By Recently, our test portals have been overrun by PCIe 4.0 HMB NVMe SSDs. Although the Teamgroup T-Create C47 is unquestionably one of the best, it performed poorly in our 450GB write and synthetic benchmarks.
Nevertheless, in our 48GB transfer testing, it placed second among PCIe 4.0 HMB drives and does a remarkable job of supporting extended writes. It is worthy of being on your short list because it is reasonably priced (less expensive than it was at the time of writing).
Features
The T-Create C47 is a 2280 (22 mm wide by 80 mm long) M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD that uses a 232-layer TLC NAND and a Maxio MAP1602A-F3C controller. A portion of your computer’s memory serves as the primary cache in this host memory buffer configuration.
Like other NVMe SSDs (DRAM or HMB), secondary caching is accomplished by writing a specific section of the NAND as SLC (Single-Layer/1-bit) and then transferring it in the background at the native bit-depth as time permits.
It is no longer necessary to perform intensive error checking to determine whether a multi-bit cell was written at the correct voltage when only one bit is written per cell. A multi-level cell’s numerical value is determined by its voltage level. SLC can be classified as either charged or off.
TBW (terabytes that may be written before read-only mode) ratings for the T-Create C47 are variable but still rather liberal; they are 500TBW for the 512GB model, 1,000TBW for the 1TB capacity, 1,500TBW for the 2TB version, and 3,000TBW for the 4TB capacity. For TLC, 600TBW per TB of capacity is the standard. Additionally, Teamgroup offers a five-year warranty on the drive.
How much does Teamgroup C47 cost?
The 1TB T-Create was available on Amazon for $75 at the time of writing, while the 2TB model I tested cost $120. At the time of writing, the 4TB and 512MB capacities were not available.
At the moment, there isn’t a huge pricing difference between brands in this class; $75 is a bit pricey for a 1TB SSD, but $120 is just on the money for a 2TB PCIe 4.0 HMB SSD.
How quickly is the T-Create C47 Teamgroup
Though possibly not as fast as comparable PCIe 4.0 host memory buffer SSDs, the C47 will do the job. There are a few startling falls in the synthetic findings, but overall, even in the actual world, it’s fine.
The C47’s 32-queue random write score was its most perplexing outcome. In general, HMB SSDs excel at this. Both the Lexar Play 2280 and the rival WD SN5100, which have PCIe 4.0 HMB architecture, performed noticeably better in this test. On the other side, reading was near average. Figure it out?
TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic C47 1TB PCIe 2280 NVMe Internal SSD, Read up to 7,400MB/s Design for Creators Gen4x4 Solid State Drive, Terabyte Written 1000TBW…
The C47 performed admirably in our real-world transfer testing, while not performing flawlessly in our artificial benchmark tests. Keep in mind that FastCopy demonstrates the SSD’s true capabilities. Although Windows Explorer results are still included because that’s what consumers will see most of the time, I strongly advise you to use that excellent tool for huge file transfers. For private use, it is free.
Actually, it took an extra 450GB to write before the write rate decreased to 500–800 MB/s at about 160 GB. For the rest of the write, it remained there. In the past, I’ve witnessed much lower native write rates (writing at the NAND’s full bit-depth). Previously, TLC/QLC native writes were slower than a hard drive; now, this is comparable to a SATA SSD. Progress, ah!
Alright, so aside from a non-chart result, the C47 did not win any of the tests. We place a lot of weight on not fully tanking during lengthy writes. Since a few programs, including Windows, actually use queues, the slowness of the C47—with queued random reads and writes—doesn’t really matter. Regretfully.
Conclusion
In synthetic benchmarks I tested, the C47 is among the slowest PCIe 4.0 host memory buffer drives, but its consistent native write rate really astonished me. In any case, the primary factor influencing late-model PCIe 4.0 HMB SSDs is price. Go for it if it’s less expensive than the competition. Subjectively, you won’t ever notice the difference. Choose an alternative, like the Lexar Play 2280 or the WD Black SN7100/Blue 5100, if it isn’t less expensive.
