Introduction
MSI Spatium M480 PRO SSD Review (NVMe PCIe Gen 4.0)
Spatium M480 Pro PCIe 4.0 SSD Series with Enhanced Performance
MSI recently launched the Pro version of its Spatium M480 SSD, delivering a slight performance boost. The Spatium M480 Pro PCIe 4.0 SSD series offers three variants: with a heatsink, without a heatsink, and with a 'low profile' heatsink, specifically designed to fit in the Playstation 5 console. When it comes to specifications, the m.2 SSDs across all variants are identical. They boast a capacity of 1, 2, or 4 TB, a read speed of 7,400 MB/s, a write speed of 7,000 MB/s (6,000 MB/s for the 1 TB model), and support for up to 1 million random reads and writes per second (IOPS).
The SPATIUM M480 PRO series offers faster random read/write speeds, resulting in a highly responsive experience with minimal latency during gameplay and productivity tasks, even under heavy workloads. These improvements benefit professionals, content creators, and gamers alike. The series incorporates performance-enhancing technologies such as a DRAM cache buffer and an SLC cache. With its cutting-edge capabilities, the SPATIUM M480 PRO sets new benchmarks in storage performance for demanding content creators and gamers. Compliance with PCIe Gen 4 and NVMe 1.4 standards unleashes the latest advancements in extreme transfer speeds, reaching up to 7400 MB/sec sequential read and 7000 MB/sec sequential write speeds. The M480 PRO will be available in three storage capacities: 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB. These SSDs stand as the fastest options within the SPATIUM lineup. All models in the SPATIUM M480 PRO series provide comprehensive data error correction features, including LPDC ECC and E2E Data Protection. These features contribute to excellent durability and longevity, ensuring a high-rated TBW (Terabytes Written) for each SSD. Furthermore, MSI backs the SPATIUM M480 PRO series with a limited 5-year warranty, offering peace of mind to users.
The tested product today is available for 369 USD/EUR (street pricing) for the 2TB model and 179 USD/EUR for the 1TB variant (MSRP not street price). If you are unable to tuck away and cool the storage unit within your motherboard, you can purchase SKUs with an additional heatsink. This is a TLC-written NVMe SSD outfitted with Phison's fastest Phison E18 controller, capable of some reaping benefits inside your storage array. PCIe Gen 4.0 for those that want top-notch high-performance at a fair price, this PCIe Gen 4 x4 M2 unit might be what you are after. The Spatium M480 is available in multiple volumes and sizes.
MSI is pleading numbers that run into the 7400 MB/s, Write Speeds, and up to 7000 MB/s for the 2 TB M2 SSD. They offer a proper 5 years warranty. The TBW (TeraBytes Written—the total amount of data that a company is willing to guarantee can be written to the drive) rated 700 TBW for the 1 TB model and a proper 1400 TBW for the tested 2 TB model.
The specs are awesome but will this unit deliver what it claims? SSD is based on this year's trendy 8-channel Phison's PS5018-E18 controller and, of course, has been fitted with TLC written NAND. The performance will vary slightly depending on volume size; the more significant, the faster, though. The SSD is a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe 1.4) M.2 2280 form factor SSD. The performance numbers of a proper SATA3 SSD offers these days are simply excellent, but with the more niche NVMe SSDs you can multiply performance 14x, and that offers serious numbers. The unit follows a smaller M.2 2280 form factor (8cm), so it will fit on most ATX motherboards capable of M.2 just fine. Anyway, wanna see how fast it really is? Will this be a proper Samsung 980 PRO competitor (heck yes). Next page and onwards into the review then.
