# BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 1TB: DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 Speed (2026)

The BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 1TB pairs a DRAM-less Maxio controller with Host Memory Buffer to hit 7,400 MB/s reads, matching DRAM-equipped rivals at a lower cost.

Quick answer: The Black Opal NV7400 1TB suits budget and mainstream builders who want near-flagship sequential speed without paying for a DRAM chip they may not need, including PS5 owners and thin-laptop upgraders. Buyers doing frequent large sustained writes, like video editors dumping 4K footage daily, should lean toward a DRAM-equipped drive that holds its write speed longer once the SLC cache fills. The WD Blue SN580 and Crucial P3 Plus are the closest DRAM-less alternatives if brand reputation and a longer independent track record matter more than BIWIN's slightly higher rated write speed. For a primary game or OS drive on a budget, the NV7400's 7,400 MB/s reads, 1,000 TBW endurance, and full 5-year warranty make it a reasonable pick.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Maxio MAP1602A |
| Memory type | Biwin 3D TLC |
| DRAM cache | No |
| Sequential read | 7400 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 6500 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 1000000 |
| Random write IOPS | 900000 |
| Endurance | 1000 TBW |
| MTBF | 1500000 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

The 1TB Black Opal NV7400 is rated for 7,400 MB/s sequential reads and 6,500 MB/s sequential writes, with random performance rated up to 1,000,000 IOPS reading and 900,000 IOPS writing. Hitting DRAM-equipped-flagship sequential numbers on a DRAM-less controller is the NV7400's main selling point; the Maxio MAP1602A-F3C leans on Host Memory Buffer and an SLC write cache to get there rather than dedicated onboard DRAM.

That SLC cache is where the trade-off shows up: once a sustained write outruns it, throughput drops toward the native TLC write speed, and DRAM-less drives generally see a steeper drop than DRAM-equipped ones once the cache is exhausted. BIWIN doesn't publish the exact cache size, so buyers moving very large files (bulk footage transfers, full game library moves) should expect the write speed to taper on a long, continuous copy rather than holding 6,500 MB/s throughout. For everyday use, boot times, game loads, and level streaming, the 1TB capacity's read speed comfortably clears PS5's 5,500 MB/s minimum, and it's fast enough for DirectStorage-enabled PC games without being the bottleneck. Random IOPS matter less than sequential speed for most desktop use, but the rated 1,000,000/900,000 figures are competitive with DRAM-equipped drives a tier above this one on price.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

The 1TB Black Opal NV7400 carries a 1,000 TBW endurance rating and a 5-year warranty. At a typical consumer workload of 30 to 50GB written per day, 1,000 TBW takes roughly 55 to 90 years to exhaust, well past both the warranty term and the drive's realistic service life. BIWIN also rates the NV7400 at 1,500,000 hours MTBF, a population-level statistic describing expected failure rates across a large batch of drives rather than a promise for any single unit. The 5-year warranty matches what DRAM-equipped rivals in this price tier typically offer, so buyers aren't giving up warranty coverage for the DRAM-less design, only some steady-state performance headroom. As with most consumer NVMe warranties, whichever limit arrives first ends coverage, so heavy write workloads that approach 1,000 TBW well before the 5-year mark would age out of endurance coverage rather than time.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- 7,400 MB/s reads rival DRAM-equipped drives
- 1,000 TBW endurance at 1TB
- Full 5-year warranty
- NVMe 2.0 controller support
- Lower power draw from DRAM-less design
- Ships across 512GB to 4TB capacities
**Cons:**

- Write speed tapers once SLC cache fills
- No onboard DRAM for mapping tables
- 512GB sibling drops to 4,200 MB/s writes
- Fewer independent long-term reviews than WD or Crucial
- No official Sony PS5 compatibility listing


## Verdict

The Black Opal NV7400 1TB suits budget and mainstream builders who want near-flagship sequential speed without paying for a DRAM chip they may not need, including PS5 owners and thin-laptop upgraders. Buyers doing frequent large sustained writes, like video editors dumping 4K footage daily, should lean toward a DRAM-equipped drive that holds its write speed longer once the SLC cache fills. The WD Blue SN580 and Crucial P3 Plus are the closest DRAM-less alternatives if brand reputation and a longer independent track record matter more than BIWIN's slightly higher rated write speed. For a primary game or OS drive on a budget, the NV7400's 7,400 MB/s reads, 1,000 TBW endurance, and full 5-year warranty make it a reasonable pick.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 1TB good for gaming?

Yes. Its 7,400 MB/s read speed and PCIe 4.0 interface are fast enough for quick game installs and level streaming, and the drive supports DirectStorage on PC. Because it's DRAM-less, extremely random-access-heavy workloads may lag a DRAM-equipped flagship slightly, but for typical gaming loads the difference is not noticeable, and the 1TB capacity holds a sizeable modern game library.

### Does the Black Opal NV7400 have a DRAM cache?

No. It's a DRAM-less design that uses Host Memory Buffer, borrowing a small portion of the host system's RAM over the PCIe interface to store mapping tables instead of an onboard DRAM chip. This lowers cost, power draw, and heat output compared to DRAM-equipped drives, at some cost to sustained random performance.

### Is the BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 1TB compatible with the PS5?

Sony requires PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage rated at 5,500 MB/s or faster reads, with dimensions fitting within 110 x 25 x 11.25mm including any heatsink. The NV7400 1TB's 7,400 MB/s rating clears that bar, but BIWIN does not appear on Sony's official approved-drive list, so buyers should treat it as spec-compatible rather than officially certified.

### What is the TBW endurance of the 1TB Black Opal NV7400?

The 1TB model is rated for 1,000 TBW, backed by a 5-year warranty. For a typical desktop or PS5 workload writing 30 to 50GB per day, that endurance rating would take roughly 55 to 90 years to exhaust, far beyond both the warranty period and the drive's realistic useful life.

### Does the Black Opal NV7400 1TB need a heatsink?

It's a single-sided drive without an onboard DRAM chip, so it generates less heat than DRAM-equipped flagships and can run without a dedicated heatsink in most desktop cases with reasonable airflow. A motherboard M.2 heatsink or basic case airflow is still worth using for sustained heavy workloads to avoid thermal throttling on long writes.

### How does the 1TB compare to the 512GB and 2TB Black Opal NV7400?

The 512GB model drops to 4,200 MB/s writes and 800K IOPS because it has fewer NAND dies for parallelism, while the 1TB and 2TB capacities both reach the line's full 7,400 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write rating. Endurance also scales with capacity, from 500 TBW at 512GB up to 1,000 TBW at 1TB and 2,000 TBW at 2TB.

### How does the BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 compare to the WD Blue SN580 or Crucial P3 Plus?

All three are DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 drives using Host Memory Buffer, but the NV7400 is rated for higher sequential speeds on paper than either WD or Crucial's equivalent capacities. The SN580 and P3 Plus have longer independent review histories and stronger brand reliability track records, which is the main trade-off buyers make for BIWIN's higher rated numbers.

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Last updated: 2026-08-01. Source: https://ssdrive.net/biwin-black-opal-nv7400-1-tb