Lexar NM790 2TB PCIe Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe SSD Review
Peter Donnell / 12 months ago
How Much Does it Cost?
The Lexar NM790 2TB SSD, M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe 1.4 Internal SSD (LNM790X002T-RNNNG) is available now from a few major retailers. It’s currently listed on Amazon for a remarkably reasonable £119.99. Truly I’m shocked at how good the prices are on the larger capacity high-end M.2 SSDs these days, and if you’re upgrading your PC or PlayStation 5, I’m sure your wallet will be happy about those prices too.
Overview
Lexar has a long and well-respected reputation in the storage market. It’s more than likely that you either do own or have owned more than one of their products over the years, such as the memory/storage in your phone, laptop, console, camera, and many other devices. My point is, most people will have at some experience with the brand and frankly, I can’t think of any instance personally or professionally where there was an issue with one of their products, their reputation is pretty robust.
This is the first PC SSD I’ve ever used from Lexar, and it’s a strong start too. Offering support for the latest PCIe 4×4 interface, it’s capable of some very impressive speeds. Of course, your mileage will vary depending on the hardware you pair it with, but a half-decent motherboard, CPU and RAM configuration will certainly help you push closer to the maximum speeds this drive is capable of. Furthermore, if you are using this on the PlayStation 5, you should be getting close to that maximum too, as it’s broadly on par with the next-gen storage the console uses as standard these days.
Rather than using DRAM, the drive uses a Host Memory Buffer (HMB) 3.0 configuration, which Lexar claim will reduce its power usage by around 40%. While this is unlikely to be many benefits to desktop users, it can be a big advantage in lower-power notebooks and mobile devices. Plus, less power in often results in less heat being generated, reducing the risk of the drive having to throttle its performance.
Should I Buy One?
Lexar is a well-respected and recognisable brand name, and with the performance and features on offer, as well as the very competitive price, it’s hard not to be attracted to the NM790! Highly recommended for those looking to give their console or PC a storage performance boost.
