Patriot P400 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Review (2026)

Name: Patriot P400 1 TB
Brand: Patriot
SKU: patriot-p400-1-tb
Rating: 4.8 (63 reviews)

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Raymond Chen

The Patriot P400 1 TB is a budget PCIe 4.0 NVMe that trades DRAM for Host Memory Buffer technology to hit a mainstream price point while still delivering respectable sequential performance.

Patriot P400 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Review

Controller & Memory

Inside the P400 you will find Innogrit's Rainier IG5220 controller paired with Micron 3D TLC NAND. This is a DRAM-less design that relies on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) — the drive borrows a small slice of system RAM for its mapping table rather than carrying its own DRAM chip. HMB drives typically run cooler and cost less than full-DRAM equivalents, though they can show slightly higher latency in random-heavy workloads.

The P400 is also available in a 512 GB capacity, and both sizes use the same single-sided M.2 2280 form factor. The single-sided layout is good news for laptop upgraders and PS5 expansion — the drive fits in thin slots without obstructing nearby components. Patriot does not include a heatsink in the box, so if you plan to push this drive with sustained transfers or install it in a PS5, you will want to budget for a low-profile M.2 cooler.

In the PCIe 4.0 budget tier, the P400 competes against drives like the WD Blue SN580, Kingston NV2, and Crucial P3. All four use DRAM-less architectures, but the P400's Innogrit controller and Micron NAND combo gives it slightly stronger endurance ratings than some QLC-based alternatives at similar prices.

Storage Comparisons:

Best Deal of 1 TB SSDs NVME Best PCIe 4.0 SSD Drive Top 2 TB SSDs

P400 Performance & Benchmarks

Patriot rates the 1 TB P400 at up to 5,000 MB/s sequential reads and 4,800 MB/s sequential writes. Random performance comes in at up to 620,000 IOPS reads and 550,000 IOPS writes. Those sequential figures put the drive squarely in the mainstream PCIe 4.0 bracket — roughly 75% of the throughput you get from flagship drives like the Samsung 990 Pro, but at less than half the price.

Performance comparison

Patriot P400 1 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
Patriot P400 1 TB (this drive): 5,000 MB/s read, 4,800 MB/s write

Real-world testing from independent reviewers consistently shows the P400 performing as advertised for everyday workloads. Game load times see modest gains over SATA and PCIe 3.0 drives, though the delta shrinks in titles that are not well-optimized for high-speed storage. Sustained write performance is where DRAM-less drives can struggle; once the SLC cache exhausts, write speeds drop. For typical consumer workloads — booting, launching apps, loading games — this limitation is rarely noticeable, but video editors working with large files may want a DRAM-equipped drive instead.

Patriot P400 vs Competitors

See how the P400 stacks up against other M.2 4.0 x 4 drives in our database:

Compare with rival drives:

ADATA XPG Gammix S50 1 TB Addlink S90 1 TB Apacer AS2280Q4 1 TB

Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Patriot backs the P400 1 TB with a 3-year warranty and an endurance rating of 800 TBW. That means you can write 800 terabytes to the drive before it falls out of warranty coverage — at a heavy 50 GB/day workload, that translates to over 43 years of use. For most users, TBW exhaustion is effectively a non-issue. The warranty length is slightly shorter than the 5-year coverage offered by premium drives, but typical for the budget segment. RMA processing goes through Patriot rather than the retailer, so keep your purchase receipt handy if you ever need to make a claim.

Patriot P400 1 TB Specifications

Category	Value
Capacity [?]	1 TB
Interface [?]	M.2 4.0 x 4
Controller [?]	Innogrit Rainier IG5220
Memory type [?]	Micron 3D TLC
DRAM [?]	HMB
Read speed (MB/s) [?]	5000
Write speed (MB/s) [?]	4800
Read IOPS [?]	620000
Write IOPS [?]	550000
Endurance (TBW) [?]	800
MTBF (million hours) [?]	1500000
Warranty (years) [?]	3

Verdict: Is the P400 Worth It in 2026?

