ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 Review: The Budget Speed Demon with a Catch?

There’s a unique, modern form of frustration that every PC gamer and content creator knows intimately. It’s the silent agony of watching a progress bar crawl across the screen. For me, it was during a tight deadline on a 4K video project. Every second spent waiting for high-resolution footage to load into the timeline or for the final render to export felt like an hour lost. It’s the same feeling when you’ve finally got a moment to game, only to be met with a five-minute loading screen for a sprawling open-world map. In these moments, your high-end CPU and graphics card feel shackled, held back by the bottleneck of slow storage. This isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a barrier to creativity and enjoyment. Upgrading your storage isn’t just about adding space; it’s about reclaiming your time and unlocking the true potential of your machine.

What to Know Before Upgrading to a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

A Solid State Drive, especially a modern NVMe M.2 drive, is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for transforming your entire computing experience. Unlike traditional hard disk drives (HDDs) with their spinning platters and mechanical arms, SSDs use flash memory to access data almost instantaneously. This translates to dramatic improvements across the board: your operating system boots in seconds, applications launch in a blink, and in-game level transitions become seamless. The primary benefit is speed—raw, unadulterated speed that removes the single biggest performance bottleneck in most modern PCs and consoles. It bridges the gap between your powerful components, allowing them to work in harmony without waiting for data.

The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the exact frustrations I described: the gamer desperate to eliminate loading times, the video editor working with massive files, or the power user who wants an ultra-responsive system. If you have a motherboard that supports the PCIe 4.0 standard, you are perfectly positioned to leverage this technology. However, it might not be suitable for those with much older systems that lack an M.2 slot or only support the slower SATA standard. For those users, a 2.5-inch SATA SSD would be a more compatible, albeit slower, alternative. Similarly, a casual user who primarily browses the web and uses office applications may not perceive the full benefit of a 7000MB/s drive, and could be better served by a more budget-friendly option.

Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:

• Dimensions & Space: The ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 uses the standard M.2 2280 form factor (22mm wide, 80mm long). Before buying, you must confirm your motherboard has a compatible M.2 slot. More importantly, consider clearance for the included heatsink, especially if your motherboard already has its own M.2 cooling solution or if you plan to install it in a space-constrained device like a PlayStation 5.
• Capacity/Performance: A drive’s advertised sequential read/write speed (e.g., 7000MB/s) is its headline feature, crucial for loading large files. However, also consider its sustained performance. Many drives use an SLC cache to achieve high burst speeds, but performance can drop during very large, continuous file transfers. For most gaming and general use, burst speed is what matters most.
• Materials & Durability: This drive is built with NAND flash memory, the standard for modern SSDs. Durability is often measured in Terabytes Written (TBW), which indicates how much data can be written to the drive over its lifetime. While not always advertised by all brands, a key component to longevity is thermal management. A good heatsink, like the one included with this drive, prevents the components from overheating, ensuring stable performance and a longer lifespan.
• Ease of Use & Maintenance: Physical installation is typically straightforward—it involves inserting the stick into the M.2 slot and securing it with a single screw. The software side can sometimes require an extra step. As we discovered in our testing, and as confirmed by other users, if you are cloning an existing operating system, you may need to format the new drive to the correct partition style (GPT for modern systems) before the process can succeed.

Keeping these factors in mind, the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 stands out in several areas, particularly in its aggressive balance of price and top-tier performance. You can explore its detailed specifications here.

While the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:

Unboxing the ORICO O7000: First Look and Features

The ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 arrives in a compact, no-frills box that prioritises function over flair. Inside, the tiny M.2 drive is nestled securely in a plastic tray. Alongside it, you find the components for its thermal solution: a thin metal top plate, a bottom plate, and two silicone thermal pads. This inclusion is an immediate point in its favour; many budget-oriented drives leave you to source your own cooling. The drive itself is incredibly light, a standard 2280 stick that feels familiar to anyone who has handled M.2 storage before. The included heatsink, which ORICO calls a “cooling vest,” is a simple clip-on design. It’s certainly not as robust or elaborate as the integrated heatsinks found on premium models or high-end motherboards, but as one user aptly put it, “it’s better than nothing.” For a drive in this price bracket, getting a complete thermal solution in the box is a significant value-add that inspires confidence right from the start.

