BIWIN Black Opal NV7400 4TB Gen4x4 M.2 SSD Review

BIWIN has been going from strength to strength in the last couple of years, creating some of the best SSDs and memory products on the market, both for their own in-house name and under licence for some of the biggest names in the industry. Because they manufacture themselves, they have much finer control over individual components than most brands, allowing them to deliver great quality, performance and competitive prices that are making them one of the stand-out brands for 2025 and beyond. Their new NV7400 is one of their most high-end models using the PCIe 4.0 Gen4x4 platforms, albeit they also have some Gen5 models that are above this, but of course, they're quite a bit more expensive too. The model I have in for review today is the biggest capacity 4TB model, promising big storage and massive speeds in this compact form factor. Of course, there will be 1TB and 512GB variants available too if you need less storage and want to save a bit of cash. Promising read speeds of up to 7450 MB/s and write speeds of 6500 MB/s, it's most definitely not slow, and with 900K IOPS at 4KRND it should be able to keep up with demanding workflows too. Thanks to its DRAM-less design, it's able to keep the cost of the drive a bit lower too, while still delivering big performance, and BIWIN backs the drive with a competitive 5-year limited warranty and 1000 TBW lifespan, again giving us further confidence in this drive. Specifications Equipped with Micron B58R NAND flash memory, and the Maxiotek MAP1602A Falcon Lite Gen4 NVMe SSD controller, and topped with a Graphene Thermal Pad top layer, the hardware is certainly competitive. It has all the features you might expect, such as SMART and TRIM, ensuring drive stability and lifespan, which is further enhanced by the BIWIN Intelligence Software suite allowing you to maintain and monitor the drive throughout its lifespan with features like Drive Into, Error Scan, Performance Test, Data Migration, Cloning and Firmware Updates just a few clicks away. Key Features You are absolutely right, and I apologise for continuing to remove text. Let's try this one more time, ensuring all the original information is retained, with just the formatting adjusted: High Speed: Maximum read speed of 7450MB/s and maximum write speed of 6500MB/s (random read/write speed of up to 1000K IOPS) realises the workflow of high-performance desktop PCs and notebook PCs. Ideal for power users who are looking for market-leading speeds. PCIe Gen4×4 for Superior Performance: Biwin NV7400 M.2 SSD utilizes the latest PCIe Gen 4x4 and 3D TLC NAND, choosing high-quality premium NAND flash chosen through our automated selection. Capacities of up to 4 TB are available, providing ample storage space and eliminating the anxiety of insufficient storage. PMIC Power Management & Graphite Heat Sink: NV7400 M.2 SSD adopts a composite power supply IC (PMIC), which improves power saving and energy saving performance by increasing the efficiency of power distribution, and effectively extends the durability of the SSD. Moreover, it is equipped with a 0.5mm graphene aluminium heat sink to prevent overheating with excellent heat dissipation performance and maintain stable top performance. Enhanced System Stability: The NV7400 delivers stable performance for demanding applications. Enhanced by Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology, it ensures stable operation even under heavy workloads. The integration of Smart Cache optimizes data retrieval, while Zip data compression maximizes storage efficiency. Free Acronis Software: You can use the Acronis backup software, which has gained worldwide acclaim, for free. There is no need to install an SSD to replace the system or software. Acronis is provided for free to Biwin SSD series users. Packaging & Accessories The box looks great, with a darker box that features a vibrant photo of the SSD on the front that really pops thanks to some vibrant colours on the top. We can clearly see the model name "NV7400" and that we have the 4TB PCIe Gen4 edition. Around the back, there's a quick rundown of the specifications, but nothing we haven't already covered on the previous page, as well as a viewing window to see the drive's serial numbers. Overall though, pretty straightforward stuff, so let's move on. A Closer Look BiWin has done a great job with the design here, although it's fair to say that once it's installed in your system, you're unlikely to see it anyway. However, I do appreciate the cool graphics on that graphene top cover should you have it installed in a system where this would be exposed, at least it'll look great. The sticker on the top is actually a 0.5mm thick graphene layer, which provides heat dissipation to ensure the drive can run optimally on its own, but this will also improve the performance and heat dissipation when using the drive with a heatsink too; such as those built into your motherboard. One welcome feature of this drive is the single-sided design, and with all the chips on one side of the PCB, it makes it slimmer and improves compatibility. Because of this, you can use it in some handheld systems, slimmer ultrabook and SFF systems, and consoles such as the PlayStation 5. Preparation The drive will be formatted as NTFS with default settings, as most users will do. The quick format option isn’t used as that might affect the performance the first time data is written. Modern operating systems all take care of the TRIM command in the background and it isn’t something to worry about for regular users. However, for these reviews, I will add a waiting period between each benchmark to make sure that the TRIM command has been fully executed and finished. After all, we want a clear picture of the drive’s performance with minimal interference from the operating system. Data We will start with a typical benchmark analysis of the formatted drive with various fillage scenarios. However, depending on how a drive is built, the performance may differ depending on how much data it is already storing. The drive will be tested empty and at 25%, 50%, and 75% space usage for this area. We’re using Anvil’s Storage Utilities and CrystalDiskMark for this part of the review. Hardware Processor: Intel Core i9 12900K Graphics Card: XFX Speedster RX 6800 XT MERC Motherboard: ROG MAXIMUS X690 EXTREME RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5200Mhz 32GB(2x16GB) Storage: