System Storage Benchmarks
For SSD comparisons, we are including the two Lexar SSDs we have previously reviewed, NM710 and NM800 PRO, to see where the Lexar NM790 sits in comparison. We are also including a Teamgroup MP44 SSD, as it has been a top performer for us in Gen4 x4 SSD testing, and will be a competitive product for the NM790.
3DMark
We are using 3DMark’s Storage Benchmark which tests common gaming workload traces. The benchmark tests loading Battlefield V, Call of Duty Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. It tests moving games by copying a Steam folder for CS:GO, and installing Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher, and saving game progress in The Outer Worlds. It tests recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60FPS with OBS while playing Overwatch. We will graph the Overall Benchmark Score, higher is better.
In the 3DMark Storage Benchmark, the Lexar NM790 2TB SSD with Heatsink performs extremely well, second to the Teamgroup MP44 but so close that it is within the margin of error in this benchmark. The two SSDs are merely 0.1 apart, so we can say that is the same performance in this gaming-oriented benchmark. This puts the Lexar NM790 13% ahead of the Lexar NM710 and 16% ahead of the NM800 PRO which is geared to a more professional application crowd.  
PCMark 10
We are using PCMark 10’s Full System Drive Storage Benchmark. It outputs an overall score (higher is better) that is derived from the Bandwidth (higher is better) as well as access time (lower is better) results.
In PCMark 10’s full system drive storage benchmark, the Lexar NM790 2TB SSD is sitting literally at the top here, just beating the Teamgroup MP44 by 1%. Those two SSDs are literally competing with each other so far. The Lexar NM790 is 16% ahead of the NM710 and 19% ahead of the NM800 PRO.
The average access time test in PCMark 10’s Storage Benchmark shows you a closer look at where things line up. The Lexar NM790 is doing so well in PCMark 10 because of its access time, with just 51 microseconds, it is once again competitive with the Teamgroup MP44. This access time is way better than the access time of the NM710 at 60 microseconds or the NM800 PRO at 62. Host Memory Buffer 3.0 is in fact not holding the NM790 back in terms of access time.  
Where the Lexar NM790 starts to fall behind just a little bit is in PCMark’s Quick System Drive benchmark, where a dedicated DRAM-cache can benefit these smaller workloads. The Lexar NM790 is still 22% ahead of the Lexar NM710, offering much faster and better performance than it, for these workloads. The Lexar NM800 PRO comes out on top for these workloads, but again the NM790 is on par with the Teamgroup MP44’s performance here as well.
PassMark PerformanceTEST
We are using PassMark’s PerformanceTEST Disk Mark benchmark only. This test benchmarks Disk Sequential Read, Disk Sequential Write, IOPS 32KQD20, IOPS 4KQD1 tests and outputs an overall score (higher is better.)
In PassMark PerformanceTest Disk Mark the Lexar NM790 is also a top performer, this time 43% ahead of the Lexar NM710. We also find it again competing with the Teamgroup MP44, at just 0.3% apart. It’s also competitive with the NM800 PRO in this particular test.