Buy the Patriot P400 1 TB if you need a PCIe 4.0 boot drive on a tight budget and want better endurance than the cheapest QLC options. Skip it if you regularly move hundreds of gigabytes at a time or need the lowest possible latency for database work — a DRAM-equipped drive like the WD Black SN850X or Sabrent Rocket 4 is worth the extra cost in those cases. For most gamers and general-purpose users, the P400 hits a solid value sweet spot.

+ Pros

5,000 MB/s sequential reads on PCIe 4.0
800 TBW endurance for the 1 TB model
Single-sided PCB fits PS5 and thin laptops
DRAM-less HMB design runs cool and efficient
Innogrit IG5220 controller with Micron TLC NAND

- Cons

No included heatsink
Slower sustained writes after SLC cache fills
3-year warranty is shorter than premium competitors
HMB adds slight random latency vs full DRAM

4.8 / 5 · 63 votes

Buy this or similar SSD Storage:

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Video Review

How fast is this DRAM-less SSD? Patriot P400 1TB NVMe SSD Review

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, the Patriot P400 1 TB is perfectly adequate for gaming. PCIe 4.0 drives offer reduced load times compared to SATA and PCIe 3.0, though the difference in real-world gaming is typically a second or two rather than a dramatic transformation. The 5,000 MB/s sequential speed and 620,000 read IOPS are more than enough for modern game launch times. If you are upgrading from a SATA SSD or an older NVMe, you will notice snappier level loading. The real gaming bottleneck is rarely storage speed once you are on NVMe — the gains come from faster CPU, GPU, and RAM.

The Patriot P400 meets Sony's published requirements for PS5 storage expansion: it is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive with read speeds well above the 5,500 MB/s recommended threshold. However, the P400 does not ship with a heatsink, and Sony strongly recommends using one to prevent thermal throttling. You will need to add a low-profile M.2 heatsink before installing it in your PS5. The single-sided PCB design is helpful here — the drive fits easily within the PS5's 110 mm length limit. While Sony does not maintain an official compatibility list for every specific model, the P400's spec profile is consistent with drives that work well in the console.

The Patriot P400 does not have a dedicated DRAM cache chip. Instead, it uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, which borrows a small amount of your system RAM (typically around 50 MB) for the drive's mapping table. This approach reduces cost and power consumption compared to full-DRAM designs. HMB drives perform very well for typical consumer workloads, though they can show higher latency in heavy random write scenarios compared to DRAM-equipped drives. For everyday use, you probably will not notice the difference.

The Patriot P400 1 TB is rated for 800 TBW (terabytes written). This figure represents the total amount of data you can write to the drive before its warranty expires. To put that in perspective, writing 50 GB every single day would take over 43 years to reach 800 TBW. Even heavier workloads of 100 GB/day would last more than 20 years. For typical consumer use — gaming, office work, content creation — endurance is effectively a non-concern. TBW becomes more relevant in enterprise environments or for scratch disks used in professional video editing.

The Patriot P400 does not strictly require a heatsink for normal operation, but adding one can help maintain consistent performance under sustained load. DRAM-less drives like the P400 generally run cooler than high-end drives with power-hungry controllers, so light workloads will be fine without active cooling. However, if you plan to use the drive in a PS5, a heatsink is strongly recommended by Sony. Laptop users should check whether their system has a built-in M.2 thermal pad or heat spreader. Desktop users with good case airflow may not need anything extra, but a slim heatsink is cheap insurance against thermal throttling during long file transfers.

The Patriot P400 and WD Blue SN580 are both budget PCIe 4.0 DRAM-less drives targeting the same price point. Both use Host Memory Buffer instead of onboard DRAM, and both offer similar sequential speeds around 5,000 MB/s. The P400 is rated for 800 TBW endurance on the 1 TB model, while the SN580 is rated for 600 TBW — that is a meaningful advantage if you write large files frequently. Controller architecture differs, with Patriot using Innogrit's IG5220 and WD using its own Silicon Edge design. Real-world performance is comparable, so the decision often comes down to pricing at the time of purchase and brand warranty service reputation.