Introduction
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD is our first have a look at a made-by-Biwin model SSD of their Black Opal line. The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 2TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD (P/N: BNV740002TB-RGX) has a max sequential read speed of as much as 7,450MB/s and a max sequential write speed of as much as 6,500MB/s in a DRAM-less design, using HMB and NVMe 2.0 over PCIe Gen4×4, based on the MAXIO MAP1602A controller and Micron B58R TLC 3D NAND Flash at $119.99 listed pricing.
BIWIN Storage Technology does its own IC packaging and testing and is a manufacturer of flash memory, DRAM, and SSDs. Biwin has a complete lineup of M.2 2280-sized SSDs, up and down the performance spectrum from PCIe Gen3x4 as much as PCIe Gen5x4. There are currently two series of SSDs, the Mainstream series and Biwin’s Black Opal lineup, geared for gaming. It’s the Black Opal series we’ll have a look at today.
Starting at the highest, you’ll find the Black Opal X570 PRO, Black Opal X570, and Black Opal X570H, all of that are PCIe Gen5x4 SSDs. Under the Black Opal X570 sits the Black Opal NV7400 Gen4x4 SSD that we’re reviewing today, and below that’s the Black Opal NV3500, which is a Gen3x4 SSD. Due to this fact, the Black Opal NV7400 is the one PCIe Gen4x4 SSD Biwin currently has in its Black Opal series.
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD is Biwin’s flagship gaming SSD within the PCIe Gen4x4 performance range based on NVMe 2.0. Biwin has designed this SSD in a single-sided design to save lots of space and maintain compatibility with desktops, ultrabooks, gaming laptops, nd other devices within the mainstream. The Black Opal NV7400 is compatible with storage on PS5 consoles and gaming devices. It’s geared for DIY enthusiasts and performance for gaming and content creation.
There are two essential points of Biwin SSDs: the high TBW (Total Bytes Written) for endurance, in addition to the rigorous testing that Biwin puts in place to ensure data safety. The Black Opal NV7400 undergoes continuous high-temperature read/write speed tests of 300 hours, 3000 cycles of abnormal power-off tests, and 6000 cycles of sleep/awake tests. Biwin uses high-quality materials, and in addition package-testing integration, production control, and other testing scenarios. Take a look at the most recent available pricing below.
Biwin Black Opal NV7400
There are 4 capacities of the Biwin Black Opal NV7400 offered: a 512GB model, a 1TB model, a 2TB model, and a 4TB model, so 4TB is the utmost capability, which is ideal for big game drives. The performance offered is different at each capability, in addition to endurance, so here is the way it all works out.
| 512GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sequential Read Speed | 7050 MB/s | 7400 MB/s | 7450 MB/s | 7400 MB/s |
| Sequential Write Speed | 4200 MB/s | 6500 MB/s | 6500 MB/s | 6500 MB/s |
| Random Read Speed | 800K IOPS | 1000K IOPS | 1000K IOPS | 900K IOPS |
| Random Write Speed | 800K IOPS | 900K IOPS | 900K IOPS | 900K IOPS |
| Endurance (TBW) | 500 TBW | 1000 TBW | 2000 TBW | 4000 TBW |
From this table, we are able to see that the sequential read speed varies barely, with the 512GB model being the slowest, but still offering 7GB/s of bandwidth. The sequential write speed is far lower on the 512GB model; nevertheless, all other models match performance at 6500MB/s. The 2TB model we’re testing today has the fastest speeds on each sequential read and write performance, so the Biwin Black Opal NV7400 is technically the fastest drive within the lineup. The endurance rankings are also great for all drives, with the 2TB model at 2000 TBW and the 4TB model at 4000 TBW; that is an ideal level of endurance rating on this class. Biwin has a 5-year Warranty on the drives, and MTBF is 1.5 million hours.
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 is a standard-sized M.2 2280 SSD, and runs on the PCIe Gen4x4 interface and uses the NVMe 2.0 protocol. It is a DRAM-less design, so there isn’t a dedicated DRAM cache; as a substitute, the Biwin Black Opal NV7400 uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB) and an SLC cache. The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 uses Micron B58R TLC (FortisFlash) 3D NAND Flash. The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 uses Biwin’s Smart Cache Mechanism, which is a system of high-speed caching using the SRAM. With zip data compression technology, it intelligently compresses data streams to avoid slowdowns and failed writes. It also supports ECC and LDPC algorithms.
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 is predicated on the Maxiotek (MAXIO) MAP1602A Falcon Lite controller, specifically the MAP1602A-F3C variant. The MAXIO MAP1602 controller is a 4-channel DRAM-less controller designed for more budget-oriented entry-level to mainstream SSDs with power efficiency in mind. The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 uses the F3C variant of the MAXIO MAP1602 controller, which is the fastest version supporting NVMe 2.0. The opposite variants of the MAXIO MAP1602 controller, F1C and F2C, support NVMe 1.4.
The Biwin Black Opal NV7400 2TB PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD is available in a really colourful box, with a synthwave color theme, which looks quite nice. On the front, the capability is stated, and on the back, a window to see the SSD within the box in addition to the label. It displays the capacities offered, in addition to all the first speeds and feeds, in order that is great to see. Within the box, you do get an m.2 screw, which is becoming more of a rarity nowadays, in addition to a tool to remove motherboard standoffs, which is neat.
