Shortly after the imminent market launch of Samsung’s new flagship SSD 980 Pro, the competition is already following suit. So the Rocket 4 Plus from the house Sabrent is to be able to write among other things faster than the coming top model from Korea.
Samsung already defeated – on paper at least
Both the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus and the Samsung 980 Pro rely on PCIe 4.0, although Samsung just made the headlines with its soon to be 980 Pro. After all, the Koreans’ new SSD is supposed to be able to achieve remarkable speeds. The company has now officially confirmed what was initially only conjectured. The 980 Pro should be able to read up to 7,000 MB/s and write up to 5,000 MB/s. This seemed to defeat the competition – at least for now. The astonishment in the consumer SSD sector did not last long. Now the manufacturer Sabrent has already countered Samsung’s astonishing figures. The Rocket 4 Plus should be on par with the 980 Pro in terms of reading speed. When writing, however, it probably surpasses the 980 Pro by far with 6,850 MB/s.
Sabrent also relies on TLC
On closer inspection, the two SSDs in M.2 format look very similar. The most significant similarity is probably that both rely on PCIe 4.0 x4. Furthermore, both use a TLC NAND, which offers three bits per memory cell. In order to achieve high speeds, both probably rely on an SLC cache. However, a crucial difference between the two SSDs are the available sizes. While Samsung’s 980 Pro is supposed to have only 256 GB, 512 GB or 1 TB, Sabrent offers larger versions. The Rocket 4 Plus is supposed to start at 500 GB and also offer two versions with 1 TB and 2 TB of storage respectively.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus with E18 controller
Sabrent uses the E18 controller from Phison. Thus the Rocket 4 Plus joins an elite circle of previously available SSDs. Many of these types are not yet available. Phison’s controller caused quite a stir when it was announced a year ago. After all, the powerful controller is supposed to be able to handle speeds of up to 7,000 MB/s and, in addition, enable one million IOPS. Up to now, SSDs with PCIe 4.0 have generally been based on the somewhat older Phison E16. However, with a maximum speed of 5,000 MB/s and 750,000 IOPS, it is much weaker. If you take a look at the product page of the upcoming SSD from Sabrent, you will get more information. So the Rocket 4 Plus probably relies on an aluminum based heatsink. In combination to heat tubes made of copper the SSD should be able to be cooled effectively with appropriate achievement. In contrast, Samsung does not provide its upcoming 980 Pro with a cooler ex works.
Release unknown
Finally, both SSDs have a lot in common. So far, we do not know when or at what price the two flash memories will be available on the market. But already now the competition between the Samsung 980 Pro and the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is very exciting.
