Seagate IronWolf 525 500 GB SSD
September 2021Type
SSDPrice
$150 USSeagate is one of the big names when it comes to the storage industry with products ranging from HDDs and SSDs (SATA & NVMe). The company has been steadily updating its IronWolf line of SSDs over several generations. The IronWolf series itself is aimed at consumers but also serves its good purposes within the prosumer segment. Last month, Seagate launched its brand new IronWolf 525 series NVMe SSDs which are Gen 4 compliant and also marketed towards NAS systems.
According to Seagate themselves, the IronWolf 525 NVMe series will offer all the key additions such as IronWolf Health Management System & Rescue Data Recovery services to reduce the probability of data loss on NAS systems. The drivers also going to be priced accordingly in the entry-level PCIe Gen 4 NVMe segment
Today, I will be testing the IronWolf 525 500 GB from Seagate which comes at a cost of just $149.99 US.
Seagate IronWolf 525 500 GB Gen 4 NVMe SSD
Seagate states that its IronWolf 525 series is an ideal choice for creative pros and businesses with demanding performance needs. It is Gen 4 compliant and backward compatible with PCIe Gen 3.
The SSDs are based on the NVMe SSD form factor and features a 96-layer Kioxia BiCS 3D TLC NAND flash which offers larger capacities, better performance, and slightly lower power input. Seagate is using the Phison E16 (PS5016-E16-32) SSD controller to power its IronWolf 525 series SSDs which is a Gen 4 compliant controller.
- Future-Proof Speed IronWolf 525 boosts NAS caching and tiered storage solutions to
the next level with PCIe Gen 4 speeds up to 5,000 MB/s while maintaining backward
compatibility with PCIe Gen 3 systems - Always-On, Always Accessible Designed to deliver performance in demanding 24x7 low latency, multi-user environments, enabling fast access to data any time, anywhere.
- Built Tough Endurance rating of 0.7 DWPD 2 ensures robust performance in NAS and other intensive client workloads.
- Class-Leading Reliability and Dependability Rated for 1.8M hours MTBF and includes a 5-year limited warranty for a best-in-class total cost of ownership (TCO). Purpose-Built Capacities Choose from 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB, ideal for primary storage or fast caching
- IronWolf Health Management (IHM) Actively monitor and protect your NAS data with error Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery recommendations.
- Peace of mind with Data Recovery Includes 3-year complimentary Rescue Dat
Furthermore, the SSD is priced relatively close to other options, starting at $150 US for the 500 GB, $250 US for the 1 TB, and $450 US for the 2 TB variants. In terms of performance, the IronWolf 525 500 GB has sequential read speeds of 5000 MB/s and write speeds of 2500 MB/s. The Random read speeds of the drive are up to 420K IOPS and the write is 630K IOPS. The SSDs are powered through the NVMe slot with a 3.3V DC supply.
The endurance of the SSD is rated at 1,800,000 hours which should last a good amount of time. You are also looking at a 5-year limited warranty through the entire lineup.
Seagate IronWolf 525 Gen 4 NVMe SSD Specifications:
| Capacity | 500 GB | 1 TB | 2TB | |
| Model Number | ZP500NM30002 | ZP1000NM30002 | ZP2000NM30002 | |
| Controller | Phison E16 | |||
| NAND Flash | Kioxia BiCS 4 96L 3D TLC NAND | |||
| Form-Factor, Interface | M.2-2280, PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 | |||
| Double-Sided (22.15mm x 80.15mm x 3.58mm) |
||||
| Seq. Read (128KB @ QD32) [ Normal / Sustained @ PCIe 4.0 x4 ] | 5000 / 3300 MBps | 5000 / 4350 MBps | 5000 / 4300 MBps | |
| Seq. Write (128KB @ QD32) [ Normal / Sustained @ PCIe 4.0 x4 ] | 2500 / 525 MBps | 4400 / 995 MBps | 4400 / 965 MBps | |
| Rand. Read IOPS (QD32T8) [ Normal @ PCIe 4.0 x4 ] | 420K | 760K | 740K | |
| Rand. Write IOPS (QD32T8) [ Normal @ PCIe 4.0 x4 ] | 630K | 700K | 700K | |
| Pseudo-SLC Caching | Yes | |||
| DRAM Buffer | 1GB DDR4 | 2GB DDR4 | ||
| TCG Opal Encryption | No | |||
| Power Consumption | Avg Active | 5.6 W | 6.5 W | |
| Avg Sleep | 20mW | 20mW | 30mW | |
| Warranty | 5 years (including 3 years of Rescue Data Recovery Services) | |||
| MTBF | 1.8 million hours | |||
| TBW | 700 | 1400 | 2800 | |
| DWPD | 0.7 | |||
| UBER | 1E10^16 | |||
| Additional Information | IronWolf 525 SSD Specifications | |||
| MSRP | $150 US | $250 US | $450 US | |
Test Setup
Our test platform for this review consisted of an Intel Core i9-11900K processor which ran at stock clocks on the MSI Z590 ACE motherboard. The platform was coupled with 32 GB of DDR4 memory from G.Skill (Trident Z RGB / 8 GB x 4) and the ASUS ROG Thor 1200W PSU. For graphics, I used the MSI GeForce RTX 3090 SUPRIM X. This rounds up as a high-end platform for tests with modern-day SSDs.
