 GB/s – absolutely annihilating any NVMe SSD currently on sale today in 2019 that is build on the PCIe 3.0 interface.
This new PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD has a pretty chunky heatsink built into the design, but should fit into a regular M.2 slot – and we expect this SSD to get pretty hot judging by the thermal performance-orientated design.
Corsairs MP600 PCie 4.0 NVMe SSD is currently available for pre-order shipping in mid-July, with the 1TB model available for approximately $250 and the larger 2TB SKU model retailing at a very pricy $450.
3. Sabrent ROCKET PCIe 4.0 SSD
Sabrent is the third manufacturer offering PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs for Ryzen 3000 builds, and although it isn’t as big as the likes of Corsair or Gigabyte, their Sabrent ROCKET (SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB/2TB) offers the best value and price per gigabyte amongst all the NVMe offerings – whilst retaining the blisteringly-fast performance of PCIe 4.0. Both the 1TB and 2TB model have rated sequential read and write speeds of 5 GB/s and 4.4 GB/s respectively.
This PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD doesn’t feature integrated heatsinks like the other two SSDs from corsair and Gigabyte, but it is built on the same Phison E16 SSD controller, and Toshiba NAND flash memory.
The 1TB variant of the Sabrent ROCKET comes in at $230 which works out at about $0.23/GB, whilst the 2TB variant comes in at $430 – at approx $0.21.
