INTRODUCTION

   M.2 NVMe solid state drives may not lead the market in terms of sales (not yet at least) but thanks to all the recent price drops they are not only the number one choice currently among both professionals and enthusiasts but also among gamers. This is also why there's not a single SSD manufacturer (or company that sells rebranded models) in the entire world that doesn't have at least one NVMe SSD model currently in the market. Of course, not all NVMe SSDs are created equal and so just like with 2.5" SSDs there are numerous models available in the market for all target audiences and pockets. Patriot hasn't been particularly active in the M.2 market but they did release their very own NVMe model last year called the Scorch and today with us we finally have the 512GB version.

   Patriot started in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. We dedicate ourselves to being the brand of choice for the tech industry with a high commitment to quality and outstanding customer service. Patriot Memory designs, manufactures and markets high performance memory modules, flash memory, mobile accessories and gaming equipment. Here at Patriot, we pride ourselves in developing new and innovative products that offer a sleek, modern and functional design. Along with high quality and innovative designs, our products come backed with our industry leading warranty and top of the line customer support. We ensure that every product meets or exceeds our high level of standards. For memory, that process begins with using high-quality components and ends with rigorous functional testing to ensure each module is reliable and compatible. All of our tests include real world stress tests, drop tests and over charge tests as well. We do all of this so you can rest assured that you'll be receiving a high quality product.

   The Patriot Scorch M.2 NVMe SSD (currently available in 128/256/512GB capacities) combines the Phison PS5008-E8 quad-channel NAND flash controller with Toshiba's 64-layer 256Gb BiCS 3D TLC NAND flash memory and a single LPDDR3 RAM module (256MB for the 128/256GB models and 512MB for the 512GB model). The PS5008-E8 NVMe v1.2 NAND flash controller by Phison supports several technologies including end-to-end data protection, SmartFlush (minimizes In-Flight data loss due to unexpected power loss), SmartECC (Strong ECC and RAID ECC), Smart Refresh, thermal-protection and self-encryption (supports AES, TCG-OPAL and TCG-Pyrite). In terms of performance Patriot states sequential read numbers of up to 1700MB/s for all models while write numbers vary according to capacity (415MB/s for the 128GB model, 780MB/s for the 256GB model and 950MB/s for the 512GB model). As for durability/endurance Patriot reports 75TBW for the 128GB model, 150TBW for the 256GB model and 300TBW for the 512GB model (all models are covered by a 3 year limited warranty).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE SCORCH 512GB M.2 NVME

The Scorch SSD is placed in a blister pack that has the product name, specs and capacity at the front.

Printed at the rear of the package are the product features in 9 languages.

The Scorch follows the typical 2280 form factor (80mm long and 22mm wide).

Removing the sticker at the top of the drive reveals 4 Toshiba 3D TLC NAND flash modules (each 128GB in capacity), the Phison PS5008-E8 quad-channel controller and a 512MB LPDDR3 RAM module.

Since this is a single side model no modules are placed on the opposite side.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After just over 10 years of testing solid state drives we’ve concluded that it's almost impossible for any single benchmark suite to accurately measure their performance and that's why in certain benchmark suites we see amazing read/write performance numbers with some drives while in others things are quite different. The reason behind this is that some benchmarking suites are configured to read and write random chunks of data while others read and write constant (sequential) ones. So that's why i always use a very wide selection of benchmarking suites including AIDA64, HD Tach RW, HD Tune Pro, Crystal Disk Mark, Sisoftware Sandra Pro, AS SSD, IOmeter and ATTO. To get the most accurate results each test gets repeated a total of 6 times with the average performance numbers recorded into our charts*. Also as of February 25th 2015 our results will also include the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) IOMeter tests. These tests include a 12 Hour write test used to “simulate” performance degradation over time and a mixed workload test which basically shows what you can expect when using an SSD continuously for roughly two hours. Unfortunately due to the time required for these tests we repeat them a total of 3 times and not 6 as the above.

   Many people have made inquiries about our charts in the past so once again please do keep in mind that the Charts have the average performance numbers of each drive recorded and not the peak (highest) ones. Also although every single one of these programs can help potential buyers choose the right drive for their needs you should also remember that from any kind of benchmark up to real world usage the gap is not small (and usually most differences will go unnoticed by most people). All tests were performed in a fresh Windows 10 Pro x64 installation with every update installed up to December 6th 2018.

* Since November 2018 our SSD comparison charts have been divided to 2.5” and M.2 ones to reduce their growing size.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

TEST RESULTS – AS SSD / IOMETER

TEST RESULTS – IOMETER SNIA

CONCLUSION

   After removing the sticker from the top of the drive and checking its hardware configuration it’s quite clear that the Scorch M.2 NVMe SSD by Patriot is very similar to the A1000 M.2 NVMe model by Kingston (as is the MyDigitalSSD SBX 512GB model – unfortunately although their reported numbers are somewhat impressive for an affordable NVMe model MyDigitalSSD has yet to send any samples over to us so we can’t comment on performance). Unlike the Scorch however the A1000 has a good amount of over-provisioning (should be set at roughly 32GB) which is probably why the latter comes up on top in some of our tests (various firmware differences/tweaks are obviously also at play). Of course once again during our SNIA tests we did encounter slight thermal throttling but that’s not something new.

   The Patriot Scorch 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD currently retails for USD81.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 89.99Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag that lands it right next to the Kingston A1000 480GB model. With that in mind you need to decide if you want the slight performance edge and the 5-year warranty of the A1000 model or the extra 32GB of space the Scorch offers. With that out of the way the Scorch 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD may not offer the same complete package as the A1000 at the same price point but it does come close which is why we do recommend checking it out if you’re in the market for an affordable model.

PROS

- Good Overall Performance (1700MB/s Read & 950MB/s Write)
- Endurance Numbers (300TBW)
- 3 Years Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Thermal Throttling