Introduction
Patriot has a long history known for its memory modules and solid-state drives and USB flash memory. On the consumer side is Patriot itself, with the latest in memory and storage technology, including DRAM, SSD, and Flash. Then there is Patriot’s Viper Gaming group which has top-notch overclock-ready memory and gaming peripherals. Today we have something brand new from the Viper Gaming group, a new Patriot Viper VPR400 RGB SSD. This is a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 2280 SSD with RGB.
The Patriot Viper 1TB VPR400 RGB PCIe M.2 Gen4 x4 (VPR400-1TBM28H) SSD is the world’s first Gen4x4 SSD with RGB lighting and an integrated heatsink. This one is rated at 4600MB/s read and 4400MB/s write speed, powered by the Innogrit IG5220 Gen4x4 controller, and has a 512GB and 1TB capacity option. This is a TLC SSD. It also has advanced temperature control function and design, with a low-profile heatsink design and Viper RGB 3.0 synchronization software for customization.
If you browse Viper Gaming’s SSD lineup, you will see two PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSDs at the bottom which has been retired, and one PCIe 4.0 model. All of these have been replaced by newer models. The new VPR400 RGB is positioned as a value-oriented SSD. The VP4300 PCIe 4.0 SSD sits above it with higher capacity and much faster speeds. Therefore, the VPR400 RGB we are reviewing today is Viper Gaming’s lower-end PCIe 4.0 offering but adds the flare of RGB. Current pricing is just $129.99 for the 1TB model.   Â
SSD Specifications
The Patriot Viper VPR400 RGB SSD is based on the Innogrit IG5220 controller, this is the first time we’ve reviewed an SSD with this particular controller. We can look up the specifications on this control, also known as RainierQX. The Innogrit IG5220 is specifically designed for DRAM-less low-cost client solutions. It is based on a 12nm FinFET manufacturing process and supports PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe 1.4. Because it is based around a DRAM-less architecture it does support the HMB function (Host Memory Buffer).
The IG5220 supports up to four NAND channels and supports SLC, MLC or QLC NAND flash with either ONFI or Toggle Mode interface. It supports data encryption and protection including SM2/3/4, AES, SHA, RSA, ECC, CRC, RAID, and end-to-end data protection. The theoretical max performance of IG5220 is a Sequential Read of 5100MB/s and a Random Read of 800K IOPs.
The VPR400-1TBM28H specs are as follows: 4K Aligned Random Read: up to 600K IOPs, 4K Aligned Random Write: up to 500K IOPs, Sequential Read (ATTO): up to 4,600MB/s, Sequential Write (ATTO): up to 4,400MB/s, Sequential Read (CDM): up to 4,600MB/s, Sequential Write (CDM): up to 4,400MB/s. It has an endurance of up to 800TB (Terrabytes Written) (TBW). Operating temperature: 0-70c, and it does have thermal throttling technology. Right now, it has 512GB and 1TB capacities, but as you’ll see could support 2TB in the future. It has a 5-year warranty.
SSD Pictures and Components
The Patriot Viper VPR400 PCIe M.2 Gen4 x4 RGB SSD comes in a nice bright orange box, with an inside flap that lets you see the heatsink spreader. It has the read and write speeds clearly indicated on the box. The box label is marked 9SE00164 VPR400-1TBM28H.
Outside of the box, we see a standard M.2 2280-sized SSD with a built-in pre-installed thin-profile aluminum housing heatsink on one side. In fact, this is one of the thinnest SSDs with a heatsink at just 0.7cm in thickness. It has RGB diffusers on the top, and the Viper logo also lights up. This is a single-sided SSD, the bottom is clear other than the sticker. The heatsink itself is only stuck on by the thermal pads, there are no screws or rubber bands holding it firm, this means it can come off very easily if you are not careful. In fact, our heatsink fell off as we were installing it, but putting it back on was as simple as just pressing it on. Still, with no force holding it down, one does wonder how much contact the thermal pads are actually making.
On the top side of the Patriot Viper Gaming VPR400 are two Micron 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash chips, 512GB each. With the room on this side, there is clearly room for 2TB models to exist in the future. At the top of the SSD, toward the M.2 connector, is the small Innogrit IG5220 controller, it doesn’t take up much space on this SSD. Also, there is no DRAM at all, this is a DRAM-less SSD.
When installed in your system the VIPER VPR400 RGB PCI-E Gen4 x4 m.2 SOLID STATE DRIVE will light up in a random pattern. You can completely customize the RGB with the Viper RGB 3.0 synchronization software.