By Orico’s OS5 NVMe SSD is aesthetically pleasing because of its robust and fashionable heatsink. It will function well, if not optimally, in the PS5 for which it is designed, and it is reasonably quick for its kind. The host memory buffer (HMB) technology, which OS5 employs for primary caching on a PC, is not supported by that game console.
What features does the Orico OS5 have?
The picture at the top of the post shows that the OS5 comes with a relatively large heatsink to accommodate its 2280 form factor (22 mm wide by 80 mm long). This PCIe 4.0, NVMe SSD replaces DRAM with a host memory buffer (HMB) for main caching.
Maxio 1602A is the OS5’s controller, and 144-layer TLC (Triple-Level Cell/3-bit) is its NAND. About 35 percent of that appears to be available for secondary caching, or writing the NAND as a single-bit SLC (Single-Level Cell), as Orico states.
A 600TBW (terabytes that may be written before read-only begins) every terabyte of capacity offsets Orico’s five-year warranty on the OS5. For the industry and 144-layer TLC, that is roughly average.
If you ever want to find out how near you are to your TBW limit, download a program like CrystalDiskInfo and look at the “percentage used” figure. This will probably be far less than you might think because it just gets higher with writes. Even though I used external storage extensively for various things, my last main PC was only at 1% after two years.
What is the cost of the Orico OS5?
The OS5 costs $90 for a 1TB capacity, $150 for a 2TB capacity, and $280 for a 4TB capacity (but Amazon pricing is roughly $20 less). Considering that the included heatsink is often a $10 to $15 option with most SSDs, that’s a significant amount of capacity at a fair price. Although OS5 is competitive, I wouldn’t say it’s an incredible deal.
What is the Orico OS5’s speed?
Out of six SSDs, the OS5 achieved the fourth-fastest PCIe 4.0/HMB score using our new test MO and tools. Not much, but as you can see below, the difference isn’t that great for the majority of tasks. As a result, even slower NVMe SSDs are incredibly quick.
Since almost all of the SSDs we evaluate are 2TB or 4TB, the OS5 we tested suffered from only having 1TB. As a result, it depleted the secondary cache faster. The 450GB write suffered greatly as a result of this.
However, in CrystalDiskMark 8, including the sequential transfer tests displayed below, the OS5 was unquestionably competitive.
ORICO OS5 1TB M.2 SSD for PS5 Storage Expansion, M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe Gaming SSD with TLC NAND, 7450MB/s Read, Pre-Installed Heatsink Designed for PS5 Airflow
The 4K figures for CrystalDiskMark 8 were essentially the same. Not particularly great, but adequate for a government job.
The more spacious Lexar 2280 Play SE (another heatsink/HMB design advertised for the PS5), Teamgroup MP44Q, and WD Blue SN5100 were all about the same size as the Orico OS5 when comparing just 48GB. Sometimes a little slower, sometimes faster.
Keep in mind that FastCopy is a highly recommended file transfer tool that performs much more quickly than Windows Explorer and is much closer to the speed shown in artificial benchmarks.
The OS5 was severely criticized by its rivals at the 450GB write. The outcome of the lack of a secondary cache and the previously mentioned reduced capacity.
Conclusion
Like other HMB designs, the OS5 will perform the job well and for a lot less than a DRAM model, even though it isn’t the best for the PS5. I think the heatsink looks good, so if the price is appropriate, go for it.
To be honest, though, I don’t particularly like marketing gimmicks that put a heatsink on an HMB and then claim that the SSD is perfect for the PS5. This applies not only to Orico but also to Lexar’s Play 2280 series.
