MP600 MICRO vs MP600 MINI vs MP600 PRO NH

The SSD landscape is evolving. Where one type of drive has dominated the scene since NVMe drives really took off, the launch of several handheld gaming PCs has meant more storage options are enjoying a moment in the limelight. The likes of the Steam Deck, the ASUS ROG Ally, and most recently the Lenovo Legion Go, have meant that physically smaller drives have made their way to the surface.

These machines are so tight on space that a normal-length M.2 SSD simply takes up too much room to be practical. Which is why smaller, more compact drives have started doing the rounds. CORSAIR has produced a couple of SSDs that fit a variety of small form factor PCs, such as the MP600 MINI and MP600 CORE MINI, which are ideal for upgrading your Steam Deck or ASUS ROG Ally.

The latest drive to join these ranks is the CORSAIR MP600 MICRO, an M.2 2242 drive that is half the size of a normal M.2 SSD, but one that still manages to pack a PCIe 4.0 x4 controller onto its slither of silicon along with 1TB of storage capacity—the even more impressive 2TB model is due shortly. This drive fits a variety of laptops, notebooks, and small form factor machines, including that recently released new gaming handheld, the Lenovo Legion Go.

You may be wondering why there’s a focus here on the handheld gaming systems, and the reasoning is straightforward: these systems tend to ship with smaller SSDs as standard. For instance, the most affordable version of the Steam Deck ships with just 256GB of storage, and while 512GB drives are more common on such devices, the ever-increasing size of game installs means that you’ll run out quickly without an SSD upgrade. Check out our guide on how to upgrade ASUS ROG Ally for more info.

These aren’t the only devices that these smaller drives will work with though. The MP600 CORE MINI also works in the Microsoft Surface Pro 9, providing a sizable storage boost of up to 2TB, giving you more space for your work and your more creative pursuits. Likewise, the MP600 MICRO M.2 2242 drive works in plenty of thin and light laptops and notebooks, again providing a sizeable capacity upgrade to such machines.

Tip: Check the manufacturer’s website for your machine if looking to upgrade the storage on offer. SSD compatibility can change with different generations, so make sure you search for your exact model.

But how do these SSD compare to their physically bigger brethren? And are they compatible with your desktop PC? The good news is that they are indeed compatible with your desktop PC, providing that your motherboard has at least one M.2 connector. This is because the M.2 specification allow for a range of device lengths, from the M.2 2230 coming in at just 30mm right up to 110mm of the M.2 22110. And yes, the physical dimensions of an M.2 SSD are included in the label, if it’s present—if not, then it’s probably the most common size, which is an M.2 2280 drive, which is 80mm long. These drives are 22mm wide by the way, which is why the number always starts with 22.

One thing worth noting here, is that while a M.2 2230 or M.2 2242 drive will plug into your motherboard, your motherboard may lack the post that is used to secure the drive in place. This why we’d recommend that you stick to an M.2 2280 drive if you are intending to use the drive on a desktop PC. The likes of the MP600 PRO NH offers higher capacities that can be squeezed onto the smaller drives as well, topping out a whopping 8TB in fact.

Here’s a quick table of how these smaller drives compare to the likes of the MP600 PRO NH, which is one of our speedier PCIe 4.0 x4 SSDs in the more common M.2 2280 format.

The M.2 spec also includes a few more lengths for potential drives, although these are relatively rare—at least when it comes to consumer PCs. The M.2 22110 is the longest drive you can get at 110mm, and while it is common in the server space, it hasn’t made it across to our motherboards and laptops. The M.2 spec also allows for 60mm M.2 2260 drives, although again, you’ll do well to find such a drive in the wild.

In summary: the new MP600 MICRO joins the MP600 CORE MINI and MP600 MINI to bolster the ranks of smaller SSDs from CORSAIR. This is a PCIe 4.0 x4 drive that offers competitive performance in a tiny package, making it ideal for the likes of the Lenovo Legion Go as well as other small form factor machines.