BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4TB: DRAM-less Bulk PCIe 4.0 (2026)

Posted on August 01, 2026 by Raymond Chen

The BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4TB pairs a DRAM-less Maxio controller with Host Memory Buffer to hit 7,400 MB/s reads, giving bulk-capacity buyers flagship-class speed.

BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4TB: DRAM-less Bulk PCIe 4.0

Controller & Memory

The NV7400 4TB runs a Maxio MAP1602A-F3C controller, a 4-channel NVMe 2.0 chip that skips onboard DRAM and instead borrows a slice of system RAM through Host Memory Buffer to hold its mapping tables. Independent reviews of this capacity specifically report Micron's 232-layer B58R 3D TLC NAND, though BIWIN's own spec sheet doesn't name a vendor. At 4TB, the drive needs more NAND dies stacked to reach capacity, which is part of why this is the largest and most storage-dense option in the line.

BIWIN sells this line in 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. The 4TB matches the 1TB and 2TB on sequential speed at 7,400 MB/s reads and 6,500 MB/s writes, but its random-read IOPS rating is slightly lower at 900K versus 1,000K on the smaller capacities, likely a reflection of how the controller schedules requests across more, denser NAND packages. Endurance scales with capacity, and at 4,000 TBW the 4TB carries the highest absolute endurance rating in the series.

As a single-sided M.2 2280 drive with no DRAM chip to cool, the NV7400 fits thin laptops and small-form-factor builds without extra thermal headroom, though at 4TB it's more likely headed for a desktop or NAS-adjacent role holding a large game library or media archive. It competes against other DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 drives at this capacity like the Crucial P3 Plus 4TB and WD Blue SN580 4TB rather than DRAM-equipped flagships like the Samsung 990 Pro, which target a different buyer willing to pay for onboard DRAM and a longer track record.

Black Opal NV7400 Performance & Benchmarks

The 4TB 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 900,000 IOPS on both reads and writes, a touch below the 1,000,000 read IOPS of the smaller 1TB and 2TB capacities but still competitive with DRAM-equipped drives a tier above this one on price. Hitting near-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.

Performance comparison

BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4 TB vs M.2 4.0 x 4 peers

Switch between sequential throughput and random IOPS to see how this drive stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 SSDs in our database. The highlighted bar is the drive on this page — click any other bar to open that drive.

  • Patriot Viper PV593 1 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
  • Patriot Viper PV593 2 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
  • Patriot Viper PV593 4 TB: 14,500 MB/s read, 14,000 MB/s write
  • Patriot Viper PV573 2 TB: 14,000 MB/s read, 12,000 MB/s write
  • BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4 TB (this drive): 7,400 MB/s read, 6,500 MB/s write

At 4TB, the SLC cache trade-off matters more in practice: large sustained transfers common at this capacity, like archiving a full game library or dumping a season's worth of 4K footage, are more likely to outrun the cache and see write speed taper toward native TLC speed than they would on a smaller drive used for lighter workloads. BIWIN doesn't publish the exact cache size for this model. For everyday use, the 4TB'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, while the large capacity means fewer game-library uninstall cycles.

BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 vs Competitors

See how the Black Opal NV7400 stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 drives in our database:

Endurance, TBW & Warranty

The 4TB Black Opal NV7400 carries a 4,000 TBW endurance rating, the highest in the series, backed by a 5-year warranty. At a typical consumer workload of 30 to 50GB written per day, 4,000 TBW takes roughly 220 to 365 years to exhaust, far beyond both the warranty term and the drive's realistic service life, and comfortably covers even heavier content-creation workloads writing 100GB-plus per day. 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.

BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4 TB Specifications

Category Value
Capacity [?] 4 TB
Interface [?] M.2 4.0 x 4
Controller [?] Maxio MAP1602A
Memory type [?] Biwin 3D TLC
DRAM [?] No
Read speed (MB/s) [?] 7400
Write speed (MB/s) [?] 6500
Read IOPS [?] 900000
Write IOPS [?] 900000
Endurance (TBW) [?] 4000
MTBF (million hours) [?] 1500000
Warranty (years) [?] 5

Verdict: Is the Black Opal NV7400 Worth It in 2026?

The Black Opal NV7400 4TB suits buyers who want a large, near-flagship-speed drive for a big game library or media archive without paying DRAM-equipped-flagship prices, including PS5 owners and content creators with moderate daily write volumes. Buyers doing frequent very large sustained writes, like professional video editors working directly off the drive daily, should lean toward a DRAM-equipped drive that holds its write speed longer once the SLC cache fills. The Crucial P3 Plus 4TB and WD Blue SN580 4TB are the closest DRAM-less alternatives if brand reputation and a longer independent track record matter more than BIWIN's rated numbers. For bulk storage at a competitive price, the NV7400 4TB's 7,400 MB/s reads, 4,000 TBW endurance, and full 5-year warranty make it a solid pick.

+ Pros

  • 7,400 MB/s reads rival DRAM-equipped drives
  • 4,000 TBW endurance, highest in the series
  • Full 5-year warranty
  • NVMe 2.0 controller support
  • Lower power draw from DRAM-less design
  • Largest capacity for a big game or media library

- Cons

  • Random read IOPS lower than the 1TB and 2TB
  • Write speed tapers once SLC cache fills
  • No onboard DRAM for mapping tables
  • Fewer independent long-term reviews than WD or Crucial
  • No official Sony PS5 compatibility listing

4 / 5 · 93 votes

Buy this or similar SSD Storage:

Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB

-57% $165
List Price: $379.99

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Video Review

Testing My FIRST Biwin SSD! — Biwin Black Opal NV7400 2TB

Frequently Asked Questions

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. The 4TB capacity is large enough to hold most of a modern game library without needing to uninstall titles to make room for new ones.

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.

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 4TB'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.

The 4TB model is rated for 4,000 TBW, the highest endurance rating in the series, backed by a 5-year warranty. For a typical desktop or PS5 workload writing 30 to 50GB per day, that rating would take roughly 220 to 365 years to exhaust, far beyond both the warranty period and the drive's realistic useful life.

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.

The 4TB matches the 1TB and 2TB on sequential speed at 7,400 MB/s reads and 6,500 MB/s writes, but its random-read IOPS rating is slightly lower at 900K versus 1,000K on the smaller capacities. Endurance scales with capacity: 1,000 TBW at 1TB, 2,000 TBW at 2TB, and 4,000 TBW at 4TB.

All three are DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 drives using Host Memory Buffer at the 4TB capacity, 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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