INTRODUCTION

    One of the things I've always liked about the electronics industry has been competition and unlike other industries here even the smallest player can compete with the largest, at least when it comes to product quality and performance. Take storage media for example, sure manufacturers like Samsung, Crucial and WD may lead the market, but many smaller ones have also released numerous products that can straight up compete with those by them. And then we have OEM/ODM manufacturers like Oreton who are ready to take their first steps in the retail market and today I'm testing their N7000 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 SSD.

    Oreton Technology Co., Ltd. specializes in the research, development, production and sales of solid state drives (SSD) as well as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM). Operating under our brand Oreton, we accept OEM and ODM orders, providing one-stop storage solutions and customized services for renowned semiconductor clients across the globe. Boasting a 4,000㎡ manufacturing facility, advanced production equipment, rigorous testing process, perfect supply chains, and sophisticated R&D team, we are capable of delivering high-quality and efficient solutions. Our mature production management system allows us to stay updated with cutting-edge technologies, standards, and industry trends to offer our clients with reliable products.

    The N7000 Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD line will be soon available in 512GB/1TB/2TB/4TB capacities with or without a large heatsink and is based on the DRAM-less MAP1602-F3C 12nm quad-channel (R5) NVMe 2.0 NAND flash controller by MaXio (although once again it's used as v1.4) which Oreton has paired with YMTC’s X3-9060 128-Layer 3D TLC NAND flash. The MAP1602 12nm quad-channel NAND controller by MaXio also packs quite a few features including advanced wear leveling algorithms, Host Memory Buffer (HMB) architecture (uses a fraction of your PC's system memory to cache mapping tables), pseudo SLC cache, bad block management strategy, hardware error-correction, L1.2 ultra-low power state and sudden power-loss protection, TRIM, NCQ, hardware support for AES256/SM4 encryption and support for TCG OPAL2.0. As for warranty Oreton will cover the entire N7000 Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD line with a 3-year limited one (will update this review when I verify endurance numbers).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE N7000 1TB

The N7000 will be shipped inside a box that has a product picture at the front along with the company logo and warranty.

Some of the product specifications will be printed at the rear right over a cut out from where you can actually see the drive.

The drive follows the typical 2280 form factor so nothing new to see here.

At the top we find the DRAM-less MAP1602-F3C 12nm quad-channel (R5) NVMe 2.0 NAND flash controller by MaXio and two 128-layer 3D TLC NAND flash modules by YMTC (under the sticker).

Since the N7000 is a single side model the other side of the PCB is empty.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Not long after I first started testing SSDs back in 2008, I 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 other 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 the charts. Also, as of February 25^th, 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 they get repeated 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.

* As of January 2025, Gen4 SSDs will be tested on the 13900K/Z790 system while Gen5 SSDs will be tested on the 285K/Z890 system.

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 N7000 is Oreton’s very first Gen4 SSD (Gen5 models should be available soon) and even though it’s still not available for sale some of you may have seen variants of it under different brand names already (Oreton is an OEM/ODM after all). Good news is that I was really satisfied with the performance of the N7000, even more so since I tested the 1TB capacity which should be just a tad slower compared to the 2TB and 4TB models. I also expect the heatsink model to produce even better numbers, so I guess what I’m saying is that things are looking good for Oreton (although I do hope they up their warranty).

    Again, the N7000 line is not currently available in the market so I can’t comment on price. This entire review was just to introduce Oreton to the world and so expect more reviews once their products make it to online retailers. For now, all I can say is that the N7000 1TB performed very well and exceeded my expectations and so I do hope Oreton continues on the same path once their products hit retail.

PROS

- Good Overall Performance (For a DRAM-Less Drive)
- Up To 4TB Capacity
- Heatsink Version Available

CONS

- Still Not In Retail