PCMark 10
We ran two benchmarks using PCMark 10: the Full System Drive Benchmark as well as the Data Drive Benchmark.
The Rocket NVMe 512GB again performs well, keeping up with the best of the PCIe 3.0 drives we have tested.
For the Data Drive benchmark, the Rocket NVMe 512GB has an excellent showing, somehow managing to beat out even the Rocket 4.0 1TB drive. This is one we were not expecting.
SPECworkstation 3.0.2 Storage Benchmark
SPECworstation benchmark is an excellent benchmark to test systems using workstation type workloads. In this test, we only ran the Storage component, which is 15 separate tests.
The Rocket NVMe 512GB finishes strong here and trades blows with the Samsung PM961 drive. Depending on which sub-benchmark you look at, either drive could be crowned the winner here.
Temperatures
We monitored the idle and maximum temperature during testing with HWMonitor to get some idea of the thermal performance and requirements of the drive. Please keep in mind that our test bench is an open frame chassis in a 22º C room, and is thus not representative of a cramped low-airflow case.
The Rocket NVMe had an impressively low idle temperature, with a warm but not worrisome load temperature.
Final Words
The Rocket NVMe 512GB is a mainstream PCIe 3.0 SSD that retails for around $80. This represents a significantly better capacity per dollar than its closest competitor in our benchmarks, the recently reviewed 970 EVO Plus 250GB, which costs $5 more and offers less than half the capacity. Since it uses TLC NAND as opposed to its QLC sibling the Rocket Q 500GB, performance overall is better than on the more value-oriented drive. The Rocket NVMe 512GB performed admirably for a PCIe 3.0 SSD and would be appropriate for use as a workstation drive, server boot volume, or SSD read cache drive for a storage array or NAS device.
In the PCIe 3.0 space, the Rocket NVMe 512GB is nearing the limits of the interface for read performance. For write performance, it is also very good, though it can be outperformed by larger SSDs. At the $80 price point it is hard to argue against the speed and value offered by the Rocket NVMe 512GB and if you are in the market for a high-performance SSD and are limited to PCIe 3.0, it should be on your radar.
Nice to see you put a few words about power loss protection (PLP) and sync writes.
A subject that need more attention from reviewers in general.
Especially when they review drives which actually have PLP but DON’T squeze the manufactorer to provide the size of PLP backed cache, which they rarely provide!??
If the cache is low, the PLP it’s worthless and nothing more than a cheap marketing trick, that the reviewer should be wise enough to see. A litte off-topic I know. A good example is Micron’s 5300 Pro and Seagate IronWolf 110. None of them will reveal the chache size!
I bought the 1TB version of this in July 2019 from Amazon UK for £105 ($129) and it’s superb value at that price. Excellent performance and even a 5-year warranty if you register the drive online. Will certainly consider their PCIe 4.0 variant when I get my next PC (likely to be a Zen 4 machine in 2022) – hopefully the PCIe 4.0 Rocket price will come down to something a little bit more sensible by then!