The Lexar Skilled NM800 Professional is a high-end PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs that enters a crowded market however can set itself aside with its excessive effectivity and low temperatures. This drive is finest caught on sale and significantly at 2TB, the place it could be nice for the PlayStation 5 or a gaming desktop. It units no new efficiency data and has some inconsistent efficiency outcomes, which hold it off the finest PS5 SSDs and finest SSDs general lists, however on the entire it performs effectively sufficient to get the job achieved. With PCIe 5.0 SSDs on the horizon, this drive might finest be suited to including additional quick storage to your system.
SSD costs have been dropping quick for some time now so it’s vital to attain the appropriate deal. This drive ought to be included in your checklist if the above traits suit your standards. One other drive on this class that’s been priced low in latest gross sales is the Essential P5 Plus, however the NM800 Professional is the superior selection because it usually performs higher and comes with a trendy heatsink. The non-heatsinked model ought to be okay in a laptop computer for those who actually need full PCIe 4.0 bandwidth.
Alternatively, there are a lot of drives sooner than the NM800 Professional, even when the efficiency hole could be troublesome to subjectively really feel within the day-to-day. Our advice is to place this drive in your PS5 or as a secondary PC drive when it’s priced proper, significantly at 2TB. The NM800 Professional does probably not stand out in another manner.
| Product | 512GB | 1TB | 2TB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | $69.99 | $83.49 | $129.99 |
| Kind Issue | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface / Protocol | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Controller | IG5236 | IG5236 | IG5236 |
| DRAM | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X | LPDDR4X |
| Flash Reminiscence | 176-Layer Micron TLC | 176-Layer Micron TLC | 176-Layer Micron TLC |
| Sequential Learn | 7,450 MBps | 7,500 MBps | 7,500 MBps |
| Sequential Write | 3,500 MBps | 6,300 MBps | 6,500 MBps |
| Random Learn | 500K | 1000K | 1300K |
| Random Write | 900K | 1100K | 1200K |
| Safety | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Endurance (TBW) | 500TB | 1,000TB | 2,000TB |
| Half Quantity | LNM800P512G-RNNNG | LNM800P001T-RNNNG | LNM800P002T-RNNNG |
| Guarantee | 5-12 months | 5-12 months | 5-12 months |
The Lexar Skilled NM800 Professional is out there in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. The costs on the time of evaluation are $69.99, $83.49, and $129.99, respectively. This pricing is aggressive at 1TB and particularly 2TB, however the market has been unstable. It is a drive that you simply may need to catch on sale, no matter capability.
The NM800 Professional can push PCIe 4.0 bandwidth at as much as 7500/6500 MBps and 1300K/1200K IOPS for sequential/random reads and writes, respectively. Lexar warranties this drive for 5 years and 1PB of writes per TB capability. This endurance ranking is greater than the trade common, though that’s usually not a big issue.
Software program and Equipment for Lexar Skilled NM800 Professional
Lexar doesn’t supply any particular downloads or equipment for this drive, past the optionally available heatsink variant. We suggest Clonezilla or related for imaging/cloning and CrystalDiskInfo for common well being evaluation.
A Nearer Take a look at Lexar Skilled NM800 Professional
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Our pattern arrived with a heatsink, which is a pleasant addition. Some competing drives lack a heatsink which is starting to be a problem with high-end drives that may expertise thermal throttling with out one. Lexar additionally sells a model of this drive with out a heatsink. Both one would work superb for PlayStation 5 use. Beneath the heatsink, the drive is basically an identical to the non-heatsinked model.
Beneath the label, we spot a controller, a DRAM bundle, and two NAND packages. Even at 2TB this drive manages to be single-sided which is especially difficult at this capability. This makes it an choice for sure difficult builds, together with some laptops and HTPCs.
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The controller is the InnoGrit IG5236, a well-liked 8-channel design that’s used for high-end PCIe 4.0 drives. Often these drives are cheaper than competing SSDs constructed round Phison’s E18 or proprietary options. Sooner or later it must deal with sooner, 4-channel controllers that may max out the interface, such because the Maxio MAP1602 discovered on the Acer Predator GM7. Another examples embrace the TenaFe TC2201 and SMI SM2268XT. These controllers are DRAM-less with fewer, sooner channels, which makes them significantly aggressive on worth and for software in laptops.
The DRAM is labeled FLXC2002G-N2, which is LPDDR4X. That is extraordinarily environment friendly DRAM, which ought to enable the NM800 Professional to run extra effectively as an entire, though DRAM is only one element. This may also assist just a little with thermal administration, with or with out a heatsink. That is 2GB of DRAM, which is a wonderful quantity for 2TB of flash.
The NM800 Professional makes use of Micron’s 176-Layer TLC, or B47R. This flash is often bought with 64GB dies which means every 1TB NAND bundle comprises 16 dies in a HDP or 16DP configuration. That is often probably the most quantity of dies one can fairly stack per bundle.
Lexar has the choice of swapping to different flash, such because the environment friendly YMTC TLC discovered on the Predator GM7, however studies are that the IG5236 SSD controller has firmware points with YMTC flash. The effectivity of that flash could be a pleasant match on this drive and it appears different flash producers have taken discover of the potential benefits discovered with such a design.
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