GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 1TB SSD Review - Silent Upgrade Detailed

1. Introduction & Drive Details
2. Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion
3. Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO
4. Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage
5. Final Thoughts

TweakTown's Rating: 95%

The Bottom Line

Whether it's PC or PS5, GIGABYTE's AORUS 7000s is a gaming juggernaut.

Buy at Amazon

Introduction & Drive Details

Back in August 2021, we had the pleasure of reviewing GIGABYTE's newly launched flagship SSD, the AORUS 7000s 1TB. At the time, and as it was with all Phison E18 controlled SSDs at that time, GIGABYTE's AORUS 7000s came arrayed with Micron 96L flash. However, what set the AORUS 7000s apart from competing Phison E18 controlled SSDs was its unique heat sink.

Its nanocarbon-coated heat sink was not only stunning in appearance and highly efficient, but it was also a lower profile than was common at the time. Now, we do not know if GIGABYTE had the foresight to know that this heat sink was perfectly sized for use in the PS5's not yet enabled M.2 storage expansion slot, or if it was just dumb luck. Either way, it's to this day one of the few hyper-class heat sink-adorned SSDs that fit perfectly into a PS5's M.2 storage expansion slot.

Fast forward to today, and the AORUS 7000s is still GIGABYTE's flagship performance SSD offering. The same exquisite heat sink, same packaging, same cost relative to today's pricing, and even spec'd the same. However, this is a very different SSD in the performance department. GIGABYTE has silently upgraded its AORUS 7000s with super-fast Micron 176 Layer B47R flash, quite literally transforming it from an average performer, by today's standards, into an elite performer.

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As the above benchmark demonstrates, when arrayed with B47R flash, maximum sequential throughput increases from the drive's advertised 7,000/5,500 MB/s at 1TB to a whopping 7,400/6,100 MB/s. For whatever reason, GIGABYTE has not updated its factory specs for the AORUS 7000s, but rest assured when you buy an AORUS 7000s going forward, it will be arrayed with Micron B47R goodness.

As impressive as the increased sequential throughput is, its real-world performance increase is even more impressive. Let's see what the newly upgraded AORUS 7000s can do for you by the numbers.

Drive Details

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We took the liberty of updating performance specs for the AORUS 7000s, going by what our review sample can achieve. Keep in mind that the numbers above are our own and not GIGABYTE official numbers.

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From its packaging, we can discern a couple of things. Going by its manufacture date of November 2021, GIGABYTE has been arraying its AORUS 7000s with Micron B47R flash for six months now, which is why we are confident in stating that if you buy it now, it will indeed be the updated version. Secondly, we can see that according to its stated sequential throughput numbers of 7,000/5,500 MB/s, GIGABYTE, for whatever reason, chose not to announce the performance increase.

Jon's Test System Specifications

• Motherboard: ASUS ROG Z690 HERO
• CPU: Intel Core i9-12700K
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 12GB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

GIGABYTE AORUS 7000s 1TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$135.90	$135.90	$167.07	$138.64	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 12/26/2022 at 5:03 pm CST - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission.

Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion

PS5 Read Performance

With Sony's wildly popular PlayStation 5 console now enabled for M.2 NVMe SSDs to be used as fast storage expansion, we include results for PS5 compatible SSDs we test as a part of our reviews going forward. We are utilizing the newest PS5 hardware and software versions.

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We only chart SSDs that can deliver a minimum of 5,500 MB/s read, which is Sony's original recommendation. We note that with the latest PS5 software update, even SSDs that only do 4,200 MB/s no longer trigger a low-performance warning; nevertheless, we are sticking by Sony's original recommendation of 5,500 MB/s minimum read requirement.

As you can see, the AORUS 7000s has a heat sink designed to perfectly fit inside a PS5's M.2 storage expansion slot.

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Excellent result here, especially when we compare it with where the AORUS 7000s landed with 96L flash. From the bottom of the chart to seventh best all time. Impressive.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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As measured by CDM, the updated AORUS 7000s impresses. Massive increases, especially where it really matters, Q1T1 random read. At 97 MB/s vs. 83 MB/s previously, the silently upgraded AORUS 7000s 1TB is a whopping 17% faster than before. This is performance that matters.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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1,550 points and a massive 350,000 IOPS better than when it launched a year ago with 96 Layer flash. Keep in mind that all this new performance is coming from the better flash. This is a perfect example of the not well-known fact that the flash a drive is arrayed with is where most of the performance comes from. Not the controller, the flash.

ATTO

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Sequential performance really isn't performance that matters all that much, as we've explained ad nauseum. This is why results here don't accurately portray just how much more powerful the AORUS 7000s has become.

Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage

Transfer Rates

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Our 100GB data transfer test is not your ordinary 100GB of data. Ours is a crushing mix composed of more than 62K files. A nice 280 MB/s improvement over its launch day configuration.

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Serving data to the host (read) is performance that matters, and the silently upgraded AORUS 7000s does it as good as it gets, delivering the 5th best result for a flash-based consumer SSD.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is in fact the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing.

In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSDs gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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Gaming is a performance metric that matters to the majority of DIY consumers, especially to the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. Now, this should grab your attention if you are a gaming enthusiast. The upgraded AORUS 7000s can deliver an overall gaming user experience that is roughly 21% better than it did when it came arrayed with 96 Layer flash.

PCM10 Storage Tests

PCMark 10 Storage Test is the most advanced and most accurate real-world consumer storage test ever made. There are four different tests you can choose from; we run two of them.

The Full System Drive Benchmark and the Quick System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark writes 204 GB of data over the duration of the test. The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

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This particular test writes 204GB data and covers a broad range of common consumer tasks, including booting Windows 10, file transfers, Adobe and Office applications, and startup times for games including Battlefield V, COD Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. Unlike synthetic numbers, this is comprehensive real-world data which is why we use it to rank SSDs in terms of user experience.

Here again, we are seeing a whopping 20% better user experience on offer with its new flash array. Impressive.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

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As we see it, this result coming in at 20% better than previously, absolutely confirms the updated AORUS 7000s, if we were to put an overall number to it, is indeed 20% better than the day it launched.

Final Thoughts

Traditionally unannounced hardware changes, at least as they pertain to SSDs in particular, have not been changed for the better as in more performance for the end-user. Typically, they have come as cost-saving measures for the manufacturer, resulting in lower performance for the end-user. In other words, you are not getting exactly what you think you are getting. Those types of silent changes have caused quite an uproar within the tech-savvy community, even leading to a public apology by the manufacturer in some cases.

This silent upgrade, however, is the other end of the spectrum and demonstrates clearly, in our opinion, that Phison and GIGABYTE are both standout companies that want to deliver the best user experience possible. A free unannounced 20% real-world performance increase? Hey, we like that kind of unannounced hardware change!

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We rank SSDs in terms of overall user experience (performance where it matters most) as expressed by PCMark 10 storage and 3DMark gaming storage tests. We consider a user experience score of 11K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer. Previously the AORUS 7000s was nowhere near being a TweakTown Elite performer. Now it is comfortably so. Impressive.

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Priced right, ideally designed for PS5 users, and a legit TweakTown Elite performer on top of that, has earned GIGABYTE's AORUS 7000s 1TB our highest award.

Pros

• User Experience
• PS5 Perfection
• Pricing

Cons

• None