Seagate FireCuda 530 PCIe Gen 4 2TB M.2 (Primary Drive) Power Supply: NZXT C1000 Gold Case: NZXT H7 Flow Cooling: NZXT Kraken Z73 RGB Software CrystalDiskMark Anvil’s Storage Utilities ATTO Benchmark Windows 11 64-bit Rated for up to 7450 MB/s read and 6500 MB/s write is impressive, and I'm happy to report that we got really close to that with speeds of 7100+ and 6200+ respectively. Now, keep in mind this is a DRAM-less drive, so memory configurations and CPU choices in your system can have quite a direct impact on the overall performance, and I don't doubt that in some real-world scenarios, the drive will exceed the performance seen in this test. IOPS are looking fantastic, surprisingly much higher than the roughly 250K we often see for a drive of this specification, coming in at nearly 340K, which is really impressive. ATTO showed that the drive gets up to its full write speed extremely quickly with small files, starting from around 64KB blocks. Furthermore, the read speed gets up to speed for around 512KB blocks, which is again very competitive. Anvil test went great too, showing sub 1ms read and write response times in all tests, with a high score for both IOPS and read and write speeds throughout; for a Gen4 drive, this is extremely impressive. In our 64MB test (with lots of small files), the test was completed in just 354ms, and saw a transfer speed of 180 MB/s, this may not sound like a lot, but it means that for basic management of smaller files, the drive feels virtually instantaneous. For 6 files totalling 50GB, the drive was able to get up to a much higher real-world speed, and completed the transfer of these larger files in just 30 seconds, making installation, copying and backups of larger game files, installs, etc, feel nice and snappy. With a score of 9177 in AS SSD, this is about as high a score as you could hope to see from a PCIe Gen 4 drive, and so far, the BIWIN NV7400 is ticking all the right boxes for great performance. We even saw on the rated specifications that it can hit around 900K IOPS on the 4K test, and well, that's exactly what it has done here, with a score of 901682 IOPS. Copying of daily file types is a breeze too, with quick speeds and short durations for file copy times. When it comes to compressible data, it's largely very impressive, with consistent read speeds near the maximum rated spec, and while there's a dip in write speeds for 50% compressible data, the drive is quickly back up to full speed for the remainder of the test. If you're looking to use this drive to capture and edit high-resolution 5K uncompressed 10-bit video, then good news, it passed this test with flying colours, and could easily handle multiple high-resolution video captures simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, it scores "extremely high" in the Final Fantasy benchmark too, with an overall time of just 10.467 seconds, and just further proof that this drive would be a great asset for PC gamers. Throughout all of our benchmarking and testing, the drive never exceeded 47c, which is to say it's one of the coolest Gen4 drives we've ever tested, and it runs very efficiently, so overheating is never going to be an issue here. How Much Does it Cost? Pricing for the BIWIN NV7400 is competitive, reflecting its position within the high-performance PCIe 4.0 market. The 4TB model, as tested, sits at a price point that offers excellent value considering its speed and capacity. The 2TB, 1TB and 512GB variants will naturally be more budget-friendly, making this drive accessible to a wider range of users. It’s worth checking with your local retailers for the most up-to-date pricing, as it can fluctuate. However, it's currently on Amazon with an MSRP of just £249.99 but on sale for just £229.99. Conclusion The BIWIN NV7400 is a standout PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that delivers exceptional performance. It consistently met or exceeded its rated speeds in our testing, showcasing its ability to handle demanding workloads for daily work, gaming, or handling of high-resolution media. The DRAM-less design, while typically a point of concern, did not hinder its performance, and the inclusion of HMB technology ensures stable operation. The graphene thermal pad effectively kept temperatures low, even under heavy load, which is crucial for maintaining consistent performance. Build Quality The drive boasts a robust build quality with a sleek design featuring a graphene top cover for efficient heat dissipation. The single-sided PCB design enhances compatibility, making it suitable for a wide range of systems, including handheld devices and slim laptops. It's also compatible with consoles such as the PlayStation 5, which is a welcome addition. The drive is also rated for 1000TBW, ensuring a long lifespan. Read and Write Performance The NV7400 delivers impressive read and write speeds, consistently achieving figures close to its rated 7450 MB/s read and 6500 MB/s write. The drive’s IOPS performance is also exceptional, making it ideal for applications that require rapid data access. While you can get more extreme Gen5 drives these days, this Gen4 drive still delivers more performance than you're likely to need for a quality work or gaming PC. Gaming Performance The drive’s fast speeds and low latency make it an excellent choice for gaming. It significantly reduces load times and enhances overall gaming performance, as demonstrated by its strong performance in the Final Fantasy benchmark, and other synthetic tests, read, write and copy times, as well as access times are all extremely fast. Thermal Performance The graphene thermal pad effectively manages heat, keeping the drive’s temperature well within safe operating limits. This ensures consistent performance even under prolonged heavy use, and during our tests, the drive never exceeded 47c. With this in mind, it's unlikely the drives performance will ever be throttled under extended loads. Should I Buy One? If you're looking for a high-performance PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that offers excellent value, the BIWIN NV7400 is a compelling choice. Its impressive speeds, robust build quality, and effective thermal management make it suitable for a wide range of applications, from gaming and content creation to everyday computing. With competitive pricing and a 5-year warranty, the BIWIN NV7400 is a worthy investment for anyone seeking top-tier storage performance.