Plextor M8Se 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD review - Introduction

The Plextor M8Se PCIe SSD gets tested

Armed with stylish looks, proper cooling and using a fast M.2 SSD as basis, we review the Plextor M8Se 512GB SSD. This new storage unit use the NVMe express (NVME) protocol and that means storage technology at terrific speeds while remaining competitive in pricing. 

Basically the M8Se SSD is using a PCI Express daughter board fitted with an M.2 SSD, interesting stuff as M.2 NVMe units are much more capable as it can deal with way more bandwidth using PCI-Express lanes. As such, M.2 solutions are intended for enthusiast class motherboards. The M8Se series M.2 SSDs are a breathtaking series of storage technology as they offer enthusiast class performance yet remain reasonable in pricing. Though prices still need to go on-line, we already spotted our tested 512GB M8Se for roughly 200 EURO. Keep in mind you are looking at a product that reads at 2.5 GB/sec and writes over 1 GB/sec. These new storage units use the NVMe protocol and that means storage technology at hyper fast speeds while remaining competitive in pricing. The PCIe version adopts lines drawn from fluid mechanics and a professional blue and black high-performance heat sink design. This presents dynamic ultra-fast speed aesthetics, along with more efficient thermal conductivity that can quickly eliminate the heat generated by M8Se's high speed transmission and help the computer system maintain a more optimal operating efficiency. We test the 512 GB model, capable of up-to 2450 MB/s for reads and 1000 MB/sec (512GB model) for writes. It has been fitted with TLC Toshiba NAND (15nm). The performance numbers are good SATA3 SSD offers these days are simply excellent, but with NVMe you can triple maybe even quadruple performance, which offers serious numbers. Plextor’s new M8S series product line is powered by a Marvell controller.
 

Plextor M8S Series SSD with Marvell controller and TLC written Toshiba NAND Flash

The unit inside that massive heatsink follows a smaller M.2 2280 form factor so it will fit on most ATX motherboards capable of M.2 just fine. IOPS numbers are now reaching the 210K for read and 175K for writes marker (depends on volume size). At just one-tenth the weight of a traditional 2.5-inch SSD, the M.2 SSDs are ideal for users looking to upgrade their desktop or ultra-thin PCs with high-capacity, high-performance storage. 
 

 
So yes, have a quick peek at the video above. The card does seem like something that could have come from Batman's tool belt, and then let's head onwards into this review.