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HP FX900 Pro Gen4x4 M.2 SSD Review: Next-Level Performance

Over the last couple of years, the landscape of storage technology has undergone a remarkable transformation, thanks to the rapid proliferation of PCIe 4.0 SSDs. What once started as a niche, high-end technology has now become increasingly accessible to a wider audience. The advent of PCIe 4.0’s higher bandwidth capabilities has opened doors not just for tech enthusiasts but also for everyday users seeking to supercharge their computing experiences.

In this ever-evolving SSD arena, a recent contender has emerged, making waves in the market. Hewlett-Packard (HP) has introduced its flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD, the FX900 Pro. This NVMe SSD harnesses the power of PCIe 4.0 to deliver astounding performance. Official specifications boast a remarkable read speed of up to 7400MB/s, nearly pushing the boundaries of PCIe 4.0’s available transmission bandwidth, which hovers around 7.5GB/s. What’s intriguing about this offering is not just its speed but also its intriguing origins.

While bearing the HP logo, these SSDs are manufactured, marketed, and sold by the Chinese company Biwin, which holds the official license from HP for producing consumer storage and DRAM products. In this article, we delve into the performance, design, and value proposition of the HP FX900 Pro SSD, particularly focusing on the 2 TB variant, which has garnered attention for its exceptional affordability. With prices ranging from $44.99 for 512GB to $249.99 for the 4TB version, this flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD promises an enticing blend of high-speed performance and cost-effectiveness, setting a new benchmark for the price-to-performance ratio in the SSD market.

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Unpackaging

The packaging of the product embraces HP’s timeless blue-gray color scheme as its primary design element, evoking a sense of familiarity and approachability. Drawing inspiration from the FX900 Pro rendering, the packaging’s central theme captures the essence of the product’s performance and capabilities. Furthermore, the front of the package prominently displays key information such as the product name, capacity, and key selling points in a straightforward and concise manner, ensuring clarity and ease of understanding for potential customers.

The rear side of the packaging provides additional details and specifications for the HP FX900 Pro SSD.

Open the box, and the SSD comes in a plastic blister case, which is well protected. There is also fixing screws and quick instructions.

Closer Look

HP FX900 Pro itself has a pre-installed heat sink and can be used directly on the machine. The heat sink is decorated with a black background and HP white background LOGO. It has brand attributes and is suitable for use in most installation environments. The solid physical size is the standard 2280 size, which is compatible with notebooks, NUCs, XSX, PS5, and desktop consoles. Thanks to the addition of graphene heat sinks, there is no need to worry about heat dissipation. It is small and powerful.

This SSD heat sink has an ultra-thin design and is made of graphene composite material. This material also has high thermal conductivity. The 2.5mm ultra-thin heat sink design allows users to install it in a wider range of environments. HP FX900 Pro 2TB is a flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD with ultra-high speed and a certain amount of heat. From this point of view, this heat dissipation design is very exquisite. You can also tear off the logo layer on the built-in heat sink (keep the heat sink) and install a metal heat sink according to your own needs.

There is a sticker on the back of the HP FX900 Pro 2TB with the product model and serial number. The 2TB capacity naturally has a double-sided PCB design. There are flash memory particles under the sticker. The product provides a five-year 1200TBW after-sales warranty, which is the most common flagship in the industry. Grade products are consistent. With this maximum TBW, as long as it is used under normal circumstances, the actual lifespan will definitely be far more than five years.

Remove the heat sink and sticker and you can see the PCB. The front is the main control, a cache, and two flash memory particles, and the back is another cache and two flash memory particles. It is not recommended to put the heat sink and the two flash memory particles under normal use. When the sticker is peeled off, it may become dirty or deformed.

In the center of the front of the PCB is RainierPC (Innogrit IG5236), the main control unit of SSD, which is based on the 12nm FinFET CMOS manufacturing process and supports the NVMe 1.4 protocol and 8-channel flash memory. It is a high-end PCIe 4.0 consumer-grade main control solution. The area on the left is 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory particles from Micron, each with a capacity of 512GB.

The area on the right is a cache chip from Nanya, model NT5AD512M16C4-JR, factory frequency DDR4-3200 CL20, single chip capacity 1GB.

The back of the PCB corresponds to the layout of two other flash memory particles and one cache particle. The model and front components are consistent.

Test Build

Next, I will proceed to install the HP FX900 Pro SSD and thoroughly test its actual performance. Fortunately, the installation process for the HP FX900 Pro remains straightforward, making it a hassle-free experience. For this testing, I use my trusted test platform, a system that has consistently delivered reliable results. This platform features an Intel Core i7-13700K processor paired with an MSI MPG Z690 FORCE WIFI DDR5 motherboard, ensuring a solid foundation for assessing the SSD’s capabilities.

