Memory specialist Patriot has launched a new PCIe 5.0 SSD to compete with the best SSDs on the market. The Patriot Viper PV573 is now official, but we’ve seen it before. We enjoyed a hands-on with the device during CES 2024 back in January.
Though several months have passed, the Viper PV573's attractions remain the same: it will be available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, includes a chunky blower cooler for comfortable thermals under load, and delivers up to 14,000 MB/s sequential reads.
With the product ready for prime time, let’s recall the specs as a table and compare it with Patriot’s current premium gaming offering, the Viper PV553.
| Patriot | Viper PV573 | Viper PV553 |
|---|---|---|
| Capacities | 1, 2, and 4TB | 1, 2, and 4TB |
| NAND | Micron B58R 3D TLC 232 Layer | Micron B58R 3D TLC 232 Layer |
| Controller | Phison E26 | Phison E26 |
| Read/write perf (MB/s) | 14,000 / 12,000 | 12,400 / 11,800 |
| Cooling | Blower style fan and shroud | Blower style fan and shroud |
Interestingly, from the data that we have at hand, the new Viper PV573 and established Viper PV553 PCIe Gen5 M.2 SSD designs have identical vital specs but deliver different performance levels. This suggests some hardware tweaks haven’t made it to the product spec sheets, new firmware, better cooling, or a combination of factors to achieve the modest headlining performance bump and new product number. Other brands have managed to get 14,000 MB/s out of the Micron 232 layer NAND and Phison E26 combo, so it isn’t that surprising to see Patriot bump the speeds and present the Viper PV573 as a revised product.
A feature of the Patriot Viper PV573 that we don’t see in spec sheets for the PV553 is that its active fan spins at up to 8,000 RPM. This 16.5mm high thermal conductivity aluminum alloy heatsink and heat flow design delivers a 40% improvement in cooling. However, Patriot doesn’t say what is being compared here, and the PV553 claimed the same 40% reduction. At CES, we saw Patriot assert that the new Viper PV573 could maintain temperatures below 45 degrees Celsius under stress – a more helpful metric for performance SSD shoppers.
If you are interested in the new Viper PV573 SSD, consider its size and connection requirements. The device’s 16.5mm Z-height may preclude some install locations, even though it is described as “low profile.” Buyers will also want to make sure they can provide a SATA and four-pin Molex plug to power the device’s cooling system. There is no RGB lighting.
Expect the Patriot Viper PV573 SSD to become available at retail soon. The firm hasn’t hinted at pricing, but these SSDs should be available at a similar cost per TB as rival PCIe 5.0 devices.