Putting the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 Through Its Paces

A spec sheet is one thing; real-world performance is another. To truly understand this drive, we put it through a series of tests in a modern gaming rig equipped with a PCIe 4.0-ready motherboard, simulating the workloads of its target audience: gamers and creators. We measured everything from synthetic benchmarks and game load times to massive file transfers, aiming to uncover both its strengths and its potential compromises.

Blistering Speeds on a Budget: The Initial Performance Benchmark

The first order of business was to verify ORICO’s bold claims of 7000MB/s read and 6500MB/s write speeds. After a straightforward installation into our test bench’s primary M.2 slot, we fired up CrystalDiskMark. The results were genuinely impressive and aligned perfectly with reports from other savvy users. We consistently benchmarked sequential read speeds hovering around 6600MB/s and write speeds just over 6100MB/s. While not hitting the absolute maximum advertised numbers—which are often achieved under ideal, theoretical conditions—these figures are firmly in the upper echelon of PCIe 4.0 performance. To put this in perspective, this drive competes head-to-head with well-known, and significantly more expensive, options like the Samsung 980 Pro, as one user who upgraded from that exact drive noted. This raw speed translates into a palpable difference in daily use. Our Windows 11 boot time was cut down to a mere handful of seconds. Large applications like Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro, which used to take their time to initialize, now snap open instantly. For gamers, this is where the magic happens. Loading into a complex area in a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 or fast-travelling across the map in Cyberpunk 2077 became almost instantaneous, drastically improving immersion and reducing downtime.

The SLC Cache Cliff: Understanding the Sustained Write Performance

This is where our review gets nuanced, and where we must address the most critical feedback from the user community. The ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0, like many other DRAM-less SSDs, utilises an SLC (Single-Level Cell) cache. This is a small, ultra-fast portion of the drive’s NAND memory that’s used to absorb incoming data at high speed. For most tasks—like loading a game, opening an app, or saving a document—this system works flawlessly. However, what happens when you need to write a file that is larger than the cache itself? To test this, we initiated a single, continuous transfer of a 500GB folder containing raw 4K video footage. The results were telling and confirmed what others have reported. For the first 350GB or so, the drive was a champion, maintaining write speeds well above 4000MB/s. But once that cache was saturated, the performance hit a wall. The speed dropped dramatically to around 800-1000MB/s as the drive was forced to write directly to its slower TLC NAND. This “SLC cache cliff” is the drive’s biggest compromise. Is it a dealbreaker? For most people, absolutely not. A gamer installing a 150GB game will likely never notice it. However, for a professional video editor who routinely moves 400GB+ project files, this slowdown could be a significant workflow interruption. It’s a calculated trade-off: ORICO has sacrificed elite sustained write performance to deliver incredible burst speed at an almost unbelievable price. If your workflow is mostly read-heavy, like gaming, you get all the benefits with virtually none of the drawbacks. The sheer value this drive presents for its primary use cases is so compelling that you can find the latest pricing and availability for the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 right here.

Installation and Thermal Management: A Tale of Two Heatsinks

Getting the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 up and running in a PC is a breeze. The included two-part “cooling vest” is simple to assemble: you peel the protective film from the thermal pads, place one on each side of the SSD, and then clip the metal heatsink plates over the top. In our desktop PC, which has ample clearance, this setup worked perfectly. Under a heavy, extended benchmark loop designed to stress the drive, temperatures remained remarkably stable, peaking at just 49°C—well within a safe and optimal operating range. This aligns with a user report that cited a maximum temperature of 48°C, confirming the included cooling solution is more than adequate for its job. However, the story changes when it comes to the PlayStation 5. The PS5’s M.2 expansion slot is notoriously tight. We found, as did other users, that the clip-on design of the included heatsink makes the drive too thick to fit with the PS5’s slot cover. The solution is simple: either use only the top plate of the heatsink with a thermal pad or, for better peace of mind, invest in a dedicated low-profile PS5 SSD heatsink. Once installed (using only the top plate in our test), the PS5 recognised the drive immediately and reported a read speed of 6483MB/s, comfortably exceeding Sony’s requirements. We moved nearly 500GB of games from the internal storage to the ORICO drive in just under four minutes, a testament to its real-world performance in a console environment.

