# Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB Review — Flagship Speed, DRAM-Less Board (2026)

The refreshed Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB drops the DRAM, goes single-sided and keeps 7,400/6,400 MB/s Gen4 ratings — TweakTown ranked it among the best Gen4 drives.

Quick answer: The Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB is the pick for buyers who want top-of-class Gen4 speed in a single-sided, laptop-and-PS5-friendly package and can live with DRAM-less sustained behavior — TweakTown's ranking of it among the best Gen4 drives is consistent with both its silicon and its measured results. Skip it for heavy sustained writing, where the WD Black SN850X's DRAM cache holds its pace long after the Rocket 4's pseudo-SLC cache empties. Corsair's MP600 Elite pairs identical hardware and deserves a price comparison before committing. As the DRAM-less refresh of a legacy name, the Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB finally makes that name mean something again — with the usual Sabrent premium attached.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Phison PS5027-E27T |
| Memory type | Kioxia BiCS6 TLC |
| DRAM cache | No |
| Sequential read | 7400 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 6400 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 1000000 |
| Random write IOPS | 950000 |
| Endurance | 600 TBW |
| MTBF |  |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

Sabrent rates the refreshed 1 TB Rocket 4 at 7,400 MB/s sequential reads, 6,400 MB/s writes, 1,000K random-read IOPS and 950K random-write IOPS — figures its official listing shares across both capacities of the line.

Independent testing gives the ratings real texture. TweakTown's 1 TB review measured 104 MB/s at 4K Q1T1 — the strongest low-queue random-read figure the outlet had recorded from a DRAM-less drive — and the platform's Phison-origin I/O+ and DirectStorage support put the drive among the Gen4 models best prepared for modern game-streaming features. Tom's Hardware's testing of the 2 TB sibling confirmed the efficiency story, with power draw beating the Crucial T500. In TweakTown's PS5 testing the drive read at 6,497 MB/s, comfortably above Sony's 5,500 MB/s recommendation.

The DRAM-less trade appears exactly where expected: sustained writes. A pseudo-SLC cache absorbs bursts at full speed, and once it fills, throughput settles well below the 6,400 MB/s headline — TweakTown's post-cache charts were unflattering, as they are for every drive on this platform. For boot-and-games duty the cache rarely empties; for scratch-disk or backup workloads, a DRAM-equipped rival such as the SN850X holds its speed longer. Nothing about the ratings suggests more than the platform delivers, and the platform delivers at the top of the DRAM-less class.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Sabrent warrants the Rocket 4 1TB for five years, and the current product listing states explicitly that no registration is required — a welcome change from older Sabrent SSDs, which needed registration to unlock the full term. The endurance picture is less explicit: Sabrent's product pages leave TBW unpublished for this revision. Tom's Hardware's launch coverage of the refresh put the allocation at 600 TBW per 1 TB of capacity — 600 TBW at this size — and that figure is the best capacity-specific number available. At 20 GB of writes per day, 600 TBW stretches past 80 years, so the warranty term, not the flash, is the practical limit. The MTBF figure is unpublished, and claims run directly through Sabrent's US-based support, a channel with a generally responsive reputation among enthusiasts, subject to standard proof-of-purchase practice.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- 7,400/6,400 MB/s Gen4 ratings
- Single-sided PCB suits laptops and PS5
- 1,000K/950K rated random IOPS
- 5-year warranty, no registration needed
- Lower power draw than Crucial T500
- 104 MB/s 4K Q1T1 in TweakTown testing
**Cons:**

- DRAM-less: HMB instead of onboard cache
- Sustained writes fall once the pSLC cache fills
- No TBW figure published by Sabrent
- No heatsink included


## Verdict

The Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB is the pick for buyers who want top-of-class Gen4 speed in a single-sided, laptop-and-PS5-friendly package and can live with DRAM-less sustained behavior — TweakTown's ranking of it among the best Gen4 drives is consistent with both its silicon and its measured results. Skip it for heavy sustained writing, where the WD Black SN850X's DRAM cache holds its pace long after the Rocket 4's pseudo-SLC cache empties. Corsair's MP600 Elite pairs identical hardware and deserves a price comparison before committing. As the DRAM-less refresh of a legacy name, the Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB finally makes that name mean something again — with the usual Sabrent premium attached.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB compatible with the PS5?

