GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster

Want B47R TLC NAND flash goodness in high capacity? For PC or PS5, GIGABYTE's 2TB AORUS 7000s SSD is about as good as it gets.

Published
Manufacturer: GIGABYTE (GP-AG70S2TB)
6 minutes & 48 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 95%
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The Bottom Line

Overall one of the best performing SSDs ever made, the AORUS 7000s should be on your short list.

Pros

  • + User Experience
  • + PS5 Perfection
  • + TBW

Cons

  • - None

Introduction & Drive Details

Having just reviewed GIGABYTE's silently upgraded AORUS 7000s 1TB, we came away hungry for more, as in more capacity. GIGABYTE's AORUS 7000s has been one of the most appealing NVMe SSDs ever made from the day it first launched. The drive appeals to more than just the PC enthusiast crowd. It is also highly revered in the PS5 console gaming world due to its 7,000 MB/s throughput and even more so for its uniquely awesome heat sink.

The beefy heat sink that adorns GIGABYTE's 7000s is uniquely nanocarbon coated for high efficiency. More importantly, for PS5 employment, it is perfectly sized to fit properly inside the console's M.2 storage expansion slot. Now with the AORUS 7000s shipping arrayed with superfast Micron B47R 176 Layer flash behind its powerful Phison PS5018-E18 8-channel controller, the AORUS 7000s series is more appealing than ever.

We discovered this silent flash upgrade when we recently reexamined the AORUS 7000s 1TB. When it comes to SSDs, flash is everything as it relates to performance. Contrary to popular belief, controllers have much less influence on performance than flash. The 1TB 7000s with its new flash went from a below-average performer to a TweakTown Elite performer, all without any indication from GIGABYTE that the 7000s now delivers far more performance than it did at launch when it came arrayed with 96 Layer Micron.

The appeal of today's review is that Phison E18-controlled SSDs are considerably faster at 2TB than at 1TB. We know that when arrayed with 2TB of Micron B47R flash at 2TB, this combination is the world's only retail consumer SSD capable of delivering 7,400/7,000 MB/s throughput, making it super desirable for a one-of-a-kind TweakTown performance evaluation. So, let's take a close look at the numbers the highest performing GIGABYTE SSD ever made is cranking out.

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 33

As the above benchmark demonstrates, when arrayed with Micron's superfast B47R flash, maximum sequential throughput increases from the drive's advertised up to 7,000/6,850 MB/s at 2TB to a whopping 7,400/7,000 MB/s. Impressive.

As impressive as the increased sequential throughput is, its real-world performance increase is even more head-turning.

Drive Details

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 01

We took the liberty of updating performance specs for the AORUS 7000s, going by what our review sample can achieve. Remember that the numbers above are our own, not GIGABYTE official numbers.

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From its packaging, we can discern a couple of things. Going by its manufacture date of November 2021, GIGABYTE has been arraying its AORUS 7000s with Micron B47R flash for six months now, which is why we are confident in stating that if you buy it now, it will indeed be the updated version. Additionally, we can see that according to its stated sequential throughput numbers of 7,000/6,850 MB/s, GIGABYTE, for whatever reason, chose not to announce the performance increase.

Jon's Test System Specifications

Buy at Amazon

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$229.99$229.99$229.99
* Prices last scanned on 3/18/2024 at 9:46 am 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.

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 07
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 08
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 09

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.

As you can see, the 2TB AORUS 7000s has a heat sink designed to perfectly fit inside a PS5's M.2 storage expansion slot. The assembly is overall a little thicker than the 1TB model because the 2TB is double-sided, having memory and DRAM packages populating both sides of its PCB. Nevertheless, it still fits perfectly in the PS5.

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 10

6,356 MB/s is as expected for a 2TB E18 controlled SSD arrayed with B47R flash. It's significantly better than the 5,892 MB/s we get from its launch day configuration.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 11
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 12
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 13
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 14

Although not quite as much read throughput on our Intel system as we got from our AMD system, we still get that one-of-a-kind 7,000 MB/s sequential write throughput. Performance where it really matters, Q1T1 random read, is coming in at 18% faster than its launch day configuration. Excellent.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 15
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 16
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 17
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B47R flash vaults the AORUS 700s 2TB from the bottom of the barrel to one of the best we've seen. Massive performance increases and where it matters in the consumer realm, serving data to the host or reading data. Additionally, max random read throughput sees a roughly 200K increase. Wow.

ATTO

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 19
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 20
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As we've explained many times, sequential performance really isn't performance that matters all that much. This is why results here don't accurately portray just how much more powerful the AORUS 7000s has become in its current form.

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

Transfer Rates

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 22
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 23

Our 100GB data transfer test is not your ordinary 100GB of data. Ours is a crushing mix comprising more than 62K files and 100 MB/s improvement over its launch day configuration. Hey, we will take that.

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GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 25

Serving data to the host (read) is performance that matters, and the silently upgraded AORUS 7000s 2TB delivers impressively here as well.

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.
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 26
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 27

Gaming is a performance metric that matters to the majority of DIY consumers, especially to the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. Now this should grab your attention if you are a gaming enthusiast.

The upgraded AORUS 7000s can deliver an overall gaming user experience that is more than 21% better than it did when it came arrayed with 96 Layer flash. This is one of the best performances of all time and is, in fact, a new lab record for an E18 SSD arrayed with 1,200 MT flash. Impressive.

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

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 28
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 29

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.

From the bottom to the middle of the chart is quite a move for any SSD, especially one that has been silently upgraded. Very nice.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 30
GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 31

Although E18-controlled SSDs all step on rakes when subjected to this test, an 18% improvement here is quite impressive as we see it.

Final Thoughts

As with the 1TB model, the silently upgraded 2TB AORUS 7000s leaves us a bit puzzled as to why GIGABYTE didn't announce a huge performance increase. Perhaps they were leaving it to us to do so, or it's even possible they didn't realize the OEM BOM had changed with Micron 96L reaching EOL. Whatever the case may be, hey, now you know, and you know exactly how much more performance you are getting.

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 32

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. Previously the AORUS 7000s was nowhere near being a TweakTown Elite performer. Now it is comfortably so. Impressive.

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB SSD Review - High Capacity B47R Speedster 34

When you buy an AORUS 7000s, you get every attribute that makes for an exceptional SSD as measured by today's standards. It's a TweakTown Elite performer, ideally configured for PS5 storage expansion, delivers throughput that maxes out the PCIe Gen4 x4 interface, a huge 2.5-petabyte endurance rating, and all backed up with an industry-leading 5-year warranty. As we see it, it's one of the most desirable SSDs ever made.

Photo of product for sale

Performance

95%

Quality

95%

Features

95%

Value

95%

Overall

95%

The Bottom Line

Overall one of the best performing SSDs ever made, the AORUS 7000s should be on your short list.

TweakTown award
95%

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD

TodayYesterday7 days ago30 days ago
$229.99$229.99$229.99
* Prices last scanned on 3/18/2024 at 9:46 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Jon joined the TweakTown team in 2013 and has since reviewed 100s of new storage products. Jon became a computer enthusiast when Windows XP launched. He was into water cooling and benching ATI video cards with modded drivers. Jon has been building computers for others for more than 10 years. Jon became a storage enthusiast the day he first booted an Intel X25-M G1 80GB SSD. Look for Jon to bring consumer SSD reviews into the spotlight.

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