Conclusion
In this review, we took a look at the new Lexar NM710 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe SSD which is geared for a more value-conscious individual. Lexar offers three capacities, 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB. The 1TB capacity we reviewed today has the fastest performance at 5000MB/s read and 4500MB/s write of PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe performance. The Lexar NM710 is a 3D TLC NAND Flash DRAM-less SSD, based on PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe using the new Maxio MAP1602 controller and NAND Flash from Longsys.
Cooling
The Lexar NM710 1TB SSD uses a thermal label and not any kind of heatsink or heat spreader. This does have its disadvantages when not using a heatsink, like your motherboard’s M.2 heatsink. As you can see, the hottest temperature we detected on the SSD in stress loading it was 77c. This SSD does run warm when stressing it when you are not using a heatsink. The PATRIOT VIPER VPR400 does run cooler, which has an aluminum heatsink attached. The other SSD in our lineup that doesn’t have a heatsink is the Sabrent Rocket, and it ran at 79c.
We also noticed one sensor on the Lexar NM710 that was not identified (so we aren’t sure what component it was measuring) that reached 83c in this stress test. The 77c was identified as the ASIC temperature. Therefore, we recommend using your motherboard’s M.2 heatsink if you are going to be accessing the SSD very hard. For typical workloads, and gaming, you could operate it just fine without a heatsink as is, it won’t get this hot under lighter loads.
Performance
Starting in PCMark 10 Full System Drive benchmark, the Lexar NM710 1TB SSD performed with a score of 3066 performing faster than every other SSD on the graph. This was a great performance out of the gate. This was due to the access time, which was phenomenal at just 54 microseconds coming in with the fastest access time. In the Quick System Drive Benchmark, the score was 2740, which put it at the bottom, due to the lack of a DRAM cache. In PassMark PerformanceTEST the Lexar NM710 1TB also had an average performance at 38601.
In throughput performance, the Lexar NM710 1TB performed very strongly in CrystalDiskMark read performance where it ran at its quoted performance. This put it only second to the PATRIOT VIPER VPR400. The write performance fell a bit under expected results, but it was still very close. Overall, the write performance was second fastest compared to the rest of the SSDs, and second only to the PATRIOT VIPER VPR400. The Lexar NM710 1TB SSD was very strong in random write performance, beating every SSD except the PATRIOT VIPER VPR400. It was also very strong in random read performance.
The Lexar NM710 1TB SSD impressed us with file copy and game load times. In DskBench it took only 15.8 seconds to copy our test file, which is amazing. We also experienced well above average game loading times, with only 10.1 seconds, which was in line with the PATRIOT VIPER VPR400.
Final Points
The Lexar NM710 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4x4 NVMe SSD is a great step down if you don’t need the faster and more expensive Lexar Professional NM800 PRO SSD. The Lexar NM710 SSD still offers PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe performance, and at 5000MB/s it will be faster and a good upgrade from a SATA SSD or even PCIe Gen3 SSD. The Lexar NM710 is using the new Maxio MAP1602 controller, which we have seen used in several SSDs as of late, and this controller is proving to be a great powerhouse for DRAM-less SSDs.
When compared to other similarly performing SSDs, such as the popular CORSAIR Force MP600 or MSI SPATIUM M470, the new Lexar NM710 is faster in many areas. It is more than competitive and offers high performance. The Lexar NM710 provides a slim and compact SSD, that should fit easily into compact places well. At the right price, the Lexar NM710 SSD is a good budget or value option for Gen4 SSD performance for any application. Check prices above, because, at the time of writing, the 1TB is a really great deal.