Corsair MP600 Mini 2TB 2024 Edition Review

Final Score: 89 out of 100

We fully and readily admit that we were ready to hate on this Silent Change edition. We typically loath silent changes and we still get a twitch thinking about the shenanigans OCZ got up to back in the day (and it still plays a large role in why we distrust WD SSDs). In as unbiased a manner possible, silent updates/revisions/side-grades/swapping/what-ever-you-want-call-it are rarely for the benefit of consumers. They are instead a sneaky way for companies to get excellent hype and reviews of product… and then cash in on said hype by using cheaper components. That has not happened here. Instead, Corsair has improved their MP600 Mini models. Massively improved them. So much so that it is now our preferred choice for 2230 form-factor PCIe 4.0 drives. With that said this only applies to the 2TB variant… as neither the MP600 Micro nor MP600 2023 edition of the Mini come in a 2TB flavor. Thus you are guaranteed to get a E27t + 162-Layer TLC NAND drive that is as durable as it is fast. As such we do encourage everyone to overlook Corsair’s rookie mistake… and hope that this is a ‘‘one off’ event. So if you are looking for a 2TB M.2 2230 form-factor NVMe drive you can stop here and be assured that buying a Corsair MP600 Mini 2TB is not a waste of your money. Instead it is one of the best options going.

Now for 1TB buyers we also strongly suggest you invest the time and effort to get the Mini 2024 edition. It is worth it. TLC is simply better than QLC NAND. So much better it is worth the effort. So we do have a couple suggestions to make things easier for you. First. As time goes by the chances of getting a 2023 edition go from slim to none. In the interim, don’t buy it online (unless they have no questioned asked return policy). Instead buy it in store, and look at the bottom left corner of the shipping container. If it doesn’t have the gray label listing the speed… it’s the 2023 model. If it does but it does not say 7000 MBps on it… it’s the 2023 model. If you have to buy it online make sure there is a ‘R2’ at the end of the model. To be precise, CSSD-F1000GBMP600MN is the 2023 edition. CSSD-F1000GBMP600MNR2 is the 2024 edition… and because sometimes you apparently cannot have too many flavors in your product stack, the CSSD-F1000GBMP600CMN is an entirely different “Core Mini” 21t + QLC NAND based model that performs like neither of the MP 600 Mini models. Yes. That is headache inducing and makes USB-IF’s USB “3.0… no we mean 3.1gen1… no, now its 3.2gen1… oops! Now it’s 3.2gen1x1” nomenclature seem sane by comparison.

With that taken care of. This confusion has to stop. This madness of model nomenclature is sheer folly and will not end well for neither Corsair nor consumers. Yes, we understand that Corsair want to ensure consistency in their names. They want the “MP600” series to mean PCIe 4 / “mainstream” in the hearts and minds of their loyal fans, and “MP700” to be equated with PCIe 5 or “cutting edge performance”. On paper, that does make sense. Much like their ‘Vengeance’ means mainstream and ‘Dominator’ means enthusiast it is a seemingly simple and easy way for buyers to instantly know what they can expect to get from any given model. Sadly, as the new MP600 Mini 2024 edition shows, PCIe 4 SSDs are not going anywhere anytime soon. They are pretty much the epitome of ‘good enough’… and are getting better every year. Good enough capacity. Good enough performance. Good enough price per GB. In the coming years that will change, but probably not until PCIe 6.0 drives land and go mainstream.

Thus if Corsair stays this course, they need to start adding a quick and easy way to tell old stock from new. A ‘2024 Edition’ or ‘SE’… or “Pro”… or “v2”… or something that is added to future models actual name. Not the fine-print model name but the big and bold name on the front of the box. Put bluntly. SSD drives are not RAM. Barring enthusiasts, the typical DDR4 and DDR5 buyer does not care about the ICs used on their sticks. They just want to make sure it is DDR4-xxxx or DDR5-xxxx. The typical SSD buyer does care about the controller and IC(s) used. They care because it is the equivalent of buying what you think is a DDR5 model just to find out it is DDR4. Sure that is more extreme than this silent change, as either generation of the MP600 Mini will work, but that is level of seriousness associated with ‘silent changes’ in the SSD market. We are not exaggerating when we say it has nuked many a company from the SSD marketplace and even killed entire brands (like OCZ). So please. Stop it. Corsair is better than this and we the consumer deserve better than this.

These self-inflicted consumer confusion issues however are about the only thing to not like about the MP600 Mini 2TB SSD. For its class it is extremely peppy, more importantly is extremely consisted in said performance. Yes, Corsair should be setting the pSLC cache to float mode and allow it to resize based on free capacity. However, a consistent ~50GB pSLC write buffer is more than up to handling day to day tasks it will routinely encounter. Thus, it is only when one is transferring large game libraries over that it will become an actual handicap. Even then, the ‘second tier’ of performance is much, much better than what other same-sized E27t + QLC NAND drives can do. “SmartFlush” algorithms or not, TLC simply trumps QLC in the real world.

The same is true of the increase in power usage and thermal output. Yes, it will be about 1watt more power/heat consumed by the MP600 Mini versus what say a P310 2TB will consume. Which technically is a lot more power when dealing with percentages. In practical terms one watt either way is not going to make or break the thermals of any device. The Corsair MP600 Mini 2TB just runs ‘warm’ versus a Crucial P310 2TB’s “cool”. Both will be fine in even the most constrained of environments… and yet the Corsair MP600 MINI 2TB will give better, more versatile performance. All day. Every day. Possibly even versatile enough to make sourcing a 2230 to 42/60/80 adapter worth the effort for more normal sized computing devices. Either way, we do like what these new breed of 2230 E27t based models have to offer. So if you are looking for a 2230, or even 2242, form-factor PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD the MP600 Mini 2024 edition demands to be on your short list. It is worth your time, and it is worth the effort of figuring out the whole 2023 vs. 2024 edition madness.