File Copy and Workstation Performance
DiskBench
With DiskBench, we run two different tests. First, we place a 50GB single file onto the test drive. We copy this file from the test drive to a new folder on the test drive, volume to volume. This tests the performance of the drive’s ability to copy a single large file from itself to itself as if you were copying files on the same drive; it replicates this drive being your primary and only drive. Second, we do the same thing but with the SteamLibrary folder. The SteamLibrary folder is a 243GB folder containing 570 smaller files. This replicates a folder with varying file sizes and copying those files.
Copying a large 50GB file from volume to volume on the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD took about 17.99 seconds, or rounded up to 18 seconds total. This puts it on par with the Western Digital WD_BLACK SN7100, but more importantly, it beats the Netac NV7000 and the Lexar Professional NM800 PRO by a lot. The Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is 8% faster than the Lexar Professional NM800 PRO, and 1.4% faster than the Netac NV7000, showing improvement for the new Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. That said, it is overall on the lower side of performance when compared with some others.
When copying a very large Steam Library folder, the tables turn here; the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD does very well, extremely well, even. It ranks as the third fastest drive, copying this file, on par with the Acer FA200 drive, both being 4TB capacity drives. It beats the Lexar Professional NM800 PRO by a whopping 45%, but interestingly, the Netac NV7000 edges out the faster drive. Still, the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is incredibly fast in this scenario, putting it in the very best of the best for large folders of files of different sizes.
SPECworkstation 3.1
We are using SPECworkstation 3.1 and specifically the WPCstorage test. “The storage workload is based on storage transaction traces from a wide variety of professional applications engaged in real work.” It includes media and entertainment, product development, life sciences, energy, and general operations. Each program receives a score, and they are averaged together for an overall score, higher is better.
In SPECworkstation 3.1 WPCstorage testing, the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD has a score of 5.37. Now, the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is not intended as a workstation-class SSD; however, this score is still commendable, it is well above the Netac NV7000, 177% above, in fact, which is incredible. Naturally, the Lexar Professional NM800 PRO is faster than the Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, but it is meant for professional work, so that tracks. The Lexar PLAY 2280 SE 4TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD beats the Acer FA200 by 7%.