Mushkin Redline VORTEX PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Launched: Affordable Flagship
by Ganesh T S on March 18, 2022 6:30 AM EST
Mushkin's lineup of PCIe 4.0 SSDs has largely remained a Phison affair. The Delta series was based on the Phison E16 and the Gamma on the Phison E18. Recently, the company launched a new series of PCIe 4.0 SSDs - the Redline VORTEX. The key here seems to be the usage of a new SSD controller - the Innogrit Rainier IG5236. It appears to be taking over the flagship mantle from the Gamma - besting it in both read and write random access IOPS and also sequential read speeds. However, unlike the Delta and Gamma, which came to the market in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB flavors, the Redline VORTEX series has three capacity points - 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Detailed specifications are provided in the table below.
| Mushkin Redline VORTEX SSD Specifications | |||
| Capacity | 512 GB | 1024 GB | 2048 GB |
| Controller | Innogrit IG5236 | ||
| NAND Flash | ?? 3D TLC NAND | ||
| Form-Factor, Interface | Single-Sided M.2-2280, PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.4 | ||
| DRAM | 512 MB DDR4 | 1 GB DDR4 | 2 GB DDR4 |
| Sequential Read | 6750 MB/s | 7430 MB/s | 7415 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 2635 MB/s | 5300 MB/s | 6800 MB/s |
| Random Read IOPS | 200K | 390K | 730K |
| Random Write IOPS | 645K | 1085K | 1500K |
| SLC Caching | Yes | ||
| TCG Opal Encryption | No | ||
| Warranty | 5 years | ||
| Write Endurance | 250 TBW 0.27 DWPD |
500 TBW 0.27 DWPD |
1000 TBW 0.27 DWPD |
| MSRP | $78 (15.23¢/GB) | $125 (12.21¢/GB) | ?? |
The SSD adopts a graphene heat dissipating label for its thermal solution - typical for the price point targeted. The performance numbers (aided by dynamic SLC caching) make it suitable for content creation and gaming - workloads that typically benefit from the capabilities provided by PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Mushkin is not the first to market with the Innogrit Rainier controller. The Patriot Viper VP4300 series and the ADATA XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade were introduced late last year. While the Viper VP4300 is priced quite high, the Mushkin Redline VORTEX manages to undercut the XPG GAMMIX S70 blade by $12 at the 512GB capacity point and $5 at the 1TB point (based on current street pricing). The company is yet to announce availability and pricing for the 2TB SKU. The appearance of more affordable PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs in the market is good news for consumers.
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HammerStrike - Friday, March 18, 2022 - link
"The performance numbers (aided by dynamic SLC caching) make it sitable for content creation and gaming - workloads that typically benefit from the capabilities provided by PCIe 4.0 SSDs."Are there any benchmarks that show as notable improvement gaming for load times or frame rates / pacing with PCIe 4.0 vs 3.0 (or even SATA) SSD's? The last info I saw showed minimal benefit moving from SATA based SSD's to PCIe of any type.
shabby - Friday, March 18, 2022 - link
There isn't any, maybe half a second quicker load times but that's it.Khanan - Sunday, March 20, 2022 - link
Edge case some games you get a few seconds and that’s it. Windows doesn’t load any faster with 4.0 afaik and it’s prime time if you have many programs to just leave the pc for a a minute and come back when it’s loaded anyway.Silver5urfer - Saturday, March 19, 2022 - link
TBW is very poor for this drive. At this point if anyone asks me, I would simply point them to Samsung 980 Pro or Seagate FireCuda and SKHynix Platinum. Samsung is famous for it's top class vertical integration and quality of hardware, for PCIe 4.0 SSDs they are super cool and do not heat like WD SN850. Seagate's new entry was a big one, they not only defeated Samsung in TBW but completely went to a whole new level in performance as well (Using Micron flash). SKH is another great Vertically integration company, and their Gold SSDs are super cool operating. And their new Platinum series is exactly like 980 Pro in TBW and Perf.Rest of them are hit and miss.
Khanan - Sunday, March 20, 2022 - link
You get what you pay for, the ones that are better also cost more.sonny73n - Monday, March 28, 2022 - link
"Samsung is famous for it's top class vertical integration and quality of hardware, for PCIe 4.0 SSDs they are super cool and do not heat like WD SN850."Are you working for Samsung? Because based on a Samsung drive I currently have in my laptop now and 2 in the past, your statement is a complete misinformation. Your tactic is old and everybody knows now.
Moonub - Monday, March 21, 2022 - link
NVMe reviewers keep avoiding reviewing the S70 Blade. I notice both Anandtech and Tom’s haven’t reviewed this drive. I own one and argue it’s the best NVMe drive on the market. It is the fastest drive on most benchmarks, offers amazing real world performance and seems to have a strong SLC cache which recovers fast. It shares the same Innogrit controller as this reviewer drive, but offers faster write speeds, and higher TBW. The 2TB model is regularalt on SLAs on Amazon for $230 which makes it the most competitive 2TB price on the market, too.Cheaper, faster, and more endurance. I don’t know why it isn’t the main reference point for NVme drives.
damianrobertjones - Tuesday, March 22, 2022 - link
"make it suitable for content creation and gaming" - What if I don't create content or game? Can I still buy this drive?