Corsair Neutron NX500 NVMe SSD Review (400GB)

REAL WORLD FILE TRANSFER

We also wanted to see how performance was in a real-world use when transferring large files to the SSD. For this test, we are going to simply stress write performance by transferring over a 30GB folder of movies off of a 512GB Samsung 950 Pro to the test SSDs and time how long it takes. Once complete we can calculate the average speed.

Corsair NX500 400GB 30GB Transfer

When testing in real world file transfer, the NX500 did very well. With an average speed of 1258MB/s, it ties with the OCZ RD400 for 3rd place.

POWER CONSUMPTION

For our power consumption testing, we have the drive connected to the system as a secondary drive. To record the wattage, we are now utilizing a Quarch Technology Programmable Power Module. It allows us to accurately measure power consumption over time and is flexible enough to allow us to test any SSD that comes our way.

Quarch Technology Power Module Angle

Our power analysis may change as time goes on, but for now, we are looking at just a few metrics with the main goal of measuring our results against the manufacturer’s ratings. Because most consumer systems are at idle for about 80% of the time, idle power consumption is an important measure to look at when understanding the efficiency of a drive.

Corsair NX500 400GB Idle

During idle, the NX500 is rated for just 0.5W. During our testing, however, it averaged just over 1W. This, however, is less than the MP500.

POWER EFFICIENCY

Finally, we wanted to post up a graph of the power efficiency of the SSDs in comparison. We are looking at MB/s per Watt in this graph. The higher the result, the better.

Corsair NX500 400GB 30GB Transferr Efficiency

During our File Transfer Efficiency metric, the Corsair NX500 came in the middle of the pack. With an average of 253MB/s per watt of usage, it shows to be less efficient than the MP500.

7 comments

  1. blank

    Decent bit of kit,but the Corsair tax kills it……………………..

    • blank

      I think you are being too kind. An extra $100 for a 400GB drive that performs in the middle of the pack is closer to extortion than a tax.

      Seriously, for $210 you can buy a BPX 480GB drive or similar with a cheap heatsink and for the extra $100 saved buy a decent hard drive for archiving needs.

  2. blank
    Eduardo Solanas Esteban

    Guys could it be possible to have a dropDown in the reviews so you know where to go (with article sections like other websites do) instead of clicking through the pages to find crystalMark tests for example ?

    Cheers

  3. blank

    Thank you for the time you spent for this review. As usual I enjoy all your reviews.

    As far as I can see from the numbers this particular drive makes no sense in the market. At an incredibly hefty price for the cooler and the extra onboard circuit components the performance is at best on par with MyDigitalSSD BPX 480.

    I do not own a BPX 480 but from other reviews I read its controller runs hot. So for an extra $10 one can purchase a heatsink for it for a net price of about $210. The drive is 480GB costs $100 less than the NX500 and performs incredibly close (sometimes beating NX500 sometimes losing).

    • blank

      I concur. The BPX is still a much better value and as you stated. You can get some cheap heat sinks to keep the controller nice and cool for a much cheaper price. It is one of my favorites out atm. It just isnt as good looking at something such as this, NX500, which to some people, matters more.

  4. blank

    “Furthermore, with no significant performance increase, as seen in our multiple benchmark results, it is hard to quantify performance as a value proposition for this over other E7 SSDs.

    What we can say, on the other hand, is that this drive definitely has its place in the market thanks to its combination of both looks and performance”

    So you mean it has looks?

    • blank

      The performance it delivers is still very good…more performance than what most will ever need. Whoever buys it will simply be focused more on the brand or looks rather than top performance.

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