Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus B47R 2TB SSD Review - Hyper Class Performance

1. Introduction & Drive Details
2. Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion
3. Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO
4. Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage
5. Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 98%

The Bottom Line

For gamers and prosumers alike, Sabrent's newly arrayed Rocket 4 Plus is exactly what you've been looking for.

Buy at Amazon

Introduction & Drive Details

Testing Sabrent's upgraded Rocket 4 Plus SSDs with B47R Fortis grade flash has been a ton of fun, as it always is when we get an SSD in the lab with the kind of gaming prowess and massive throughput offered by Sabrent's latest. So far, we've reviewed Sabrent's 500GB Rocket 4 Plus with B47R and Sabrent's 1TB Rocket 4 Plus with B47R.

Both capacity points brought excitement to the test bench, and both earned their stripes as TweakTown Elite performers. We've been working our way up the ladder in terms of capacity and sequential write throughput. The 500GB model cranked out 3,943 MB/s sequential write throughput, the 1TB model upped that to 6,127 MB/s, and now we are looking at potentially hitting a massive 7,000 MB/s sequential write throughput with the 2TB model.

Now, as we've stated many times and contrary to popular belief, sequential speeds are not what makes an SSD fast. However, 7,000 MB/s sequential write throughput is a milestone of sorts as we see it, with only one controller at one capacity point ever to attain such write speeds. That configuration is exactly what we have on the bench today, a Phison E18 controller in front of a 2TB Micron B47R Fortis grade flash array. To this day, it's the only 7,000/7,000 MB/s capable consumer SSD there is. Let's see what kind of throughput Sabrent's updated Rocket 4 Plus 2TB brings to the table as measured by our AMD based testbed:

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For those of you that are fans of sequential throughput and are keeping track, you will recognize that this is currently tops for Gen4 SSDs. Delivering close to 7,500/7,050 MB/s throughput, under the right conditions, Sabrent's 2TB Rocket 4 Plus with B47R flash can really give you something to brag about.

As we looked around the net today, we noticed Sabrent's 2TB Rocket 4 plus currently selling at Amazon for $310 bucks. That may sound like a lot, but that is, in fact, the lowest price we've seen to date for a 2TB Phison E18 based SSD arrayed with Micron B47R Fortis grade flash. Excellent. So, then the question becomes, how do you know you are getting a Rocket 4 Plus arrayed with 176L B47R flash and not older 96L flash? You purchase from Amazon. Sabrent states: 'All new Amazon purchases from our store and website will be the B47R version'.

Drive Details

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Please note these performance specs are based on our results while benching the 2TB Rocket 4 Plus and are not official Sabrent performance numbers.

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The Rocket 4 Plus looks the same as it always has. Even with the new flash, the naming convention remains unchanged.

All Sabrent SSDs come with valuable complimentary software, including a copy of Acronis for Sabrent along with Sabrent's award-winning Rocket Control Panel SSD management software. You can get Sabrent's Rocket Control Panel here.

Use Rocket Control Panel to download Acronis and other Sabrent complimentary SSD management software. Register your Sabrent SSD via the Rocket Control Panel to activate a limited 5-year warranty, the limitation being TBW (Total Bytes Written). Without registration, Sabrent warrants its SSDs for 1-year, so be sure and register your Sabrent SSD.

Jon's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Z690 HERO
• CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: TeamGroup T-Force Delta DDR5 6400MHz 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Video Card: Zotac 2080Ti AMP Edition - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 1000W 80+ Gold - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon
• Console: Sony PlayStation 5 - Buy from Amazon
• Console Heatsink: Sabrent Heatsink for PS5 Console - Buy from Amazon

Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$214.99	$214.99	$219.99	$219.99	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 4/24/2024 at 9:14 pm CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion

PS5 Read Performance

With Sony's wildly popular PlayStation 5 console now enabled for M.2 NVMe SSDs to be used as fast storage expansion, we include results for PS5 compatible SSDs we test as a part of our reviews going forward. We are utilizing the newest PS5 hardware and software versions.

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We only chart SSDs that can deliver a minimum of 5,500 MB/s read, which is Sony's original recommendation. We note that with the latest PS5 software update, even SSDs that only do 4,200 MB/s no longer trigger a low-performance warning; nevertheless, we are sticking by Sony's original recommendation of 5,500 MB/s minimum read requirement.

