Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
The TeamGroup NV5000 feels like a drive from a different time period, which makes total sense as the SSD market is starting to feel like a return to a time of higher storage prices. SSDs used to be a luxury but now it feels almost impossible to live without one. The enhanced responsiveness offered over HDDs is just too good to pass up. The real questions become, which SSD offers the best value? What’s the least I can get away with? Do I really need the newest and best?
The NV5000 ignores all these questions and simply offers a PCIe 3.0 SSD experience, even though it is a PCIe 4.0 drive, while still being fast enough for a PS5.
PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSDs were the first to offer an experience that improved upon SATA SSDs in terms of bandwidth and, to some degree, responsiveness. We also began to see real competition for Samsung with drives like the HP EX920 and the first competitive use of QLC with the Intel 660p . For many people, this is when NVMe SSDs got “good enough” to be a real option, and everything that came after only offered higher numbers on a box. We don’t fully agree with that analysis, but it’s impossible to deny that even very basic SSDs can vastly improve your desktop experience.
In fact, the demand for simple PCIe 3.0 SSDs has led to a situation where drives like the NV5000 – and even some actual PCIe 3.0 drives – have come to market recently, in part as a reaction to unparalleled memory demand for AI. While it was always possible to roll the die on a mystery SSD from AliExpress, some manufacturers are attempting to back it with a real name. This is essentially the idea behind Kingston’s NV series of drives, but also applies to some budget favorites like TeamGroup’s own MP44L . Some of these drives have good hardware at launch, but become randomized down the line because newer flash is more likely to be paired with faster controllers. As a result, the budget drives will tap into older flash stock,s which can help reduce or maintain cost.
It may seem odd that we’re reviewing a drive like this in 2026. In fact, it’s valuable to have information about drives like this so that you can be a more discerning buyer if you're on a budget. You can make more educated guesses about unknown drives by understanding how to recognize and gauge the hardware. In most cases, people care more about reliability than performance, so a thorough reading of the hardware can also reduce uncertainty in a purchase. TeamGroup is a brand that’s known well enough, and the NV5000 is an interesting alternative to the popular MP44L. It’s not going to be the fastest or most efficient drive out there, but do you really need all of that for a games drive? We have the numbers, but that part is up to you.
TeamGroup NV5000 Specifications
Swipe to scroll horizontally Product 1TB 2TB Pricing $145.99 $232.99 Form Factor M.2 2280 (Single-sided) M.2 2280 (Single-sided) Interface / Protocol PCIe 4.0 x4
NVMe 1.4 PCIe 4.0 x4
NVMe 1.4 Controller Realtek RTS5772DL Realtek RTS5772DL DRAM N/A (HMB) N/A (HMB) Flash Memory Intel 96-Layer TLC (B27A) Intel 96-Layer TLC (B27A) Sequential Read 4,500 MB/s 5,000 MB/s Sequential Write 1,900 MB/s 3,000 MB/s Random Read N/A N/A Random Write N/A N/A Endurance 320TBW 640TBW Part Number TM8FGM001T0C101 TM8FGM002T0C101 Warranty 3-Year 3-Year
... continue reading