# Team Group MP33 1TB - Budget PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD (2026)

The Team Group MP33 1TB is one of the cheapest PCIe 3.0 NVMe drives on the market - Phison PS5013-E13-31 DRAM-less controller, Toshiba 3D TLC NAND, 1,800 MB/s reads, and a five-year warranty at near-SATA SSD pricing.

Quick answer: The Team Group MP33 1 TB is a sensible pick when budget is the dominant factor and capacity matters more than peak speed - typically as a boot or secondary drive in a value PC build, or as a replacement for a worn-out SATA SSD or hard drive in an older laptop or desktop. Buyers who can spend slightly more should look at the WD Blue SN570 1 TB or Crucial P3 1 TB instead - both PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less designs that offer higher peak read speeds (3,000-3,500 MB/s versus 1,800 MB/s) for typically only a small price premium. Skip the MP33 if your workload includes sustained writes greater than around 80 GB at a time, or if you need DRAM-equipped reliability under heavy random workloads. As a basic PCIe 3.0 NVMe at the lowest possible price the MP33 1 TB does the job with a five-year warranty.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 3.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Phison PS5013-E13-31 |
| Memory type | Toshiba 3D TLC |
| DRAM cache | No (HMB) |
| Sequential read | 1800 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 1500 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 220000 |
| Random write IOPS | 200000 |
| Endurance | 240 TBW |
| MTBF | 1.5 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

Manufacturer ratings for the MP33 1 TB land at 1,800 MB/s sequential reads and 1,500 MB/s sequential writes, with random performance up to 220,000 read and 200,000 write IOPS. Those numbers sit well below the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface ceiling (around 3,500 MB/s) because the Phison E13T is a four-channel controller without the parallelism of higher-end eight-channel designs. The drive's peak read speed is roughly half of what a Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB delivers, though it remains roughly three times faster than any SATA SSD.

Sustained writes show the DRAM-less HMB design's expected limitation. The drive holds peak SLC-cached writes for roughly 50-80 GB of continuous transfer on a near-empty 1 TB before the cache exhausts, after which writes drop into TLC direct-write territory around 500-700 MB/s. For boot, application, and gaming workloads that profile is invisible. For sustained capture or large file moves the limit is meaningful; the WD Blue SN570 1 TB and Crucial P3 1 TB both hold higher sustained speeds. The MP33's main strength is its consistently low retail price - typically the cheapest 1 TB NVMe on Amazon and Newegg in any given month - rather than peak performance. DirectStorage operates at PCIe 3.0 speeds well below current PCIe 4.0 alternatives.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Team Group backs the MP33 1 TB with a five-year limited warranty and a 240 TBW endurance budget per the manufacturer's official spec sheet. At a typical 10-20 GB/day desktop write workload that budget lasts roughly 33-65 years, well past the warranty period and any realistic service life. The Team Group MP33 Pro sibling carries a substantially higher 600+ TBW rating at the same capacity, useful for write-heavy workloads where the plain MP33's endurance feels tight. The published MTBF is 1.5 million hours, a population statistic across a fleet rather than a per-drive promise. Team Group handles consumer RMA through global retailer channels and the company's own support process at teamgroupinc.com - the experience is functional but slower than tier-one Western support. The five-year warranty matches the industry standard at this tier.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- Among the cheapest 1 TB NVMe drives in any month
- 5-year limited warranty
- Phison PS5013-E13-31 controller, mature firmware
- 1.5 million-hour MTBF rating
- Single-sided 2280 PCB fits any laptop M.2 slot
- Low power consumption typical of four-channel HMB design
**Cons:**

- 1,800 MB/s reads roughly half of WD Blue SN570 1 TB
- 240 TBW endurance below most current peers
- DRAM-less HMB lags DRAM-equipped peers on random writes
- Sustained writes drop to ~600 MB/s after small SLC cache
- PCIe 3.0 only, two generations behind current drives


## Verdict

The Team Group MP33 1 TB is a sensible pick when budget is the dominant factor and capacity matters more than peak speed - typically as a boot or secondary drive in a value PC build, or as a replacement for a worn-out SATA SSD or hard drive in an older laptop or desktop. Buyers who can spend slightly more should look at the WD Blue SN570 1 TB or Crucial P3 1 TB instead - both PCIe 3.0 DRAM-less designs that offer higher peak read speeds (3,000-3,500 MB/s versus 1,800 MB/s) for typically only a small price premium. Skip the MP33 if your workload includes sustained writes greater than around 80 GB at a time, or if you need DRAM-equipped reliability under heavy random workloads. As a basic PCIe 3.0 NVMe at the lowest possible price the MP33 1 TB does the job with a five-year warranty.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Is the Team Group MP33 1TB good for gaming?

