MP600 ELITE vs MP600 GS

SSDs are improving all the time. They’re getting faster, more efficient, and offer more features too, meaning that a new SSD is generally the way to go if you’re in the market for a new slither of top-notch storage. This isn’t just limited to the very latest PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs either, as is succinctly demonstrated by the release of the CORSAIR MP600 ELITE PCIe 4.0 lineup.

The question is, how does the MP600 ELITE compare to what has gone before? If you’re in the market for a new drive, is this the one you should be picking over what has gone before? To find out we’ve set up a fight between this and a previous mainstream PCIe 4.0 offering in the shape of the CORSAIR MP600 GS.

Any SSD is ultimately defined by its performance. Afterall, getting data on and off your drive as quickly as possible is the whole point of moving to SSDs in the first place. Who has time to wait for a hard drive to spin up in 2024? The good news is that the MP600 ELITE family of SSDs represents a significant uptick on the performance front when compared to some of our existing drives, such as the MP600 GS.

The MP600 GS can be considered a first-generation PCIe 4.0 drive. It tops out at 4,800MB/s on the sequential reads and up to 4,500MB/s for writes, while the new MP600 ELITE can hit far more impressive peak throughputs of 7,000MB/s for the reads and up to 6,500MB/s for the writes. In real terms this means that transferring and loading large files, such as games, is going to be much quicker on the MP600 ELITE.

There’s a notable improvement in the random performance as well, with the MP600 GS offering up to 530K IOPS for Random Read performance compared to the 1,000K IOPS of the MP600 ELITE. Yes, almost double. In case you’re wondering, the writes are comparable. This boost to the random read performance equates to handling smaller files better, which is important when it comes to your operating systems. So again, you’re looking at a notable uplift to performance.

You can thank the unrelenting march of progress for this performance improvement, with newer NAND flash memory combining one of the latest controllers to make for a potent one two punch.

The MP600 GS is only available without a heatsink. Which is fine for the most systems, where the passive cooling found in your laptop or motherboard will keep it cool. The same is true of the MP600 ELITE as well, which has an average power consumption of 5.7W, which is only slightly more than the MP600 GS at 5.3W.

The MP600 ELITE does have more options on the cooling front though, to help it fit in systems and usage cases that are a bit more specialised or demanding. If you’re going for a tiny Mini ITX build for instance, then the MP600 ELITE with Heatspreader is wiser bet, as the passive cooler will make the most of the airflow in your system. The MP600 ELITE for PS5 meanwhile, is equipped with an effective heatsink, and there is no included cooler in the PS5.

Performance and cooling aside, the rest of the specifications for the MP600 ELITE and MP600 GS are close or identical. You’re looking at the same 1200TBW endurance, support for AES 256-bit encryption, SSD Smart support, and all backed up by the great 5-year warranty that gives you peace of mind.

The takeaway is that if you’re in the market for a new SSD right now, then the MP600 ELITE is the far more tempting option. It’s faster, more up to date, and it offers more options when it comes to the cooler too. You can find out more about the MP600 ELITE lineup with our Everything You Need to Know.