INTRODUCTION

   Gen3x4 PCIe NVMe SSD models are currently leading the market in term of sales and why would they not since they combine impressive read & write performance and endurance/durability numbers without breaking the bank. Just like with everything else in the electronics market however how do you choose the right model to cover your needs? Just think about, today we have M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD models that feature controllers from 7 different manufacturers and NAND flash from at least 6 different manufacturers (and these are just the top names). The end result is a rather large number of available models manufactured by an equally large number of companies. Lexar really needs no introductions and so after testing their good NM610 1TB M.2 NVMe SSD today with me i have their top of the line NM700 1TB model.

   For more than 20 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, and solid-state drives. With so many options, it’s easy to find the right Lexar solution to fit your needs. All Lexar product designs undergo extensive testing in the Lexar Quality Labs with more than 1,100 digital devices, to ensure performance, quality, compatibility, and reliability. Lexar products are available worldwide at major retail and e-tail stores. For more information or support, visit www.lexar.com.

   The NM700 model by Lexar (currently available in 256/512GB and 1TB capacities) is based on the 8-channel (Triple ARM Cortex R5 CPU up to 500MHz) 88SS1092 NVM Express Gen3x4 NAND controller by Marvell which is paired with 3D TLC NAND (probably by longsys) and a single Nanya LPDDR3-SDRAM module running at 1866MHz (this should be 1GB in size). According always to Lexar this hardware combination allows the NM700 line to hit read speeds of up to 3500MB/s (1200MB/s write for the 256GB capacity and 2000MB/s write for the 512GB/1TB capacities). As for the 88SS1092 8-channel NAND flash controller by Marvell well it fully supports AHCI v1.3, NVM Express v1.1b and TCG Opal and comes ready with features like Marvell’s 3rd-generation LDPC technology (low-density parity-check) for increased reliability/endurance, low power management, 128KB IDS buffer and AES-256bit encryption. Last but certainly not least Lexar covers the entire line with a 5-year limited warranty and reports an MTBF (meantime between failure) of 1.5 million hours and an endurance of 150TBW for the 256GB capacity, 300TBW for the 512GB capacity and 600TBW for the 1TB capacity.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

Just like with the NM610 model Lexar ships the NM700 inside a small box that has a product picture at the front, their logo, NVMe version and the NAND type used.

A few words about the drive are printed in 9 languages at the rear of the box.

Once again along with the drive Lexar just ships the quick start guide.

THE NM700 1TB

Just like every other M.2 drive I’ve tested to date the NM700 follows the typical 2280 form factor (22mm wide and 80mm long).

At the top we find the 88SS1092 NAND flash controller along with a single Nanya LPDDR3-SDRAM module and two 3D TLC NAND flash modules (512GB each in size).

The other side of the PCB is as expected empty.

LEXAR SOFTWARE

Lexar also has three pieces of software available for their SSDs, the Optimize Tool (only for the NM700 model), SSD Dash and Datasafe.

Unfortunately, the Optimize Tool is only compatible with 8th Generation Intel CPUs so even though i mounted the NM700 on the 9900k system the on button was greyed out (needless to say i ran all benchmarks with similar results).

Datasafe does just what its name suggests so with it you can password protect all data in the drive.

The SSD Dash software allows you to monitor the status of the drive, access its SMART page and secure erase its contents.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After over 12 years of testing solid state drives, i’ve concluded that it's almost impossible for any single benchmark suite to accurately measure their performance and that's why in certain benchmark suites we see amazing read/write performance numbers with some drives while in others things are quite different. The reason behind this is that some benchmarking suites are configured to read and write random chunks of data while others read and write constant (sequential) ones. So that's why i always use a very wide selection of benchmarking suites including AIDA64, HD Tach RW, HD Tune Pro, Crystal Disk Mark, Sisoftware Sandra Pro, AS SSD, IOmeter and ATTO. To get the most accurate results each test gets repeated a total of 6 times with the average performance numbers recorded into our charts*. Also, as of February 25th 2015 our results will also include the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) IOMeter tests. These tests include a 12 Hour write test used to “simulate” performance degradation over time and a mixed workload test which basically shows what you can expect when using an SSD continuously for roughly two hours. Unfortunately, due to the time required for these tests we repeat them a total of 3 times and not 6 as the above.

   Many people have made inquiries about our charts in the past so once again please do keep in mind that the Charts have the average performance numbers of each drive recorded and not the peak (highest) ones. Also, although every single one of these programs can help potential buyers choose the right drive for their needs you should also remember that from any kind of benchmark up to real world usage the gap is not small (and usually most differences will go unnoticed by most people). All tests were performed in a fresh Windows 10 Pro x64 installation complete with every update up to the date of this review.

* Since November 2018 our SSD comparison charts have been divided to 2.5” and M.2 models to reduce their growing size.

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / IOMETER

TEST RESULTS - IOMETER SNIA

CONCLUSION

   The Lexar NM700 is the very first 88SS1092 based M.2 Gen3x4 NVMe SSD to arrive here so I didn’t have anything similar to compare my results with. Of course, the reason I say this is because in certain tests (like HD Tune Pro, HD Tach RW and even AIDA64) the lower end NM610 model produced better numbers/results (thus I was a bit confused, until at least I double checked the results with my 9900k test rig). Since the NM700 model however is the latest addition in the growing Lexar SSD line this could all come down to an upcoming firmware update. IOmeter SNIA results were actually very good, not quite as good as the numbers i got from both the Kingston KC2500 and HP EX950 drives but still very good (a good amount of thermal throttling however occurred here as well).

   At the time of this review the NM700 1TB may not be available to purchase inside the USA but it is available inside the EU for a price of 157.95Euros (Amazon.de). This of course is not a lot to ask for a very fast M.2 Gen3x4 NVMe SSD model like the NM700 but considering that the EX950 model is priced just a tad higher I really hope Lexar trims it down just a bit. Overall, however the NM700 is a very fast model and for that it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Performance
- Endurance (600TBW)
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Available Software

CONS

- Thermal Throttling (During Our SNIA Tests)
- USA Availability