DAHUA C970 Plus 2TB: big budget Gen4 storage (2026)
The DAHUA C970 Plus 2 TB is the capacity flagship of DAHUA's budget Gen4 line, delivering 7,200 MB/s reads, a large SLC cache, and 1,200 TBW of endurance without a DRAM cache.
Controller & Memory
DAHUA's C970 Plus tops out at 2 TB, and this is the version to pick when the goal is space plus speed on a budget. Like its smaller siblings, it pairs Maxio's MAP1602 four-channel controller with YMTC (Yangtze Memory) 232-layer 3D TLC NAND and no DRAM, using the Host Memory Buffer to hold the flash translation layer in system RAM. Rated at 7,200 MB/s sequential reads and 6,400 MB/s writes over PCIe 4.0 x4, it keeps the same peak speeds as the 1 TB while doubling capacity and endurance.
The range spans 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. The 2 TB carries the largest SLC cache of the three and a 1,200 TBW endurance rating, double the 1 TB's 600 TBW. It is a single-sided M.2 2280 module, so it drops into laptops and thin builds, and it ships with a slim graphene heatsink in the box.
Because the drive is DRAM-less, it leans on the SLC cache to sustain its rated write speeds, and on the 2 TB that cache is big enough to absorb very long transfers before writes settle to the native TLC rate. For a large game library, a project archive, or a scratch disk, the 2 TB C970 Plus offers a rare combination of PCIe 4.0 bandwidth, 1,200 TBW of endurance, and budget pricing. It is one of the few sub-flagship drives that makes multi-terabyte storage genuinely affordable.
Storage Comparisons:
C970 Plus Performance & Benchmarks
The 2 TB C970 Plus is rated at 7,200 MB/s sequential reads and 6,400 MB/s writes over PCIe 4.0, with up to 1,026,000 random read IOPS and 766,000 random write IOPS. Independent reviews of the series confirm the rated numbers are realistic, with the 1 TB measuring around 7,125 MB/s read in CrystalDiskMark; the 2 TB behaves the same, helped by an even larger SLC cache.
DAHUA C970 Plus 2 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
- DAHUA C970 Plus 2 TB (this drive): 7,200 MB/s read, 6,400 MB/s write
In practice the drive is quick across the board. Game load times are bounded by the CPU and decompression once a drive clears about 3,000 MB/s, so the C970 Plus feels identical to a flagship in gaming. The 2 TB's strength is sustained throughput: its large SLC cache absorbs long contiguous writes at full speed, so moving a large game library or media folder holds high speed for longer than the smaller capacities before settling to the native TLC rate.
Thermals remain a strength, with reviewers recording around 42 C during full-drive writes using the included graphene heatsink, and the drive keeps performing close to rated even at 90 percent capacity. Random access is solid thanks to HMB, though heavy mixed workloads show a little more latency than a DRAM-equipped module. For a budget drive with this much capacity, the C970 Plus 2 TB is an outstanding value.
DAHUA C970 Plus vs Competitors
See how the C970 Plus stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 drives in our database:
Compare with rival drives:
Endurance, TBW & Warranty
DAHUA backs the C970 Plus with a five-year limited warranty, with some regional listings promoting up to ten years. The 2 TB model is rated at 1,200 TBW of endurance, the highest in the line, scaling from 300 TBW on the 512 GB through 600 TBW on the 1 TB. At a typical 20 GB per day of writes, 1,200 TBW equates to roughly 164 years, so the flash will outlast the warranty in any realistic workload, and even a heavy 100 GB per day leaves over three decades. The drive is rated for a 2,000,000 hour MTBF, a population statistic rather than a promise about a single unit. Returns run through the retailer or DAHUA depending on region, and the included graphene heatsink covers everyday cooling.
DAHUA C970 Plus 2 TB Specifications
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 2 TB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller [?] | Maxio MAP1602 4 Channel |
| Memory type [?] | YTC 232-L TLC |
| DRAM [?] | No |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 7200 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 6400 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 1026000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 766000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 1200 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | 2000000 |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 5 |
Verdict: Is the C970 Plus Worth It in 2026?
Buy the DAHUA C970 Plus 2 TB for a budget build that needs genuine PCIe 4.0 speed and a large capacity, whether as a game library, an archive, or a project cache, with 1,200 TBW of endurance to back it up. Skip it when many hundreds of gigabytes are written in single transfers, since the DRAM-less design settles to about 1.5 GB/s outside the SLC cache, or when brand familiarity matters, where the Crucial P310 2 TB is the safer pick. The natural rivals are the Crucial P310 2 TB and Kingston NV2 2 TB, both budget Gen4 drives. We rate the 2 TB C970 Plus an excellent value for anyone who wants a lot of fast storage without a flagship price.
+ Pros
- 2 TB capacity on a budget Gen4 drive
- Up to 7,200 MB/s reads
- Largest SLC cache in the C970 Plus line
- 1,200 TBW endurance rating
- Single-sided PCB fits laptops
- Graphene heatsink included
- Cons
- DRAM-less; sustained writes drop to ~1.5 GB/s
- HMB depends on system RAM
- Budget brand reputation vs established rivals
- No hardware encryption support
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Video Review
Dahua C970 PRO Series PCIe 4.0 SSD
