The TeamGroup MP44Q (starts at $69.99 for 1TB; $129.99 for 2TB as tested) does very well as a budget internal solid-state drive (SSD). It is competitively priced and holds its own in our performance benchmarks against a set of drives with similar rated speeds, many of which cost significantly more. The MP44Q also has a surprisingly good durability rating for a QLC-based drive. Although it lacks the backup software and security features mostly found in higher-priced drives, as well as a full-fledged heatsink, this Editors' Choice-winning budget SSD is an excellent value among PCI Express (PCIe) 4.0 drives.
Design: Surprisingly Durable QLC Memory
This SSD is built in the M.2 Type-2280 "gumstick" form factor common among today's internal SSDs. It employs the NVMe 1.4 protocol over its PCIe 4.0 bus. (Baffled by some of these terms? Check out our glossary of SSD terminology.)
The MP44Q is a four-lane PCI Express (PCIe) 4.0 drive, employing YMTC 232-layer quad-level cell (QLC) 3D NAND flash memory and a MaxioTech MAP1602A Falcon Lite controller. Maxio specializes in making controllers that lack a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) cache. DRAM-less SSDs such as the MP44Q utilize the computer's own memory (host memory buffer, or HMB) instead. Both the DRAM-less architecture and QLC NAND help keep the MP44Q's price down.
To help cool the drive, the MP44Q is equipped with a graphene heat-spreader sticker affixed to the top. TeamGroup promotes this as an enhancement to the heat dissipation of a motherboard's own heatsink rather than a substitute for a heatsink, though. You will want to get a third-party cooler if your motherboard doesn't have an SSD heatsink over the M.2 slot you mean to use. When equipped with a compact (that is, low-profile) heatsink, it should fit the spare M.2 slot in a Sony PlayStation 5—it easily meets Sony's requirements for a PS5-friendly SSD. (Just be sure that the drive with heatsink attached doesn't exceed the 11.25mm maximum height to fit in the PS5's case.)
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TeamGroup MP44
The MP44Q is competitively priced, listing at very similar prices to the TeamGroup MP44 for the capacities they share; the MP44 also comes in an 8TB stick, which is nearly double the cost per gigabyte of the smaller capacities.
Solid-state drives based on QLC NAND flash memory tend to be less durable for heavy write activity than either TLC or MLC drives, as indicated by lower terabytes written (TBW) ratings. The MP44Q is a welcome exception to this trend, with much better durability than most QLC SSDs. For example, the Sabrent Rocket Q4 is rated at 200TBW for its 1TB model, 400TBW for 2TB, and 800TBW for 4TB. The Crucial P310 is rated at 220TBW for 1TB and 440TBW for 2TB, while the Corsair MP600 Core XT's ratings are 250TBW for 1TB, 450TBW for 2TB, and 900TBW for 4TB.
Durability ratings for TLC drives are much higher; the ADATA Legend 850, for instance, is rated at 1,000TBW (1TB) and 2,000TBW (2TB), and TeamGroup's TLC-based MP44 is rated at 1,450TBW for 1TB, 2,500TBW for 2TB, 3,000 for 4TB, and 6,000TBW for its 8TB stick.
The terabytes-written spec is a manufacturer's estimate of how much data can be written to a drive before some cells begin to fail and get taken out of service. TeamGroup covers the MP44Q with five years of warranty or until you hit the rated TBW figure in data writes, whichever comes first.
Testing the MP44Q: Exceptional Results for a Low-Priced SSD
We test PCIe 4.0 internal SSDs using a desktop testbed with an MSI X570 motherboard and AMD Ryzen CPU, 16GB of Corsair Dominator DDR4 memory clocked to 3,600MHz, and a discrete Nvidia GeForce graphics card.
We put the MP44Q through our usual suite of solid-state drive benchmarks, comprising Crystal DiskMark 6.0, PCMark 10 Storage, and 3DMark Storage. Crystal DiskMark's sequential speed tests provide a traditional measure of drive throughput, simulating best-case, straight-line transfers of large files. As comparison drives, we included other PCI Express 4 SSDs with elite throughput speeds similar to that of the MP44Q and added the Samsung SSD 990 EVO, our previous overall budget PCIe 4.0 SSD champ.
In Crystal DiskMark's throughput testing, the MP44Q effectively matched its rated sequential read and write speeds. Crystal DiskMark's 4K read test measures how long it takes to access a group of files in 4K cluster sizes. The MP44Q's read score on this test was near the top of a narrow range of scores tallied by our group of comparison drives, and its 4K write score was in the middle of the pack. Notably, the MP44Q's 4K write score was considerably better than that of the MP44, which is essentially the same drive except that it employs triple-level-cell (TLC) NAND flash memory instead of QLC. Good 4K write performance is especially important for an SSD used as a boot drive. (Note: We test internal SSDs installed as secondary data drives.)
The PCMark 10 Overall Storage test measures a drive's speed in performing various routine tasks such as launching Windows, loading games and creative applications, and copying both small and large files. The MP44Q turned in an average Overall Storage Test score among our comparison group.
The MP44Q turned in solid results in the individual PCMark traces, which are simulated tasks that comprise the individual components that go into the Overall Storage Test score. It tied for the high score among our group in the Windows bootup trace and held its own on the other trials.
In 3DMark Storage, which measures an SSD's proficiency in performing a variety of gaming-related tasks, the MP44Q's score was in the lower middle of the pack, below the MP44 but above the Samsung SSD 990 EVO.
Verdict: A Plain, Wallet-Friendly SSD Built for Speed
What the TeamGroup MP44Q may lack in features, it more than makes up for in its performance-to-price ratio, holding its own in our benchmarking amid a group of elite PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
When we reviewed the TeamGroup MP44 in early 2024, we noted that a common concern with DRAM-less SSDs is that their write speeds could take a hit with large transfers compared with drives that have an internal DRAM cache, and the MP44's results on our tests seem to bear that out. However, the MP44Q's results on Crystal DiskMark's 4K write test and the PCMark 10 small-file copy test were much better than the MP44's, so we'll hold off on passing a verdict on that matter.
The Samsung SSD 990 EVO, our previous Editors' Choice winner for budget PCIe 4.0 internal SSDs, did better than the MP44Q on the small-file copy test but fell well short of the MP44Q on nearly every other trace test. The MP44Q has much higher throughput speeds than the SSD 990 EVO and posted better scores on both the Crystal DiskMark 4K read and write tests.
Overall, the MP44Q is an excellent performer for its price. It lacks a full-fledged heatsink, so you'll want to use your motherboard's heatsink or get a third-party model. (If it's short enough, it will even fit a PS5.) If you want an 8TB stick, you'll have to look to the likes of the MP44, though you'll pay a precious premium for it. If you need security features and backup software in a budget SSD, the SSD 990 EVO is the way to go. But the MP44Q's performance for its price makes it worthy of our Editors' Choice award as a budget internal SSD.
The TeamGroup MP44Q doesn't provide any extras beyond its graphene heat spreader, but this DRAM-less, QLC-based internal SSD boasts winning performance at a bargain price.
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