INTRODUCTION

   M.2 PCIe NVMe solid state drives (SSDs) may offer blazing fast read and write speeds but their 2.5" SATA III (6Gb/s) cousins still own a good chunk of the market. The why is simple, both old laptops and desktops are compatible with them and so they are pretty much the easiest, cheapest and fastest upgrade both consumers and even professionals can get for their outdated systems. Still with the SATA III standard already saturated by 2.5" SSD models released several years ago manufacturers are simply not that interested in the development of newer ones. As a matter of fact Lexar is among a handful that have recently released such models and today i'll be testing their NQ100 960GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s SSD.

   For more than 25 years, Lexar has been a trusted leading global brand of memory solutions. Our award-winning lineup includes memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers, solid-state drives and DRAM. 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, visitwww.lexar.com.

   The NQ100 line of 2.5" SATA III (6Gb/s) SSDs is currently available in 240/480/960GB variants and features Lexar's very own DM928 DRAM-less NAND flash controller (rebranded Maxiotek MAS0902?) together with 4 Micron 3D QLC NAND flash memory modules. In terms of available technologies, the drive sports S.M.A.R.T. drive performance and health monitoring, LDPC error correction, TRIM function, NCQ, thermal throttling, active garbage collection and DevSleep (power saving). As for endurance Lexar reports 84TBW for the 240GB variant, 168TBW for the 480GB variant and 336TBW for the 960GB variant and covers the entire NQ100 line with a 3-year limited warranty.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The NQ100 gets shipped inside a blue box that has a product picture at the front right over a sticker with the drive capacity and beneath the company logo.

Via a small opening at the rear, you can check the serial number and barcode of the drive (around that Lexar has placed a few words about the drive in 2 languages).

Just a quick installation guide is bundled with the NQ100 2.5" SATA III SSD.

THE NQ100 960GB

For the NQ100 Lexar has used a plastic gray 2.5" housing that has their name on top.

At the base we find the sticker with the drive's serial number, barcodes and certifications.

As usual this drive uses the standard SATA III 6Gb/s data and power connector.

The enclosure is of the pressed type and so it’s very easy to open.

2 Micron 3D QLC NAND flash modules and the DM928 controller are placed on one side of the PCB and 2 more Micron 3D QLC NAND flash modules on the other.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After over 12 years of testing solid state drives, we’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 the 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 with every update installed up to the date of this review.

* Since November 2018 the 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

   It’s been almost 2 years since i had a 2.5” SATA III SSD here so it’s a bit strange to once again see the performance levels such drives offer (500-550MB/s) compared to M.2 NVMe models, both Gen3x4 (3000-3500MB/s) and Gen4x4 (5000-7500MB/s). That being said however 2.5” models have but a single purpose, to be a much faster alternative to mechanical drives (HDDs) something for which the NQ100 line is ideal. Unfortunately, at just 1TB capacity the NQ100 leaves something to be desired (compared to 2TB+ models) but for regular users and even gamers it should prove a valuable addition.

   With a current price tag set at USD87.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and at 89.79Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the NQ100 960GB SATA III SSD by Lexar is priced just right. Yes, it’s not the fastest 2.5” SATA III SSD out there but it does very well and for a drive which will probably end in an older system (or as secondary in a newer system) it’s performance is actually not an issue. Bottom line it all comes down to what you need and/or want so if 1TB is enough for you and you are in need of a 2.5” SATA III SSD then i strongly recommend checking the Lexar NQ100 960GB model out, it just might surprise you.

PROS

- Overall Performance
- Features / Technologies
- Endurance Numbers (336TBW For The 960GB Capacity)
- 3 Year Limited Warranty
- Price

CONS

- Value Model (DRAM-Less Design)
- No Cloning Software In The Bundle
- Available Capacities (Only Up To 960GB)