Corsair MP600 Core Mini 2TB SSD Review: Big Storage Without The Footprint

Never before has it been so simple to pack so much storage into such a compact footprint. The emergence of incredibly handy mobile PC gaming systems has opened the retail market to small but capacious M.2 2230 SSDs, such as the Corsair MP600 Core Mini. Corsair has dazzled with the 1TB TLC-based MP600 Mini, but the Core Mini ups the ante to a whopping 2TB. It’s efficient, speedy, and the ideal update for your Steam Deck or Deck OLED to let you fit a few more games. All under the name Corsair.

This drive is also ideal for your Asus ROG Ally and will operate on a variety of other systems, either directly or via an extension. If you possess a Lenovo Legion Go and don’t want to deal with it, Corsair is releasing the M.2 2242 MP600 Micro. You can get 2TB of TLC with the WD Black SN770M instead, but for the Deck, you’ll be more than happy with “just” the Core Mini. It’s yet another QLC alternative that just does the job. It’s simply a matter of waiting for the proper price to strike.

The Core Mini is also available in 1TB capacities, however there is more competition at that size. In the mid- to long-term future, we anticipate greater competition at 2TB from both TLC and QLC drives. Technology advances. Furthermore, the Deck and Ally basic models come with 512GB or bigger internal drives, making an upgrade more difficult to justify. But if you truly need 2TB, this is a terrific option, and your old drive won’t go to waste with just a little work.

While the MP600 Core Mini brings nothing new to the table, it secures a reliable alternative much like the MP600 Mini did on its arrival. The MP600 Micro will secure the spot for the M.2 2242 form factor, and we’ll cover that interesting case in due time. Now onto the review.

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Specifications

The Corsair MP600 Core Mini comes in 1TB and 2TB capacities for $94.99 and $199.99, respectively. At one or both capacities, these current prices are greater than the competitors. Other QLC drives include the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2230, Addlink S91, Silicon Power UD90 2230, Teamgroup MP44S, and Inland QN446. However, the MP600 Core Mini is less costly than the TLC-based 2TB WD Black SN770M. However, at 1TB, you can find TLC for the same price or less, like Corsair’s MP600 Mini. Without a doubt, the MP600 Core Mini will soon be less than its present pricing.

The drive can achieve sequential read and write speeds of up to 5,000 / 3,800 MB/s, as well as random read and write speeds of up to 650K IOPS and more for random writes. Corsair warrants the drive for 250TB and 450TB of writes, at 1TB and 2TB, respectively, which is perfectly in line with the QLC competitors. In comparison, the SN770M, which uses TLC, achieves 600TB of writes per TB capacity. The QLC of the MP600 Core Mini, on the other hand, is internally rated for at least 1000 program/erase cycles. If you write enough to wear out the flash, the drive can also enter a failsafe read-only mode.

Software and Accessories

Corsair provides a downloaded SSD toolkit that includes all of the standard functions. This program displays system and drive information, as well as the SMART condition of your drive. Change the degree of overprovisioning, optimize the drive using TRIM, clone the disk, and securely erase the drive are all possible activities.

A Closer Look

The MP600 Core Mini is single-sided and meets the M.2 2230 form factor standards for optimal device compatibility. While 2TB appeared out of reach when the Steam Deck first debuted, things have changed. In reality, the Steam Deck has been upgraded with an OLED model that comes included with a 512GB or 1TB internal SSD. The Asus ROG Ally, the second major 2230 machine, also has a 512GB HDD. This increases the pressure on manufacturers to produce a 2TB drive in order for upgrades to be profitable, thus Corsair’s new model.

While the Deck is limited to PCIe 3.0 speeds, which isn’t a big deal, the ROG Ally and other comparable systems enable 4.0. Because newer drives are more efficient, there is no reason to use an older 2230 solution. But that’s not the only issue. Other devices, such as the Lenovo Legion Go, require an M.2 2242 SSD with an intermediate length. An M.2 extension on a 2230 drive, an earlier 2242 drive like the Sabrent Rocket 2242 as double-sided drives fit, or a native 2242 solution are all options. The final case has been difficult for retailers, but Corsair’s 2242 form factor MP600 Micro is on the way.

The 2TB MP600 Core Mini is equipped with an SSD controller, a single NAND flash chip, and no DRAM. This results in an extremely compact solution. Performance does not improve with 2TB over 1TB, and the rating for random read IOPS is actually worse. This also applies to the Addlink S91. This has little effect on drive performance, although it does show the declining returns with QLC, since 1TB 2230 TLC drives, such as the Sabrent Rocket 2230, can get by with sixteen dies.

The utilization of a single package (HDP) is addressed in both circumstances with simply an eight chip enable (CE) count. The flash controller can use a chip enable signal to swap between dies for active operations while the other die in the pair is otherwise engaged. The Phison E21T SSD controller can manage up to four CEs for each of its four flash channels, for a total of sixteen, although owing to the flash layout, this configuration is more typical with several packages. The entire sixteen could be used with 1TB or 2TB of Micron’s 176-Layer TLC, for example, for greater peak random read IOPS, but the MP600 Core Mini’s configuration makes more sense for its application.

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