Everything changed when the fire nation attacked… Honestly, that's what it feels like writing this review. Teamgroup's MP44Q PCIe 4.0 SSD has finally landed with me for testing, and it's a curious little QLC number that, once upon a time, would have offered itself up as a nice, affordable, tantalizing opportunity for any would-be budget gamer's rig. The problem is that it's 2026, this sorta QLC feels a bit old fashioned, and SSD prices are through the roof.
It's especially tough as we've seen even superb budget drives such as the WD Blue SN5100 totally hampered by an extraordinarily high price tag. And that's a problem, a real big one, especially for Teamgroup. Side-by-side these drives, although targeted at the same audience, and with similarly high price tags (at time of writing the MP44Q is $305 and the SN5100 is $317), perform wildly differently.
