Everything You Need to Know About the CORSAIR MP700 PRO SE

The MP700 PRO SE is the latest PCIe 5.0 SSD to charge out of the CORSAIR stables, setting new performance highs as it races across the storage landscape, and quickly becoming the drive you want in your PC if you want the best of the best. As the name suggests, this is a Special Edition take on the MP700 PRO, featuring the same core technologies but this time bolstered with the very latest NAND Flash memory to redefine what PCIe 5.0 SSD performance looks like.

If you haven’t spotted yet, the MP700 PRO SE is all about speed, offering sequential read performance of up to 14,000MB/s and sequential write performance of up to 12,000MB/s. If you’ve been holding off upgrading your storage subsystem, now is an incredible time to give your system a serious boost to anything to do with booting, loading, and saving your files.

For those that just want to dive into the MP700 PRO SE specs, here are the numbers and features that matter when it comes to the latest PCIe 5.0 SSD offering.

This is a PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD which means you’re going to need to use a more recent platform that supports PCIe 5.0 SSDs to get the most from it. The likes of the latest Intel 14th Gen Core family of chips, such as the Core i9-14900K, or the AMD Ryzen 7000-series, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, are fine examples. You’ll need a compatible motherboard as well, one that has at least one PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 2280 slot.

If you are running an older CPU and motherboard that only supports PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs, then the good news is that you’ll still be able to use the MP700 PRO SE, but it won’t hit the kind of throughput that makes it such an exciting drive. The PCIe 4.0 x4 interface has a theoretical limit of 8,000MB/s, and with the usual overheads, you’re going to be looking at more like 7,000MB/s. It does at least mean that when you do upgrade your machine that you’ll have an impressive performance upgrade waiting for you.

One of the beautifies of the modern desktop PC is that they’re so varied. Where one user may focus on aesthetics, another will want unrelenting performance. Two machines can have the same core components, but be wildly different when it comes to size, lighting, and indeed cooling. Releasing a high-performance SSD into this market requires flexibility to cover the different types of systems it will be used in.

This is why, like the MP700 PRO before it, the new MP700 PRO SE is available with one of three different cooling options. For most users the MP700 PRO SE without any additional cooling will be all that’s needed, particularly when paired with the heatspreader that comes with your motherboard. Provided there is sufficient airflow in the system the drive is used in, the users shouldn’t face any problems in normal operations.

For more demanding users there are a couple of options available that will keep the drive running without throttling. The MP700 PRO SE with Air Cooler ships with an active cooler, i.e. it comes with a fan that helps keep the drive cool in more confined spaces, such as in small form factor systems or in machines that don’t ship with any passive SSD coolers by default. Note that the MP700 PRO SE with Air Cooler will ship in June 2024.

The final cooling option is for users that demand the pinnacle of storage performance, with the MP700 PRO SE Hydro X Series shipping with a custom cooling water block pre-attached, ready for it to be integrated into an existing loop. When plumbed into a full custom cooling loop, you can ensure that the drive doesn’t throttle even under prolonged and excessive use.

Whichever cooling option you go for, the industry standard M.2 2280 compact form factor means it will work in a variety of systems and offer up incredible throughput.

The MP700 PRO SE is a high-end SSD that's built to last. This is why we’ve focused on the higher capacity models, launching with the 2TB and 4TB versions of the drives. While 1TB SSDs have had a pivotal role in the evolution of solid state drives, as we move over to ever growing install sizes for games, larger datasets, and 8K video and beyond, 2TB is quickly becoming the sensible option, with 4TB covering more serious users.

Of course, higher capacity drives are more expensive, and that can be off-putting if you’re working to a limited budget. If that’s the case, CORSAIR does produce more affordable options with the likes of the MP600 ELITE available in a range of capacities. Alternatively, if you’re looking for even higher capacities, then the MP600 PRO LPX is now available in capacities up to 8TB. Another option is to employ multiple SSDs to reach serious capacities, just make sure you have enough M.2 SSD slots on your motherboard to do this. Oh make sure you use the right M.2 slots to hit maximum performance while you're at it.

Of all the technologies designed to unleash the real performance of SSDs, Microsoft DirectStorage is the one that holds the most promise. It’s designed to sidestep the sluggish way that Windows handles files and instead focuses on an optimised path between your speedy SSD and your graphics card, freeing your CPU for more important tasks. That’s the theory at least, in reality Microsoft DirectStorage is taking a time to really take off, and the number of games that support it and really give a true glimpse of it's potential are few and far between.

We’ve written a full article about the current state of Microsoft DirectStorage that is worth checking out for more information. The important thing with respect to the MP700 PRO SE is that it supports DirectStorage from day one, so when those games really do start making the most of the technology, this drive will be on hand to give you an incredible experience.

Along with the incredible performance and support for the latest technologies, the MP700 PRO SE is also backed up by a healthy five-year warranty to ensure you have peace of mind. Plus, you can use CORSAIR SSD Toolbox software to clone your drive, secure wipe your data and check the drives status among other things.

Overall, the MP700 PRO SE is serious NVMe SSD that sets the bar for high-performance storage for years to come. With its outstanding sequential throughput, impressive random performance, great endurance, and range of cooling options, the MP700 PRO SE is the dream option for anyone wanting the best storage around.