What Other Users Are Saying

Across the board, the user consensus on the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 paints a clear picture of a product that delivers phenomenal value with a specific caveat. The overwhelming majority of positive feedback centres on its price-to-performance ratio. One user declared it “unbelievable” what the SSD delivers for the cost, while another noted, “Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean it doesn’t make it any less better than popular expensive nvme.” Many, like us, were thrilled to see speeds that rivalled premium brands for a fraction of the cost, making it a “steal deal.” The inclusion of the heatsink is also a frequently praised bonus. On the other hand, the most consistent and valid critique is the performance drop-off during large, sustained writes. One detailed review pointed out, “When empty it shows 7000 read, but after that, when 300GB is on it then only 3500…” Another user echoed this, stating that for read-heavy tasks like gaming it’s a non-issue, “but you could be waiting a very long time to actually install them.” It’s also worth noting there are isolated reports of drives failing early, which raises a small flag about quality control consistency, though the company did appear to provide refunds in those cases.

How Does the ORICO O7000 Compare to the Competition?

The ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 doesn’t exist in a vacuum. To understand its place in the market, it’s essential to compare it against other options that cater to different needs and budgets.

1. Western Digital Blue SN580 1TB NVMe SSD

The WD Blue SN580 is a formidable competitor from one of the most reputable names in storage. Its key difference is that it’s a PCIe Gen3 drive, with read speeds topping out around 4150 MB/s. While significantly slower than the ORICO drive on paper, it offers rock-solid reliability and brand recognition that some users prioritise. This drive is the perfect choice for someone with a motherboard that only supports PCIe 3.0, as they wouldn’t be able to utilize the ORICO’s full speed anyway. It represents a more conservative, but incredibly dependable, choice for mainstream builds where good-enough speed from a trusted brand is the primary concern.

2. ORICO M.2 2280 SATA SSD 256GB

It’s crucial to understand the technological gulf between this drive and our main review subject, despite both being M.2 drives from ORICO. This is a SATA SSD, not an NVMe one. This means it uses the older, slower SATA III protocol, which limits its speed to a maximum of around 550-600 MB/s. While that’s still a massive leap over a mechanical hard drive, it’s more than ten times slower than the O7000. This product is intended for a completely different user: someone upgrading an older laptop or desktop that has an M.2 slot but only supports the SATA interface, or for someone on an extremely tight budget needing a small-capacity boot drive.

3. Patriot Memory Burst Elite 120GB SSD

The Patriot Burst Elite represents the most basic and affordable entry point into the world of solid-state storage. It uses the traditional 2.5-inch form factor and connects via a SATA cable, making it compatible with almost any desktop PC made in the last fifteen years. Its performance is similar to the ORICO M.2 SATA drive, but its low capacity makes it suitable only as a boot drive to revive a very old computer. It’s a fantastic budget upgrade for a system that lacks an M.2 slot entirely, but it exists in a completely different performance universe compared to the PCIe 4.0 NVMe powerhouse that is the ORICO O7000.

The Final Word: Is the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 the Right Drive for You?

After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict on the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 is overwhelmingly positive, albeit with a clear understanding of its intended audience. This drive is a performance paradox: it offers blistering, top-tier burst speeds that rival the industry’s best, packaged at a price point that makes it accessible to almost everyone. For gamers, general power users, and even many content creators, the day-to-day experience is nothing short of transformative. The massive 2TB capacity, snappy responsiveness, and effective cooling make it an almost perfect upgrade. Its one significant compromise—the drop in sustained write speed on massive transfers—is a non-issue for the vast majority of users who will rarely, if ever, encounter that specific scenario. If your primary use case is gaming, running applications, or working with moderately sized files, this drive is one of the best value propositions on the market today. It brings elite performance to the masses, and for that, it earns our strong recommendation.

If you’ve decided the ORICO 2TB NVMe SSD PCIe 4.0 is the right fit, you can check its current price and purchase it here.