PCIe 5.0 gaming SSDs have taken a significant price tumble with Corsair’s entry into the market.

Corsair has unveiled a pioneering PCIe 5.0 gaming solid-state drive that defies conventional pricing expectations, bringing high-performance storage to the masses without breaking the bank. While boasting speeds up to 10,000MB/s, this brand-new drive surprisingly offers a competitive price tag of just $144.99 for its 1TB model at MSRP, signaling that PCIe 5.0 drives are finally becoming more affordable.

The price difference is striking – a whopping $35 cheaper than its high-performance counterpart, the Corsair MP700 Professional, which boasts a coveted spot on our list of top-rated gaming SSDs. While the Corsair drive may seem more budget-friendly at first glance, you’ll actually sacrifice performance and reliability to get there.

Corsair MP700 Elite specs

Efficiency is the primary response here, but that’s still a relatively short drive. Corsair claims that the MP700 Elite’s sequential read speed reaches an impressive 10,000 MB/s, with sequential write speed peaking at 8,500 MB/s. Compared to its peers, the MP700 Professional boasts impressive write and read speeds of up to 12,000MB/s and 11,800MB/s respectively, a significant leap forward even surpassing the capabilities of PCIe 4.0 drives like the WD Black SN850X.

Apart from their lower cost, another major benefit of these slower-speed CPUs is that they operate at lower working temperatures. While the MP700 Professional offers options for a water block and an actively cooled heatsink paired with a fan, Corsair ensures the MP700 Elite will be equipped with a relatively understated heatsink.

Purchasing the heatsink-equipped model adds just $5 to the overall cost, allowing for immediate installation; alternatively, opt for the drive sans heatsink, relying instead on a PCIe 5.0-compatible heatsink integrated into your motherboard. To fully utilise the capabilities of this drive, a 4x PCIe 5.0 2280 M.2 slot is essential. Although it will still function on PCIe 4.0 motherboards, the maximum throughput you can expect is capped at 7,500 MB/s.

The new drive leverages high-density 3D triple-level cell (TLC) NAND flash memory, paired with a cutting-edge 7nm Phison PS5031-E31T controller. You also receive a five-year warranty with the drive, along with a guarantee from Corsair that the 1TB model has an endurance rating of 600 terabytes written (TBW), while the 2TB version is even more robust, boasting an impressive 1,200 TBW ranking.

Corsair promises the brand-new MP700 Elite will yield “rapid boot times” and “swift game loads,” yet our tests reveal that the primary benefits of PCIe 5.0 drives manifest themselves in substantial file transfers, yielding only modest gains in game load speeds.

The Corsair MP700 Elite’s pricing starts at $144.99 for the 1TB model without a heatsink, increasing to $254.99 for the 2TB capacity without a heat sink as well? While that’s an affordable price for a PCIe 5.0 drive, it’s always worth exploring for deals on alternative models. Here’s a quick deal: the 1TB Essential T705 is now discounted from $239.99 to an unbeatable $154.99 on Amazon, making it possibly the best buy price available. While priced at its MSRP, the Corsair MP700 Elite has the potential to establish a precedent for more affordable and rapid SSDs.

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