Lexar NM600 480GB SSD Review

Lexar is one name you might not associate with SSD drives, as the company is better known for its range of flash cards. They are trying to change this, however, with the launch of the M.2 NM family of drives. Currently the range comprises one SATA based drive, the NM210, and three NVMe lines, the 2242 format NM520, the 2280 NM500 and the flagship drive of the range, the NM600. There are just two capacities available (at the time of writing this review) in the NM600 line-up; 240GB and 480GB.

The NM600 uses a combination of Micron 64-layer 3D TLC NAND and a Silicon Motion SM2263XT controller. The XT is the DRAM-less version of Silicon Motion's 4-channel SM2263 controller which helps in trying to keep drive manufacturing costs down. To counteract the lack of DRAM cache support, the controller makes use of host memory buffer (HMB) technology which uses a small amount of system memory to cache the map table.

Lexar's official Sequential speed ratings for the 480GB drive are up to 2,100MB/s for reads and up to 1,600MB/s for writes. When tested with the ATTO benchmark the review drive couldn't quite get to that maximum read figure, but at 2,049MB/s it wasn't that far short. It was a similar story when we tested Sequential write performance, as at 1,559MB/s it fell just shy of the official maximum figure.

When it comes to 4K random performance the 480GB drive is rated as up to 188,000 IOPS for reads and 156,000 IOPS for writes. With our 4K testing, using four threads, we couldn't get close to either of those figures at 132,115 IOPS for reads and just 53,747 IOPS for writes. We then did a quick test using 8 threads which saw the read figure rise to 150,208 IOPS, still below the maximum figure. However, the write performance using 8 threads rocketed past the official maximum rating with a score of 212,825.7 IOPS.

Overall, it's clearly not the fastest SSD going – we consistently saw it place in the bottom section of our charts throughout our testing today. That said, there is a glimmer of hope for the drive as it is highly affordable – but as of now it does not seem there is any UK availability.

We could only find the 480GB version of Lexar's NM600 drive on Amazon for £64.04 (plus delivery) HERE. Do note that this price is from the Amazon Global Store, and the drive will be imported from the USA.

Pros

• Decent Sequential performance.
• Performance stability.

Cons

• Disappointing 4K performance under our standard tests.
• Hard to find.

KitGuru says: It's interesting to see Lexar enter the highly competitive NVMe SSD market, and although the NM600 doesn't bring anything new to the table, Lexar has given it a fighting chance with pretty competitive pricing.

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