INTRODUCTION

   When the very first M.2 NVMe solid state drives were released into the market roughly 4 years ago they introduced superior read & write performance, compact size and increased temperatures. Regular M.2 SATA drives also always had a slight problem with increased temperature levels (as expected due to the lack of an external aluminum enclosure, something that we've always seen with regular 2.5" models) but because of their performance levels NVMe models took that to a whole new level resulting in noticeable thermal throttling under heavy workloads. The solution came shortly after in the form of small heatspreaders not only from third party manufacturers like EK Waterblocks and Alphacool but also mainboard manufacturers which started to place such heatspreaders in their bundles (primarily with their high-end mainboard models). Strangely enough we've yet to see the release of many M.2 NVMe models with factory mounted heatspreaders but PATRIOT did exactly that with their latest Viper VPN100 model and today we're checking it out.

   Viper Gaming is a brand of Patriot Memory LLC, a global leader in performance memory, SSD's and flash storage solutions. Viper Gaming was established in 2007 with the unveiling of the well-known, top-tier line of computer memory. Since then, the Viper Gaming brand has become synonymous with elite performance and reliability among gamers worldwide. In 2015, Viper Gaming decided to expand its product categories to include gaming keyboards, headsets and mice. Offering entry, mid-level and high-end solutions with rich feature sets that won't break the bank, Viper Gaming's award-winning peripherals provide gamers everywhere the best price-for-performance and reliability that enables every Viper Gamer to dominate in their sport.

   Just like the P34A80 by Silicon Power which we reviewed a couple of days ago and the MP510 by CORSAIR the VPN100 by Patriot/Viper (available in 256GB/512GB/1TB/2TB capacities) is also based on the E12 high performance controller by Phison (PS5012-E12 / Gen3x4 NVMe 1.3 interface) paired with Toshiba 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC NAND flash and 512MB DDR4 SDRAM by SKhynix. In terms of performance this combination allows the 256GB model which we have here to hit speeds of up to 3000MB/s in read and 1000MB/s in write so it quite a bit far from the performance of the other 3 models (3300-2200MB/s for the 512GB model, 3450-3000MB/s for the 1TB model and 3400-3200MB/s for the 2TB model). The firmware of the Phison PS5012-E12 controller used here is also updated to version ECFM12.1 (just like the one used in the P34A80) and features a total of eight NAND channels with 32 CE targets, supports up to 8TB of NAND and packs several interesting technologies aimed at both high performance and reliability including as StrongECC, SmartRefresh, SmartFlush, end-to-end data protection, thermal monitoring, AES-256 encryption and TCG Pyrite/OPAL support. The entire VPN100 line also features external thermal sensors and large aluminum heatspreaders/heatshields, is covered by a 3-year limited warranty and in terms of durability/endurance Patriot/Viper Gaming report numbers of up to 380TBW for the 256GB model, 800TBW for the 512GB model, 1665TBW for the 1TB model and 3115TBW for the 2TB model.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Patriot/Viper Gaming packs the VPN100 M.2 NVMe SSD inside a small black and red box that has a large product picture at the front right over the advertised drive performance (max) and capacity.

The front opens up to reveal a few words about the product on one side and the product itself behind a clear plastic window on the other.

The product features and specifications are printed at the rear of the box in 9 languages right over contact information about Patriot/Viper Gaming.

Just the VPN100 M.2 NVMe SSD is contained inside the box.

THE VPN100 256GB

The VPN100 is yet another 2280 sized M.2 NVMe drive but with a large heatsink on top which pushes its height to 1.05cm and weight to around 25g (unfortunately removing the heatspreader/heatshield proved hard but the components and layout should be almost identical to the P34A80, minus the capacity of the NAND flash modules that is).

Two stickers located on the other side of the PCB have the drive capacity, serial number, part number, certifications and 2D barcode on them.

PATRIOT PCIE TOOLBOX V1.2

You can download the latest version of Patriot's Toolbox from the product page seen above.

The toolbox software allows the end user to see the installed firmware version, drive serial number, number of hours the drive has been used, both the status of its endurance and TRIM and the usable capacity (238GB for this sample).

SMART information about the drive can also be accessed from within the toolbox.

There's also a handy secure erase tab from where you can do exactly that.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After almost 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

   When Patriot informed us that they were sending the 256GB variant of the VPN100 (due to stock issues, we will however try to also get one of its higher capacity brothers) we weren’t very thrilled mainly because we knew it couldn’t compete with the higher capacity models we’ve had by other manufacturers. Still this proved to be a good thing since today we know just how much of a performance gap (primarily in writes) an 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD based on the E12 controller by Phison has compared to an 1TB model. Higher capacity SSDs have always enjoyed better performance numbers but in this case the difference proved to be quite massive in some of our tests (as much as 1/3rd) although the VPN100 256GB is still much faster compared to regular M.2 SATA models. As for the heatspreader/heatshield it did make a difference in our SNIA tests (solely based on the temperatures on the drive) but since this isn’t a 1TB model we really can’t say by how much (although the base of the 1/2TB models doesn’t feature a heatspreader/heatshield).

   The pre-mounted heatsink/heatshield of the VPN100 M.2 NVMe by Patriot/Viper Gaming should cause the cost of the drive to increase but it didn’t, not really since you can currently find the 256GB variant for USD54.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 52Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Of course, there are a few lower cost NVMe drives in the market like the P34A80 256GB but the latest models from for example Samsung and WD cost quite a bit more and so we think that price is just right for what you’re getting. Long story short if you’re looking for a small capacity yet very fast M.2 NVMe drive and your mainboard didn’t come with a bundled heatspreader the Viper VPN100 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD by Patriot is a safe bet and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Performance (Up To 3200MB/s Read & 1000MB/s Write for The 256GB Model)
- 3 Year Warranty
- Heatspreader/Heatshield
- Temperature Sensor
- Looks
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Performance (Compared to Its Higher Capacity Brothers)
- Warranty Period (Competing Products Carry Longer Ones)