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Our test subject slots right in there with the other 2TB Phison E18 SSDs arrayed with B47R Fortis grade 1200 MT flash. Interestingly enough, we can see a pattern in our results with PS5 speed testing, where most 1TB B47R SSDs are roughly 150 MB/s faster than their 2TB siblings. In reality, it's not a difference that can be perceived by the end-user, and we do prefer more capacity, so we give the nod to 2TB in this case.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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Even running as our system disk with 150GB of data on it, Sabrent's Rocket 4 Plus arrayed with B47R flash can deliver the 7,000/7,000 MB/s sequential throughput we're looking for. Outstanding. So far only 2TB E18/B47R SSDs have been able to accomplish this feat.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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Excellent showing here. In fact, it's the highest score we've seen from any E18 SSD arrayed with B47R 1200 MT flash. Additionally, the newly configured Rocket 4 Plus 2TB delivers the most random read IOPS we've seen from a 1200 MT B47R Fortis grade arrayed SSD. Impressive.

ATTO

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The top portion of these charts are populated exclusively with E18 powered SSDs. And of those E18 controlled SSDs, the 2TB Rocket 4 Plus with B47R ties for second-best ATTO 128K write performance and third-best 128K sequential read we've ever extracted from any consumer SSD.

Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage

Transfer Rates

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Impressive. This is the fourth-best 100GB write transfer rate we've seen to date. And this is not your ordinary 100GB of data. Ours is a crushing mix of data composed of more than 62K files.

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Serving data to the host is where we again find that 1TB E18/B47R SSDs have the advantage over their 2TB siblings, exactly the same as we see from our PS5 read speed test. Our test subject does deliver the second-best result we've obtained from a 2TB-4TB E18/B47R 1200 MT SSD. Excellent.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is in fact the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing.

In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSDs gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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Gaming is a performance metric that matters to the majority of DIY consumers, especially to the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. As this result alludes to, whether it be PC or PS5, you can't do much better than a Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus for gaming duties. Performance that matters.

PCM10 Storage Tests

PCMark 10 Storage Test is the most advanced and most accurate real-world consumer storage test ever made. There are four different tests you can choose from; we run two of them.

The Full System Drive Benchmark and the Quick System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark writes 204 GB of data over the duration of the test. The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

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This particular test writes 204GB data and covers a broad range of common consumer tasks, including booting Windows 10, file transfers, Adobe and Office applications, and startup times for games including Battlefield V, COD Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. Unlike synthetic numbers, this is comprehensive real-world data which is why we use it to rank SSDs in terms of user experience.

We are looking for a minimum 500MB/s storage bandwidth along with 3,000 points here. No problem for the newly arrayed Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus. As demonstrated by where our test subject slots in on our chart, if you are a prosumer running substantial workloads, the 2TB Rocket 4 Plus is an excellent choice. Especially when you factor in the drive's massive TBW rating of 2,550 terabytes - that's approaching enterprise-grade endurance levels.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

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We see middle-of-the-road performance here, exactly as expected from an E18 based SSD arrayed with B47R 1,200 MT flash. This test continues to present a challenge for most E18 based SSDs. Exactly why, we do not know.

Final Thoughts

This SSD reminds us of what made Sabrent the go-to brand for enthusiast-level storage in the first place. It performs as good or even better than similarly configured competitor offerings and does so for less money out of pocket. That's a win/win as we see it. Additionally, Sabrent gives you free a copy of Acronis, which is, in our opinion, significantly better than the typical cloning software found in most competitors' SSD management software.

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We rank SSDs in terms of overall user experience (performance where it matters most) as expressed by PCMark 10 storage and 3DMark gaming storage tests. We consider a user experience score of 11K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer. Impressive, the newly arrayed 2TB Rocket 4 Plus scores the fourth-best all-time for any E18 controlled SSD and is doing so with the lowest price tag of the bunch. Performance where it matters.

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TweakTown Elite and comes with all the bells and whistles for the best price we've seen to date for any similarly configured 2TB SSD that has earned Sabrent's Rocket 4 Plus with B47R our highest award.

Pros

• Gaming
• Throughput
• Pricing

Cons

• None