HP EX900 PRO 1TB NVMe SSD review - Introduction

HP EX900 PRO NVMe M.2.1TB SSD
High-end performance at value TLC prices

HP has released a new M.2. SSD in the value series, the new EX900 Pro is an SSD in that 2 GB/sec range, the rather properly volume sized 1024 GB (1TB) model which we review certainly is a capable one with no TLC write holes to detect. The specs are good, but will HP be able to deliver a unit that manages to impress? M2 is the interesting form factor, these small storage units are evolving from being "just as fast" as a regular SSD towards double, triple, quadruple, quintuple, sextuple, septuple and perhaps in the future even octuple that performance. It comes in a different package, M.2. Using the PCIe lanes interface it is so much more capable as it can deal with way more bandwidth using PCI-Express lanes. As such, M.2 solutions are intended for high-end and enthusiast-class motherboards and laptops. The EX900 Pro series M.2 SSDs are products that reads well a notch over 2GB/sec and writes remain close towards2 GB/sec. These new M.2 units use the NVMe protocol and that means storage technology at millennium falcon hyper-fast speeds while remaining competitive in pricing. Based on its a rebranded Silicon motion SM2263EN controller, the HP EX900 Pro is faster than its predecessor the EX900 at a purchasing cost of close to 15 Cents per GB.

While the stability and safety of your data have become a number one priority for the manufacturers, the technology keeps advancing at as fast a pace as it does, the performance numbers a good SSD offers these days are simply breathtaking. You get between 450 MB/s to 500 MB/sec on SATA3 which is the norm for a single controller based SSD. Combining advanced NAND Flash controller with PCIe Gen 3(8Gb/s) x 4, NvMe 1.3 interface and 3D NAND Flash, PCIe M.2 delivers sequential read speed up to 3500MB/s and sequential write speed up to 2900MB/s. With Gen4 we're hitting 6 to 7 GB/sec ranges, crazy. A couple of years ago a 64 GB SSD was hot stuff, then slowly we moved to 120 GB, last year 240 GB for an SSD in a PC was the norm, this upcoming year we'll transition slowly to roughly 1000 GB per SSD as the norm with sub 200 USD prices. With the market being so huge, fierce and competitive, it brought us to where we are today... nice volume SSDs at acceptable prices with very fast performance. 

The SSD is a Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe 1.3) M.2 form factor SSD, it has been fitted with new Vertically stacked NAND from micron (64 or 96-layer) TLC. The performance numbers a good SATA3 SSD offers these days are simply excellent, but with the more niche NVMe SSDs you can triple maybe even quadruple performance, which offers serious numbers. The unit follows a smaller M.2 2280 form factor (8cm) so it will fit on most ATX motherboards capable of M.2 just fine.  IOPS numbers are now reaching the 283K for read and 286K for writes marker (depends on volume size / smaller is slower). 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. You do need a modern motherboard with capable NVMe supported M.2 (PCIe 3.0 x4 connected) interface though, please do check out your motherboard manufacturer for that. Yes, have a peek, and then let's head onwards into this review.