It is adequate for casual gaming but trails the current segment. The MP33 1 TB delivers 1,800 MB/s sequential reads on PCIe 3.0, which is enough to load games noticeably faster than any SATA SSD but materially slower than the WD Blue SN570 1 TB at 3,500 MB/s or the WD Black SN770 1 TB at 5,150 MB/s. Game load times are acceptable rather than fast. The 1 TB capacity holds 12-18 modern triple-A games, which is decent for a gaming library. For a dedicated gaming build in 2026 the WD Black SN770 1 TB or Crucial P3 Plus 1 TB are better picks for similar money.

### Is the Team Group MP33 1TB compatible with the PS5?

No. The PS5 expansion slot requires a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD rated at 5,500 MB/s or higher sequential reads, plus the M.2 2280 form factor and dimensions within 110 x 25 x 11.25 mm including heatsink. The MP33 is a PCIe 3.0 drive rated at 1,800 MB/s reads, which fails both the interface generation and the bandwidth threshold by a wide margin. The PS5 firmware will refuse to use it for game installation. For PS5 expansion choose a verified PCIe 4.0 drive such as the WD Black SN850X, Samsung 990 Pro, or Crucial T500.

### Does the Team Group MP33 have a DRAM cache?

No. The MP33 is a DRAM-less design using Host Memory Buffer (HMB). HMB borrows a small slice of system RAM, typically 64 MB, to hold the logical-to-physical mapping table that a dedicated DRAM cache would otherwise hold. The trade-off is cost: Team Group uses the savings to position the MP33 at the bottom of the NVMe price range. The practical penalty is modest on modern Windows or Linux platforms for everyday workloads but more visible on heavy sustained random writes, NTFS metadata churn, and large indexing operations.

### What is the TBW endurance of the Team Group MP33 1 TB?

Team Group rates the 1 TB MP33 at 240 TBW (terabytes written) over the five-year warranty per the official spec sheet at teamgroupinc.com. The figure is lower than most current peers - the WD Blue SN570 1 TB rates 600 TBW, the Crucial P3 1 TB rates 220 TBW, and the Team Group MP33 Pro 1 TB rates 600 TBW. At a typical 10-20 GB/day desktop write workload the MP33's budget lasts roughly 33-65 years, well past the warranty window and realistic service life. For write-heavy workloads upgrade to the MP33 Pro or a competing higher-TBW drive.

### How does the Team Group MP33 compare to the WD Blue SN570?

The WD Blue SN570 1 TB is materially faster on raw performance. The SN570 hits 3,500 MB/s sequential reads versus the MP33's 1,800 MB/s, and 3,000 MB/s writes versus 1,500 MB/s - roughly twice the speed across the board. The SN570 also rates higher on TBW at 600 versus 240 TBW. The MP33 counters with consistently lower retail pricing and WD's broader brand recognition. For most buyers the SN570 is the clearly better PCIe 3.0 pick at 1 TB; the MP33 is the budget alternative when price is the dominant factor.

### Does the Team Group MP33 need a heatsink?

Usually no. The Phison PS5013-E13-31 is a four-channel DRAM-less design with low power consumption and minimal heat output; reviewers consistently find the MP33 avoids thermal throttling under typical workloads even bare. Desktop builds with the motherboard's M.2 heatsink will not see throttling at all. Laptops with limited slot airflow may see modest throttling on extended sustained transfers, but the MP33's low peak performance means it generates less heat to begin with. There is no PS5 install use case for this drive, so the 11.25 mm PS5 height budget is not relevant.

### Is the Team Group MP33 1 TB worth buying in 2026?

Only at the absolute lowest budget tier. The MP33 1 TB makes sense when its retail price is the lowest available 1 TB NVMe in your market and the alternatives (WD Blue SN570, Crucial P3, Kingston NV2) are noticeably more expensive at the time of purchase. If the WD Blue SN570 1 TB or Crucial P3 1 TB is within a few dollars of the MP33, choose those instead for the materially higher speeds and TBW. For PCIe 4.0 motherboards consider the cheapest budget PCIe 4.0 drive such as the MSI Spatium M450 1 TB, which will future-proof the upgrade.

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Last updated: 2026-05-17. Source: https://ssdrive.net/team-group-mp33-1-tb