Sabrent Rocket NVMe 2TB SSD Review

Introduction & Drive Details

Once again, we are looking at a Sabrent SSD with a head-turning price tag. Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe is priced like a budget SSD but packed with premium components. Sabrent's Rocket NVMe TLC flash powered series is typically priced within $10-$20 of comparable QLC offerings but offers so much more for just a few bucks more.

First off, you get over 5x the endurance over any QLC SSD currently on the market. That is huge for many users. Then there is performance. TLC (3-bit per cell) flash is significantly faster than QLC (4-bit per cell) flash in specific consumer-related use case scenarios. Other factors that make 3-bit flash superior to 4-bit flash include data retention and power consumption.

Not that we have anything against QLC flash, it's just that as we see things currently, we believe TLC flash in most cases still offers better overall value for the typical enthusiast/consumer. A much better overall value when you can get it priced right and with the kind of performance that Sabrent's TLC powered 2TB Rocket NVMe is delivering.

This SSD delivers fantastic performance and fantastic pricing. Now let's get this baby on the test bench and see what the hard numbers look like.

Drive Details

Like all Sabrent M.2 SSDs, the Rocket NVMe series features a copper thermal label on the controller side of the SSD to increase thermal capabilities. The copper label is also an excellent thermal interface for motherboards that have built-in M.2 heat sinks.

Sabrent's packaging advertises the included copy of Acronis cloning/imaging software. The software valued at $30 is available via free download. The drive itself is well protected by an aluminum clamshell container fitted with a dense foam cutout. Also included is an installation guide.

Jon's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair Hero VIII Wi-Fi (buy from Amazon)
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (buy from Amazon)
• Cooler: Swiftech H2O-320 Edge AIO
• Memory: ADATA XPG Z1 DDR4 3800MHz 16GB (buy from Amazon)
• Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX Vega 64 (buy from Amazon)
• Power Supply: Corsair AX1000 (buy from Amazon)
• Case: InWin X-Frame
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (buy from Amazon)

SSD Toolbox

Sabrent SSD Control Panel

Sabrent has a well developed SSD toolbox that is free via download. With the Sabrent Control Panel, you can update firmware, monitor temperature, monitor health, and easily adjust system settings.

Additionally, Sabrent's control panel software gives you easy access to download Sabrent's custom-tailored Acronis cloning/imaging software, sector tool, and product registration. By registering your Sabrent SSD with the company, the drive's warranty is extended from 1-year to 5-years. Be sure to register within 90 days of purchase.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM & Anvils

CrystalDiskMark

We are off to a good start with the above advertised sequential speeds. Additionally, we are getting the second-best 4K Q1T1 random write results we've seen to date from any 2TB SSD. Also, of note is the drives 4K Q1T1 random read performance as it is the best we've seen from any Phison E12/E12S/BiCS powered SSD.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

The Rocket NVMe delivers an excellent read score, which is exactly what we are looking for when evaluating Anvil's results. Again, this is the best 4K QD1 random read performance we've seen from an E12/E12S/BiCS powered SSD. Overall, Sabrent's 2TB TLC SSD delivers a head-turning score over 18K, which is the third-best we've witnessed to date on an AMD platform.

Max random IOPS results are looking excellent. We are getting much more from our review sample than factory specs indicate.

Synthetic Benchmarks: AS SSD & ATTO

AS SSD

Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe continues its assault on our charts with the third-best read score and the second-best total score we've seen to date.

ATTO

We don't quite get our preference of full speed at 128K transfers. Nevertheless, Sabrent's Rocket NVMe 2TB is no slouch, as evidenced by our chart.

Real-World Testing: Transfer Rates & Gaming

Transfer Rates

Our write transfer is 100GB in size and composed of more than 62,000 files. Not an easy transfer. The 2TB Rocket NVMe exceeds our minimum of 500 MB/s, but it is still hovering near the bottom of our chart.

The Rocket NVMe 2TB serves up data at a rate that is as good as anything we've seen coming from a Gen3 SSD. Impressive.

Game Level Loading

Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe doesn't give us the sub-11-second performance we are looking for, but it does load game levels better than any 2TB E12/E12S powered SSD we've tested.

Real-World Testing: PCMark 10 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 user experience. Of the two tests, we feel that the Quick System Drive Test most accurately replicates a typical user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

Sabrent's Rocket NVMe 2TB SSD delivers an above-average user experience when running heavy consumer type workloads.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

This is the most important benchmark we run because we believe that this test most accurately represents typical consumer usage scenarios. Here is where we find the 2TB Rocket NVMe delivering superior performance. The only 2TB class SSDs that can deliver more consist of a Gen4 SSD and Intel's exotic Optane SSD.

Final Thoughts

As our testing demonstrates, Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe is one of the best performing NVMe SSDs ever made. What makes it even more special, in our opinion, is the value it presents. Premium TLC flash, off the chart's endurance rating, 5-year warranty, free cloning, and management software along with superior performance. All this for literally just a few more bucks than QLC SSDs are selling for.

User experience is what really matters, which is why we rank SSDs not in terms of sequential speeds like we see so often, but rather by consumer workload performance. As the above chart clearly shows, the Rocket NVMe 2TB delivers the goods where it matters most. Impressive.

As we review our test results, we can identify several highlights where Sabrent's Rocket NVMe stands out as a superior performing SSD. First off, and throughout our synthetic testing, the Rocket NVMe 2TB served up random write performance that is as good as we've seen from any Gen3 to date.

Additionally, the 2TB Rocket NVMe crushed both Anvil's and AS SSD testing delivering the second and third best scores ever for a 2TB class SSD. Lastly and most importantly, Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe SSD proved to be a consumer workload juggernaut, as demonstrated by PCMark 10's Quick System Drive Benchmark.

As it stands currently, we believe Sabrent's 2TB Rocket NVMe SSD presents the best overall value per gigabyte for the enthusiast, which is why we are rewarding Sabrent's 2TB Gen3 SSD with TweakTown's highest award.

Pros

• Value
• Workload Performance
• 5-Year Warranty

Cons

• Nothing of Note