A year after the introduction of the NM800, Lexar’s fastest SSD at the time, the manufacturer is launching the NM800 Pro with even more performance. In M.2 format with PCIe 4.0 and an optional cooler, 7,500 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write are promised. Prices are salty.
This means the NM800 Pro is slightly faster, at least in terms of sequential maximum throughput, than the NM800, which is specified at 7,400 MB/s for reads and 5,800 MB/s for writes. As always, the information applies to the top model of the series, in this case the variant with 2TB of storage space. The 1TB NM800 Pro writes slightly slower at up to 6,300MB/s. In the smallest version with 512 GB, it is still 7,450 MB/s when reading but only 3,500 MB/s when writing; Performance here suffers from the lack of memory chips for parallel access.
With Innogrit Controller and Cooler Option
While Lexar, as usual, doesn’t provide any information about the controller, first testing reveals it’s Innogrit’s IG5236, which also sits on the Adata Gammix S70 (tested) or HP FX900 Pro (tested). If the chip is paired with faster memory, it delivers performance on top of consumer SSDs in many disciplines and can even stand up to the Phison E18, though it lags ahead when it comes to writing. However, it is not known which 3D-TLC-NAND NM800 Pro is.
On the one hand, Lexar offers the NM800 Pro without a heatsink, which makes it confusingly similar to the NM800. In the case of the Pro model, however, there are also variants with a heat sink, which aims to ensure significantly lower temperatures. Exact dimensions aren’t available yet, but the cooler SSD should also fit the PlayStation 5.
prices are salty
At Amazon, the NM800 Pro version with 512GB is already priced at EUR 120* and is therefore more expensive than some 1TB SSDs in this class. The 1 TB version costs over 200 EUR* and the 2 TB version costs around 340 EUR*. These are also the only versions without the cooler. Along with the cooler, the NM800 Pro 512 GB also costs €130*; There are no 1TB and 2TB variants here.
Prices are higher than the Samsung 990 Pro, which can be pre-ordered in October for 175 euros (1TB) and 325 euros (2TB).
However, the new flagships from Lexar and Samsung will soon face competition with a new interface: the first SSD with PCIE 5.0, which will overcome the 10,000 MB/s barrier, is expected in November.
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