Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD Review

Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB Performance Testing

We are moving towards using larger test sizes on our benchmarks, but on several tests, we also used the smaller default test sizes. This allows us to see the difference between lighter and heavier workloads.

CrystalDiskMark 7.0.0 x64

CrystalDiskMark is used as a basic starting point for benchmarks as it is something commonly run by end-users as a sanity check.

Much like its smaller sibling, the Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB starts off exceeds its rated sequential read and write specifications by a small amount; in fact the two drives are in a dead heat with each other. The only drives to beat it are the Samsung 980 Pro 500GB and Sabrent’s performance flagship the Rocket 4 Plus.

Interestingly, unlike the 2TB variant, the 4TB Rocket Q4 suffers a small read performance regression when moving to the larger 8GB test. On the other hand, sequential write performance actually increases.

ATTO Disk Benchmark

The ATTO Disk Benchmark has been a staple of drive sequential performance testing for years. ATTO was tested at both 256MB and 8GB file sizes.

Performance in ATTO is a near match for the smaller 2TB drive, with the Rocket Q4 4TB again punching above its weight in read performance. As per the spec sheet, the 4TB drive actually has a slightly lower rated sequential write speed and that is borne out in ATTO.

Much like in CDM, the larger ATTO test shows a small read speed performance loss compared to the smaller test, but write speed correspondingly goes up and exceeds the rated performance. This is in contrast to the 2TB drive that was essentially unaffected by the larger test set.

Anvil’s Storage Utilities

Anvil’s Storage Utilities is a comprehensive benchmark that gives us a very in-depth look at the performance of drives tested. This benchmark was run with both a 1GB and 8GB test size.

The Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB is nothing if not consistent, in a dead heat for read speeds with the 2TB drive and just slightly below on write speeds.

The larger Anvil test set took a bit of a toll on the Sabrent Rocket Q4 2TB, and the same holds true for the 4TB drive. While write scores hold strong, read score takes a dip. The 4TB takes a rare read speed victory over the smaller 2TB drive here, but the scores are so close together they are easily within the margin of error.

AS SSD Benchmark

AS SSD Benchmark is another good benchmark for testing SSDs. We run all three tests for our series. Like other utilities, it was run with both the default 1GB as well as a larger 10GB test set.

The Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB finally manages to knock its little brother down a peg, taking a solid victory over the 2TB drive for the first time. Sequential transfer speeds are still neck and neck between the two drives, but the larger 4TB unit holds up better under heavily threaded workloads which gives it the scoring edge in the end.

In Anvil’s larger test, the Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB holds up definitively better than the 2TB version of the drive, allowing it to maintain the second-place finish on our graphs for read score. The 2TB drive wins in write score, and both drives take a significant dip overall in the larger test.

SPECworkstation, direct comparisons, thermals, and our conclusion are up next.