Corsair MP600 GS 500GB: Mid-Range DRAM-less NVMe (2026)
The Corsair MP600 GS 500GB is a DRAM-less, mid-range PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD rated for 4,800 MB/s reads, positioned below Corsair's flagship MP600 Elite and Pro NH lines.
Controller & Memory
The MP600 GS 500GB runs a 4-channel Phison PS5021-E21T controller with Micron 176-layer 3D TLC NAND and no onboard DRAM, relying on Host Memory Buffer for its mapping tables instead. This puts it in Corsair's entry-level PCIe 4.0 tier rather than the flagship-speed MP600 Elite or DRAM-equipped MP600 Pro NH, and independent reviews from Tom's Hardware and TweakTown of the larger 2TB capacity described it as a capable but unremarkable mid-range drive, with mixed benchmark results against pricier rivals.
Corsair sells the MP600 GS in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities. The 500GB sits at the bottom of the line's performance curve, rated for 3,500 MB/s writes and 450,000/700,000 random IOPS, all lower than the 1TB's ratings due to having fewer NAND dies for the controller to parallelize across.
As a single-sided M.2 2280 drive with no onboard DRAM, the MP600 GS 500GB fits thin laptops and budget desktop builds as a boot drive. It competes against other budget-to-mid DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 drives like the Crucial P3 Plus and WD Blue SN580 at this capacity, rather than against Corsair's own flagship-tier lines. Buyers specifically choosing this drive over a non-Corsair rival are usually doing so for brand consistency within a Corsair-themed build, or because the 5-year warranty matches Corsair's pricier lines, rather than for a clear performance edge.
Storage Comparisons:
MP600 GS Performance & Benchmarks
The 500GB MP600 GS is rated for 4,800 MB/s sequential reads and 3,500 MB/s sequential writes, with random performance rated at 450,000 IOPS reading and 700,000 IOPS writing, all lower than the 1TB capacity in the same line. Independent reviews of the larger 2TB MP600 GS found its real-world performance workmanlike rather than exceptional, sometimes trailing other DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 drives in mixed benchmark suites, so buyers should treat this line as a value-tier option rather than a performance pick.
Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB 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
- Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB (this drive): 4,800 MB/s read, 3,500 MB/s write
Like other DRAM-less TLC drives, the MP600 GS leans on an SLC write cache and Host Memory Buffer to hit its rated write speed; once a sustained write outruns that cache, throughput drops toward native TLC write speed, and at 500GB that cache is proportionally smaller than on larger capacities in the line. Corsair doesn't publish the exact cache size. For everyday use, boot times and light gaming should feel comparable to pricier drives despite the lower rated numbers, since those workloads rarely sustain long enough to expose the difference.
Corsair MP600 GS vs Competitors
See how the MP600 GS stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 drives in our database:
Compare with rival drives:
Endurance, TBW & Warranty
The 500GB MP600 GS carries a 300 TBW endurance rating and a full 5-year warranty, matching the warranty length of Corsair's pricier MP600 Elite and Pro NH lines despite the lower price point. At a realistic consumer workload of 20 to 30GB written per day, appropriate for a 500GB boot drive, 300 TBW takes roughly 27 to 41 years to exhaust, comfortably outlasting the 5-year warranty window. Corsair's official spec sheet for this capacity does not publish an MTBF figure, so treat any population-level reliability number from third-party listings as an estimate rather than a Corsair-confirmed spec.
Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB Specifications
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 500 GB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller [?] | Phison PS5021-E21T 4 Channel |
| Memory type [?] | Micron 176-L TLC |
| DRAM [?] | No |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 4800 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 3500 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 450000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 700000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 300 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | 1500000 |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 5 |
Verdict: Is the MP600 GS Worth It in 2026?
The MP600 GS 500GB suits budget builders who want a Corsair-branded PCIe 4.0 boot drive backed by a full 5-year warranty and don't need flagship-tier speed. Buyers who want stronger real-world benchmark results should look at Corsair's own DRAM-less MP600 Elite instead, which independent reviews rate more highly despite a similar DRAM-less design. The Crucial P3 Plus and WD Blue SN580 are close budget alternatives at this capacity with their own independent review track records. For a no-frills, Corsair-branded PCIe 4.0 boot drive with a full warranty, the MP600 GS 500GB is a reasonable, if unremarkable, pick.
+ Pros
- 4,800 MB/s sequential reads on PCIe 4.0
- Full 5-year warranty matching pricier Corsair lines
- 300 TBW endurance rating
- Low power draw from DRAM-less design
- Fits thin laptops without extra cooling
- Cons
- Write speed and IOPS trail the 1TB and 2TB
- Mixed independent benchmark results for the line
- No onboard DRAM for mapping tables
- Write speed tapers once SLC cache fills
- No published MTBF figure from Corsair
Buy this or similar SSD Storage:
Video Review
Corsair MP600 GS Review (Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD)