Wccftech SSD Test Setup (2025):
| Processor | Intel Core i9-13900K |
|---|---|
| Motherboard: | MSI MEG Z790 ACE |
| Power Supply: | MSI MEG Ai1300P (1300W) |
| Memory: | G.Skill Trident Z5 DDR5-7400 (2 x 16 GB) |
| Case: | Cooler Master C700M |
| Video Cards: | MSI GeForce RTX 4090 SUPRIM X |
| Cooling Solutions: | MSI MEG S360 AIO Liquid Cooler |
| OS: | Windows 11 64-bit (24H2) |
Seagate IronWolf 525 500 GB Gen 4 NVMe SSD Performance Benchmarks
First up, we have the official performance stats for these drives as listed by their manufacturers. You can compare these stats with the rest of the drives I tested in the following chart:
Official SSD Stats (IOPS)
Official SSD Stats (MB/s)
AS SSD Benchmark
AS SSD Benchmark download is a Windows 10 utility software program that tests the performance of solid-state drives. With its help, you can find out the speed of all installed SSDs and take care of any issues that the tests may reveal. The free app performs three separate tests to provide you with conclusive evidence on your driver's general behavior while it copies, reads, and writes data. The app determines the access time of an SSD, along with its speed and performance capabilities
AS-SSD Benchmark
ATTO 3.05 Disk Benchmark
As the industry’s leading provider of high-performance storage & network connectivity products, ATTO has created a widely-accepted Disk Benchmark freeware software to help measure storage system performance. As one of the top tools utilized in the industry, Disk Benchmark identifies performance in hard drives, solid-state drives, RAID arrays as well as the host connection to attached storage. Top drive manufacturers, like Hitachi, build and test every drive using the ATTO Disk Benchmark.
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturer's RAID controllers, storage controllers, host bus adapters (HBAs), hard drives, and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
ATTO v3.05 128 KB Sequential QD4
Crystal Disk Mark 7.0.0 x64
CrystalDiskMark is a disk benchmark software.It measure sequential reads/writes speed,measure random 512KB, 4KB, 4KB (Queue Depth=32) reads/writes speed,select test data (Random, 0Fill, 1Fill),
Crystal Disk Mark 7.0.0 x64 SEQ1M Q8T1
Crystal Disk Mark 7.0.0 x64 4KiB Q1T1
File Transfer Speeds (100 GB File Size)
To test the maximum average transfer speeds of the drives, I used a 100 GB file to test the limits.
File Transfer Rate (MB/s)
PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark
The PCMark 10 Storage benchmark is designed to test the performance of SSDs, HDDs, and hybrid drives with traces recorded from Adobe Creative Suite, Microsoft Office, and a selection of popular games. You can test the system drive or any other recognized storage device, including local external drives. Unlike synthetic storage tests, the PCMark 10 Storage benchmark highlights real-world performance differences between storage devices.
PCMark 10 System Disk Storage Bench
PCMark 10 System Disk Access Times
Conclusion - Slightly Expensive With Great Reliability
Seagate is one of the leaders in the storage space and their IronWolf 525 series SSDs spice up the NVMe Gen 4 segment with new and competitive options. The $150 US pricing for the 500 GB SSD makes it slightly on the higher side but in return, you are getting top-notch reliability & added NAS options. Furthermore, you are getting data recovery services which is a bonus!
Temperatures
Seagate's IronWolf 525 series SSDs promise to offer increased performance through Gen 4 complicacy and added data recovery features.
The drive is backed by a 5-year warranty and has a 700TBW endurance rate which will run it through the paces of all business-oriented tasks that it is aimed at. 1.8 million hours of MTBF makes it a very solid option to consider and if you happen to find these at a discounted price around $110-$130 US, then it's great for any PC setup.
You can find additional information about our hardware review process and ethics policy here.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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