# Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB Review — The PCIe 4.0 Pioneer, Revisited (2026)

The Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500 GB was one of the first PCIe 4.0 drives to hit the market in 2019, and while it has long since been overtaken by faster hardware, its copper heatsink and 850 TBW endurance rating still give it a niche worth understanding.

Quick answer: The Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500 GB in 2026 is a niche buy. It makes sense if you find it at a steep clearance discount, need a reliable boot drive with a genuine DRAM cache and a copper heatsink, and do not care that modern PCIe 4.0 drives are faster. It is a poor choice if you need laptop compatibility (the heatsink is too thick), if you do frequent large file transfers (2,500 MB/s writes are slow by current standards), or if you are buying at a price close to a newer Phison E18 or E21T-based drive. The Aorus Gen4 was good in 2019; in 2026 it is a budget curiosity with a great heatsink.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 500 GB |
| Interface | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Phison PS5016-E16 8 Channel |
| Memory type | Kioxia 96-L TLC |
| DRAM cache | Yes |
| Sequential read | 5000 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 2500 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 400000 |
| Random write IOPS | 550000 |
| Endurance | 850 TBW |
| MTBF | 1800000 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

Rated at 5,000 MB/s sequential reads and 2,500 MB/s sequential writes, the 500 GB Aorus Gen4 delivers first-gen PCIe 4.0 throughput that has since been surpassed by mainstream DRAM-less drives. Random IOPS are 400,000 reads and 550,000 writes — the write IOPS advantage over reads is unusual and reflects the E16 controller's architecture and the 500 GB capacity's NAND configuration.

In real-world use, the 5,000 MB/s reads still handle gaming, boot, and general productivity without issue. The 2,500 MB/s writes are the capacity-specific limitation: at 500 GB, the reduced NAND parallelism means large file writes take roughly twice as long as they would on the 1 TB variant. For a boot drive or a light-use system this is acceptable; for anything involving frequent large transfers, the 500 GB Aorus Gen4 is the wrong tool at any price. The copper heatsink does its job — the drive is thermally stable under load — but the E16 controller on 28 nm draws more power than modern alternatives, so the cooling is necessary, not decorative.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Gigabyte backs the Aorus Gen4 500 GB with a 5-year warranty limited by 850 TBW of endurance. At 20 GB of writes per day — a realistic figure for a 500 GB boot drive — the endurance budget stretches to over 115 years. The 1.8 million hour MTBF is in line with enterprise-adjacent consumer drives of its era. The 5-year warranty from Gigabyte's established RMA infrastructure is one of the strongest arguments for this drive over no-name alternatives: if it fails, you can reach someone who will process the claim.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- Full copper heatsink with 27 fins — genuine thermal performance, not cosmetic
- 5,000 MB/s reads with a dedicated DDR4 DRAM cache
- 850 TBW endurance rating — strong for a 500 GB drive
- 5-year warranty backed by Gigabyte's established RMA infrastructure
- 8-channel Phison E16 controller with proven firmware maturity
**Cons:**

- 2,500 MB/s writes — half the speed of the 1 TB variant due to reduced NAND parallelism
- 11.4 mm thick with heatsink — not compatible with laptops or the PS5
- First-gen PCIe 4.0 power draw and thermals are worse than modern alternatives
- Outperformed by current-generation DRAM-less budget drives in sequential throughput


## Verdict

The Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500 GB in 2026 is a niche buy. It makes sense if you find it at a steep clearance discount, need a reliable boot drive with a genuine DRAM cache and a copper heatsink, and do not care that modern PCIe 4.0 drives are faster. It is a poor choice if you need laptop compatibility (the heatsink is too thick), if you do frequent large file transfers (2,500 MB/s writes are slow by current standards), or if you are buying at a price close to a newer Phison E18 or E21T-based drive. The Aorus Gen4 was good in 2019; in 2026 it is a budget curiosity with a great heatsink.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB have a DRAM cache?

Yes. The Phison E16 controller includes a dedicated DDR4 DRAM cache, which was standard for first-gen PCIe 4.0 flagships and remains an advantage over DRAM-less HMB designs. The DRAM cache keeps the logical-to-physical mapping table on the drive itself, improving random I/O consistency and reducing latency under mixed workloads compared to HMB-based alternatives.

### Does the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB work in a laptop?

Almost certainly not. The copper heatsink makes the total assembly 11.4 mm thick, which exceeds the clearance of essentially every laptop M.2 slot. The drive is designed for desktop use with adequate case airflow. If you need a laptop-compatible PCIe 4.0 drive, look for a single-sided M.2 2280 design without a pre-installed heatsink.

### What is the TBW endurance of the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB?

Gigabyte rates the 500 GB model at 850 TBW, which is a strong figure for this capacity — many modern 500 GB drives carry 300–600 TBW ratings. At a typical desktop workload of 20 GB per day, 850 TBW provides over 115 years of endurance. The 1 TB model offers 1,800 TBW, and the 2 TB model 3,600 TBW.

### Is the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB good for gaming?

For gaming, the 5,000 MB/s reads are more than sufficient — game load times and texture streaming will be indistinguishable from faster PCIe 4.0 drives. The 2,500 MB/s writes only matter during game installation, where they will be noticeably slower than modern alternatives. Once games are installed, read performance dominates, and the Aorus Gen4 handles that capably.

### Why is the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 500GB write speed only 2,500 MB/s?

The 500 GB capacity has fewer NAND dies than the 1 TB and 2 TB variants, which reduces the controller's ability to parallelise write operations. This is a common characteristic of smaller-capacity SSDs: the 500 GB model writes at 2,500 MB/s, while the 1 TB reaches 4,400 MB/s and the 2 TB also hits 4,400 MB/s. If write speed matters for your workload, the 1 TB or 2 TB capacities are the better choice.

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Last updated: 2026-08-12. Source: https://ssdrive.net/gigabyte-aorus-gen4-500-gb