Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500GB — PCIe 4.0 TLC NVMe SSD
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB is the entry point of Sabrent's enthusiast TLC PCIe 4.0 lineup — a Phison E18 controller with Micron 96L TLC NAND, but with reduced write speeds and endurance at this smallest capacity.
The Rocket 4 Plus series is built on Phison's PS5018-E18 8-channel controller, the successor to the E16, manufactured on a 12 nm process (versus the E16's 28 nm). This controller supports NVMe 1.4 and delivers substantially higher throughput. The NAND is Micron 96-layer 3D TLC, paired with SK Hynix DDR4 DRAM for the flash translation layer. The drive follows the standard M.2 2280 form factor.
The series spans 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB capacities, and performance scales with size. The 500 GB is the slowest variant: write speeds are significantly lower than the 1 TB and above, and the smaller NAND die count reduces parallelism. This capacity makes the most sense as a fast boot drive or OS + applications disk rather than bulk game storage.
Competitors at 500 GB include the Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB and the WD Black SN850X 500 GB — both TLC PCIe 4.0 drives targeting the same enthusiast segment. The Sabrent\'s advantage is competitive pricing on Amazon; its disadvantage is the 500 GB capacity itself, where even TLC drives show reduced write performance compared to their 1 TB siblings.
The 500 GB capacity uses fewer NAND die than the larger capacities, which limits write parallelism. This is the trade-off for choosing the entry-level model in a performance-oriented series. Users who need more write headroom and storage space should consider the 1 TB model, which offers meaningfully higher writes at a modest price increase.
✅ Storage Comparisons:
🚀 Performance and benchmarks
Sabrent rates the Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB at up to 7,100 MB/s sequential reads and 5,500 MB/s sequential writes, with up to 500K random read and 500K random write IOPS. These read numbers push close to the practical PCIe 4.0 x4 bandwidth ceiling, but the write speeds are the lowest in the series — the 1 TB model is rated for 6,600 MB/s writes and the 2 TB hits 7,000 MB/s.
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 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.
- PNY XLR8 CS3140 1 TB: 7,500 MB/s read, 5,650 MB/s write
- PNY XLR8 CS3140 2 TB: 7,500 MB/s read, 6,850 MB/s write
- Asgard AN4 512 GB: 7,500 MB/s read, 5,500 MB/s write
- Asgard AN4 1 TB: 7,500 MB/s read, 5,500 MB/s write
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB (this drive): 7,100 MB/s read, 5,500 MB/s write
The Phison E18 controller brings improved sustained write handling compared to the older E16. The pseudo-SLC cache on the 500 GB model absorbs moderate bursts before writes drop to native TLC speeds, which typically sustain around 800–1,200 MB/s — substantially better than QLC alternatives. For an OS boot drive with application launches, game loads, and typical desktop workloads, the Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB behaves identically to its larger siblings on read-heavy tasks. For an OS boot drive handling primarily read operations and application launches, the Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB delivers an experience that is indistinguishable from its larger capacity siblings.
🖥️ Endurance and warranty
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB is rated at 400 TBW endurance, with a five-year warranty that requires product registration within 90 days of purchase — otherwise the warranty defaults to one year. At 400 TBW, writing 219 GB per day for five years would exhaust the rated endurance, far exceeding what an OS boot drive typically writes. The drive supports S.M.A.R.T. health reporting for monitoring remaining endurance. Sabrent handles warranty claims through their support portal, and the drive ships with a license for Acronis True Image for drive cloning. The drive supports S.M.A.R.T. health reporting for monitoring remaining endurance over time.
📊 Specs
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 500 GB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 4.0 x 4 |
| Controller [?] | Phison PS5018-E18 |
| Memory type [?] | Micron 3D TLC |
| DRAM [?] | SK Hynix DDR4 Cache |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 7100 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 5500 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 500000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 500000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 400 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | n/a |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 5 |
Conclusion
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB is a fast boot drive for builders who want TLC NAND, DRAM cache, and PCIe 4.0 bandwidth without paying for capacity they do not need. Its 7,100 MB/s reads match the larger capacities, and 400 TBW is generous for an OS disk. The trade-off is reduced write speed — 5,500 MB/s versus 6,600+ on the 1 TB — and limited storage space. If you need a single drive for both OS and a game library, the 1 TB model is the better investment. If you already have bulk storage and just need a fast system drive, the 500 GB gets the job done without waste.
+ Pros
- 7,100 MB/s sequential reads near PCIe 4.0 ceiling
- Micron 96L TLC NAND for sustained write performance
- SK Hynix DDR4 DRAM cache
- Phison E18 12 nm controller with NVMe 1.4
- 5-year warranty with registration
- 400 TBW endurance adequate for boot drive use
- Cons
- Only 5,500 MB/s writes — lowest in the Plus lineup
- 500K random IOPS lower than 1 TB and 2 TB variants
- 500 GB limits use to OS and select applications
- Warranty drops to 1 year without registration
🛒 Buy this or similar SSD Storage:
✨ Video Review
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus M.2 NVMe Unboxing, Install and Test
