Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB NVMe M.2 SSD Review

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 fifteen separate tests.

Performance in SPECworkstation Storage is good overall, though not without a curiously low Life Sciences subscore.

Benchmark Comparisons

Had we reviewed the PCIe 3.0 Rocket Q 4TB drive, I would make a comparison to that drive. Instead, I will instead pit it against the smaller Sabrent Rocket Q4 2TB, and then again against the flagship Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB.

As you can see, performance versus the smaller 2TB drive is often a dead heat. For almost all users, these drives will essentially perform identically and they can simply be chosen by the capacity required.

Next up is the battle of the flagship products.

Since the Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB turned in results very similar to the 2TB drive, this graph should surprise nobody who read our review on that 2TB drive. The QLC-based Rocket Q4 4TB loses soundly to the TLC-based Rocket 4 Plus. The Plus drive has the benefit of the newer Phison PS5018-E18 controller, which amps up its performance.

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 22C room, but with no direct airflow. As a result, this is not representative of a cramped low airflow case and is instead intended to model temperatures of a drive ‘on its own’.

The extra NAND showed up in the thermals department, with the 4TB drive running considerably warmer than its 2TB brother. I would want a heatsink or moderate airflow with this drive in my system. Many motherboards come with such a heatsink, but there are also many platforms that do not.

Final Words

The Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB is $690, and as of the time of writing is the only 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSD available from a mainstream manufacturer. Corsair has an upcoming MP600 4TB drive, but it is not yet released. The 2TB Sabrent Rocket Q4 is only $280, so there is some price-per-GB increase with the larger drive, but not by a huge amount.

Given the performance and nearly unique combination of capacity and feature set in the market, the Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB is a relatively simple sales proposition; if you need a 4TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, then currently it is your only option. This situation somewhat reminds me of when we looked at the PCIe 3.0 Rocket Q 8TB drive that was also nearly unique in the market.

The Sabrent Rocket Q4 4TB is the flagship of Sabrent’s ‘value’ line and is a solid drive. If you want the very best performance, then the Rocket 4 Plus 2TB or WD Black SN850 2TB are higher performing drives, but at a higher price-per-GB to go with it. In addition, those drives are not available at the 4TB capacity point, so if you need the space and also the performance, the Rocket Q4 4TB may be your best option.