The SSD is installed on the 1st M.2 interface on the top of the motherboard. In addition, the high thermal conductivity graphene heat dissipation foam sticker that the SSD comes with is used directly here to try out the heat dissipation effect.

When you first power on the HP FX900 PRO SSD, it requires initialization and partitioning to make it ready for use. With a nominal capacity of 2TB, this high-performance SSD offers an actual available space of 1.86TB! which provides ample storage for your data needs.

Check the SSD information through CrystalDiskInfo. HP FX900 Pro 2TB supports NVME 1.4 protocol, SMART, TRIM, and Volatile Write Cache functions. It has a standard PCIe 4.0×4 interface and the firmware version is 3.AF12. The SSD is brand new and unused and has no data volume. It is on standby and the temperature under no-load conditions is approximately 40°C.

Performance and Benchmarks

In the CrystalDiskMark test, the HP FX900 Pro SSD’s sequential reading speed is 7134.04MB/s and the writing speed is 6623.41MB/s. The 4K multi-threaded random reading and writing speed is 1095.02MB/s reading and 986.09MB/s writing. The performance is very good. Whether it is sequential reading and writing, or 4K reading and writing, it is a proper flagship-level PCIe4.0 solid state.

In the AS SSD test, the HP FX900 Pro SSD sequentially read 5773.37MB/s and write 5665.22MB/s, with a total score of 11391, which is a very high score. As can be seen from the IOPS results, the 64-thread IOPS performance of 4K is also excellent.

In the AS SSD Copy test, the ISO file transfer rate reached 3811.21MB/s, with a duration of 0.60s; the program transfer rate reached 2411.08MB/s, 2.24s; the game transfer rate reached 2105.04MB/s, 0.66s, The performance was outstanding.

TxBench will more fully squeeze the extreme performance of SSD! so the sequential performance is better than the AS SSD Benchmark. However, the test items of these two software are similar. Except for the sequential score check, the scores of other parts are no different from the AS SSD Benchmark. Interested friends can take a closer look and will not go into details here. The sequential read and write speeds of FX900 Pro are 6763MB/s and 6405MB/s, both reaching the 7GB/s level! 4K random (QD1) read and write are 92MB/s and 332MB/s, which are basically similar to the previous test results.

The Anvil SSD benchmark results show that the HP FX900 Pro SSD’s read performance score was 10,059.51 points, the write performance was 17,885.50 points, and the total score was 27.945.01 points. Broken down into individual speeds! the 4K random read and write performance is basically consistent with the results of the AS SSD test.

In the ATTO Disk Benchmark test, the maximum read speed of the HP FX900 Pro SSD can reach 6.20GB/s! and the maximum write speed can reach 6.50GB/s. The read-and-write performance after 32KB is quite stable! and both are maintained at the optimal level of reading and writing speed.

Open HDTune and test the SSD SLC Cache capacity. First, write and read about 150GB and see. The reading speed and writing speed are very stable. The SLC Cache capacity is very large when the disk is empty.

Then there is 3DMark’s new SSD test. This test is used to simulate the performance of SSD in-game loading, installation, recording, etc. I have tested many Gen4 SSDs, and the scores are mostly in the range of 2500 to 3000. The HP FX900 Pro 2TB scored 3201 points. It is also a good choice to use as a game storage disk.

Temperature

During the test, I also paid attention to its temperature performance. The heat dissipation effect of the original graphene thermal foam is definitely not comparable to the metal heat sink of the motherboard. If your motherboard comes standard with a metal heat sink! it is still recommended that you use the metal heat sink on the motherboard. HP FX900 Pro’s original graphene thermal foam is more suitable for use in notebooks, PS5s, and other devices with relatively tight space. Compared with not installing heat dissipation, the load temperature is still about ten degrees lower.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the HP FX900 Pro 2TB SSD proves itself as a formidable contender in the world of high-performance storage solutions. Its sleek and compact design, complete with a pre-installed graphene heat sink! not only offers excellent heat dissipation but also adds a touch of branding to your setup. The compatibility with various devices, including notebooks, NUCs, XSX, PS5, and desktop consoles, ensures its versatility in different installation environments. Furthermore, the SSD’s robust build quality and impressive five-year, 1200TBW after-sales warranty provide peace of mind for users seeking longevity and reliability in their storage solutions.

Performance-wise, the HP FX900 Pro does not disappoint. With blazing sequential read and write speeds, exceptional 4K random performance, and outstanding scores in benchmark tests, it firmly establishes itself as a flagship PCIe 4.0 SSD. Its ability to handle heavy workloads, fast data transfers, and demanding gaming scenarios makes it a top choice for power users and gamers alike. While the included graphene heat sink offers reasonable thermal performance, users with more demanding heat dissipation needs might opt for additional cooling solutions. Overall, the HP FX900 Pro 2TB SSD impresses with its blend of speed, reliability, and compatibility, making it an excellent choice for those seeking high-performance storage solutions.

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