SSD manufacturer Sabrent has updated its Rocket 4 lineup with a pair of new single-sided PCIe 4.0 SSDs with up to 2TB of capacity. The new Rocket 4 SSDs, which will replace the existing Rocket 4 that's being phased out, will only have NAND chips on one side of the drive for improved compatibility with mobile devices. These will compete with the best SSDs, and perhaps the best PS5 SSDs.
The updated Rocket 4 features the Phison E27T controller, a newer solution that provides for low power designs. It lacks DRAM, as the name implies, but this shouldn't be a major issue. We've seen good results with the Corsair MP600 Elite that uses the same controller and BiCS6 NAND. The new drives come in 1TB and 2TB models, starting at $99.99 and $199,99, respectively.
Both Rocket 4 models feature sequential read speeds of up to 7,400 MB/s and random read speeds of up to 1,000,000 IOPS. However, the 2TB is slightly faster in write performance, featuring up to 6,400MB/s in sequential write performance and 950,000 IOPS in random write speeds. The 1TB flavor is rated at up to 6,100MB/s in sequential writes, and 850,000 IOPS in random write speeds. Endurance is 600 TBW per 1TB capacity, so 600 TBW and 1,200 TBW for the two models.
Initial results for the new Sabrent Rocket 4 are promising, and the drive should be competitive with the best DRAM-less drives that we've testing, including the Silicon Power US75. Based on what we saw with the Corsair MP600 Elite, we expect the new Sabrent Rocket 4 will be competitive with other fast PCIe 4.0 drives like the WD Black SN850X, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G, and Samsung 990 Pro — even without DRAM caching.
Sabrent targets its new Rocket 4 SSDs toward mobile devices that cannot fit chunky two-sided SSDs. The slimmer dimensions of the single-sided design enable the drive to fit in any M.2 slot that supports its 2280 form factor. It's also more advantageous from a thermal perspective. All the chips are on the top side of the SSD, which is more accessible to cold air running over the top of the drive and can be cooled directly by a heatsink, like those that come with most motherboards.
We should have samples for the updated Sabrent Rocket 4 in the near future, at which time we'll be able to post a full review. Street prices on SSDs are heading north, and while the initial launch pricing looks a bit high, in the next month or two it may end up being typical for 2TB SSDs to cost closer to $200 again. The new Sabrent drives are now available on Amazon, where they're conveniently called "Rocket 4 DRAM-Less" to differentiate them from the prior Rocket 4 variants.
