Next up for review within the MSI Spatium line-up is the M450 PCIe 4.0 SSD. This is a $59.99 USD model (500 GB) which is a contrast to the recently reviewed Spatium M470.
Now the MSI Spatium M450 comes in 250 GB, 500 GB and 2 TB models. Ours being the 500 GB variant comes with a 3600 MB/s and 2300 MB/s – read and write speeds, respectively.
Disclosure: MSI sent the Spatium M450 for the purpose of this review. As usual, the company did not ask me to say anything particular about it.
- Product page: MSI SPATIUM M450 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2
- Price: $59.99 USD (Amazon) / ₱3,920 PHP (MSRP)
- Release Date: Q4 2021
Table of Contents
Technical Specifications
| Storage | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 500 GB (250 GB and 2 TB models also available) |
| Cache | — |
| Flash Controller | Phison E19T |
| Flash Memory | 3D NAND |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Sequential Read | 3600 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 2300 MB/s |
| Random 4 KB Read | 300,000 IOPS |
| Random 4 KB Write | 550,000 IOPS |
| Endurance | |
| MTBF | 1,500,000 Hours |
| TBW | 300 |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 80 mm |
| Width | 22 mm |
| Height | 2.15 mm |
| Weight | 9.7 grams |
Packaging and Accessories
The MSI Spatium M450 comes inside a simple color box similar to the SSD that came before it.
The packaging comes with the following items inside:
- MSI Spatium M450 500 GB
- Installation manual
Nothing changed here compared to the Spatium M470.
Design, Build and Connectivity
The Spatium M450 isn’t much different compared to the M470 – aside from its dark teal PCB. It is still a 2280 format M.2 NVMe SSD with the same hideous err I mean hazard strip inspired sticker.
The Spatium M450 500 GB comes with a single sided module design. This should fit some really confined M.2 2280 slots such as those found on notebooks and other similar devices. Looking at the PCB though, the higher capacity 2 TB model could be double sided.
Nothing major to complain here. Let us move on to the measurements.
Test Setup and Methodology
Our test setup relies on the measurements taken from industry standard benchmark tools and real-world applications. It is important to note that we are testing the review sample after burn-in, with at least 24-hours of uptime. This is done so to negate the FOTB (fresh out the box) state of the DUT (device under test), yielding better benchmarking consistency.
| Test System Specifications | |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 |
| Motherboard | BIOSTAR B550M-SILVER |
| Cooler | Noctua NH-U12S Redux |
| Memory | ADATA Premier DDR4-2666 16 GB |
| GPU | GALAX RTX 2060 EX White 6 GB |
| Storage | MSI Spatium M450 500 GB |
| Case | Mechanical Library JXK-K3 |
| PSU | Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 650 W |
| Display | LG UF680T |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit |
The DUT is tested with the following configuration from our test system:
- UEFI configuration: Default
- Windows Power Plan: Balanced
Note: I tested this device with what MSI supplied but for the sake of fair comparison with the rest of the benchmarked storage devices, I retested the drive using my standard test system.
Throughput
Throughput is measured in Megabytes per second (MB/s) at read and write. This is done via Crystal Disk Mark and its sequential benchmark.
Throughput is measured in Megabytes per second (MB/s) at read and write. This is done via AS SSD and its sequential benchmark.
Excellent throughput performance we got here – for the price.
Operations per Second
Operations per Second is measured in Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) at read and write. This is done via Crystal Disk Mark and its 4K benchmark.
Operations per Second is measured in Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) at read and write. This is done via AS SSD and its 4K benchmark.
IOPS performance for the write is great if we compare it to the T-Force Cardea Z44L. Read performance though, not that much.
Access and Loading Time
Access time is measured in Milliseconds (ms). This is done via AS SSD and its Access Time benchmark.
Loading time is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and its official benchmark.
Proper performance we got here from the Spatium M450 500 GB. Not the best but definitely not the worst either.
File Copy
File copy performance is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via AS SSD and its File Copy benchmark.
File copy performance is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via TeraCopy and 16 GB worth of files.
File copy performance is excellent – as is with the higher end model of the Spatium series.
Thermals
Temperature is measured in degree Celcius (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.
Yep, thermal performance is not its strong point like its higher end brother but this actually acceptable.
Features
Aside from its innate TRIM, SMART, LDPC and MSI Command Center support – the M450 comes with a 5 year warranty.
While I think a heatsink is not required for the majority of desktop setups with enough airflow to keep the heat at bay, the M450 could still use some for peace of mind.
Final Thoughts
The Spatium M450 is what I could say a really good sub $100 USD proposal from MSI. This is a well segmented product with 250 GB, 500 GB and 2 TB models to choose from. That’s on top of the performance that punches well above its price bracket.
Thermal performance wise, this is way better compared to its bigger brother – more so considering its single sided design. The product also comes with 5 year warranty which is a testament to MSI’s faith on their own products.
In closing, the MSI M450 is an appealing $59.99 USD NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. Definitely worthy to consider at its price bracket.
MSI Spatium M450 PCIe 4.0 SSD
Summary
The Spatium M450 is what I could say a really good sub $100 USD proposal from MSI. This is a well segmented product with 250 GB, 500 GB and 2 TB models to choose from. That’s on top of the performance that punches well above its price bracket.