Yes, subject to adding a heatsink. Sony recommends a PCIe 4.0 drive reading at least 5,500 MB/s with cooling attached, within dimensions of 110 x 25 x 11.25 mm. The Rocket 4 1TB rates 7,400 MB/s reads, its single-sided board fits the size limit easily, and TweakTown's PS5 testing measured 6,497 MB/s on the platform — well above the guidance. The drive ships bare, so budget for a low-profile PS5-compatible heatsink. One terabyte is also workable console capacity, though 2 TB suits larger libraries better.

### Is the Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB good for gaming?

Yes — that is this revision's core audience. The 7,400 MB/s read rating is at the PCIe 4.0 ceiling, TweakTown measured 104 MB/s at 4K Q1T1, the best low-queue random-read result it had recorded from a DRAM-less drive, and the platform supports DirectStorage for games built on it. One terabyte holds an operating system plus a rotating library, and the drive's low power draw suits handhelds and small builds. Sustained-write weakness barely touches gaming, since installs are bursts; the DRAM-less design only shows in long, cache-busting transfers.

### Does the Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB have a DRAM cache?

No — this is the biggest change from the original. The refreshed Rocket 4 (SKUs SB-RKT4L-1TB and SB-RKT4L-2TB) uses Phison's DRAM-less PS5027-E27T controller with Host Memory Buffer holding the translation tables in system RAM, paired with Kioxia BiCS6 TLC. The 2020 original used a DRAM-equipped E16 design; the Rocket 4 Plus line still carries DRAM on Phison's E18. Despite losing the cache, the refresh's rated speeds and measured low-queue random reads improved over the old drive — TweakTown's verdict placed it among the best Gen4 drives available.

### What is the TBW endurance of the Rocket 4 1TB?

Sabrent's own product pages do not publish a TBW figure for this revision, which is unusual and worth knowing. The best capacity-specific data comes from Tom's Hardware's launch coverage of the refresh, which put the endurance allocation at 600 TBW per 1 TB of capacity — hence 600 TBW here, doubling to 1,200 TBW on the 2 TB model. For scale, at 20 GB of writes per day the 600 TBW budget lasts more than 80 years, so the five-year warranty is the practical limit. The original 2020 Rocket 4 carried a higher 1,800 TBW rating at 1 TB.

### Sabrent Rocket 4 or Rocket 4 Plus — what is the difference?

They are different drives sharing a name. The current Rocket 4 (SB-RKT4L) is the 2024-refresh: Phison's DRAM-less E27T controller, Kioxia BiCS6 TLC, single-sided PCB, capacities of 1 TB and 2 TB, rated 7,400/6,400 MB/s. The Rocket 4 Plus is the older flagship: Phison's DRAM-equipped E18 controller, Micron 176-layer TLC, double-sided at higher capacities, a range stretching from 500 GB to 8 TB, and the line's highest endurance ratings. Choose the Plus for sustained-heavy work and capacities beyond 2 TB; choose the refreshed Rocket 4 for efficiency, laptops, the PS5 and lower price.

### Sabrent Rocket 4 1TB or Corsair MP600 Elite 1TB?

They share the same platform — Phison's E27T controller and Kioxia BiCS6 TLC — so peak performance is effectively identical, and TweakTown's reviews treated them as inseparable on speed. The differences are packaging and brand terms: Corsair frequently prices the MP600 Elite lower and offers it in more retail channels, while Sabrent answers with its no-registration five-year warranty, US-based support and the single-sided, efficiency-tuned implementation Tom's Hardware highlighted. Since the silicon is the same, price should decide this comparison; whichever costs less on the day is the rational buy.

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Last updated: 2026-09-09. Source: https://ssdrive.net/sabrent-rocket-4-1-tb