Computex 2017: Plextor Announces M9Pe SSD Packed With Toshiba's 64-Layer 3D TLC NAND and RGB Lightings

After announcing its M8Se SSD lineup just a few weeks ago, Plextor decided to showcase its upcoming M9Pe SSD lineup during its launch event at Computex 2017. 

The M8Se announced earlier features Toshiba's TLC NAND flash from the 15nm NAND node that is capable of sequential read/write access speeds of up to 2,450/1,000 MB/s and random read/write speeds of up to 210,000/175,000 IOPS. 

If you noticed the heat sink design, Plextor has introduced a new design with streamline aesthetic design for the M8Se SSD lineup, except for the M8SeGN. According to Plextor, the new heat sink design is able to cool down the NAND flash more efficiently than the previous heat sink  design used on the M8Pe SSD(s) for the optimal performance.

As for the upcoming M9Pe SSD(s), you can expect for the same streamline heat sink design as the current M8Se with a red emblem instead of blue, and will come available with RGB lighting to meet the market's demand. 

Aesthetics aside, the M9Pe SSD will be featuring Toshiba's 64-Layer 3D TLC NAND, Marvell controller to deliver performance of up to 3100 MB/s sequential read and 2300 MB/s sequential write. The M9Pe are expected to be available by the end of the year and will be available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB configuration.

Plextor Debut M8Se NVMe SSD, Combination Of Streamlined Speed and Aesthetics

Plextor, the leading global digital storage technology brand, announced the debut of its M8Se series solid state drives (SSDs) that adopt the newest generation of high-speed transmission standards. The drives fully support mainstream ultra-high-speed NVMe interfaces. The drives also use the industry's flagship TLC NAND and control chip components, and specialized heat sinks with streamlined aesthetic design.

Achieving advanced high-speed specifications with streamlined technology dynamics, M8Se NVMe SSD wins a prestigious iF Design Award, which picked up the award for 2017 as chosen from 5,575 entries by a 58-member jury made up of independent experts from all over the world. The iF Design Award has been recognized as an arbiter of quality for exceptional design.

The Plextor M8Se series also caters to a variety of user requirements for SSD upgrades or system assembly, with both PCIe and M.2 2280 specifications. The PCIe version adopts lines drawn from fluid mechanics and a professional blue and black high-performance heat sink design. This presents dynamic ultra-fast speed aesthetics, along with more efficient thermal conductivity that can quickly eliminate the heat generated by M8Se's high speed transmission and help the computer system maintain optimal operating efficiency.

The M8Se series has the most trustworthy service life and stability of any SSD. The Marvell control chip and Toshiba Super-High-Performance TLC NAND flash memory also allow the M8Se series to have outstanding performance, read/write service life, capacity, and stability, even better than the usual TLC SSD.

The M8Se series is powered by the latest generation NVMe PCIe Gen 3x 4 super high-speed transmission interface that delivers high bandwidth and low latency that allows sequential read/write access speeds of up to 2,450/1,000 MB/s and random read/write speeds of up to 210,000/175,000 IOPS. Whether it’s for work, fun, or multimedia applications, the M8Se is the perfect solution to speed up your system and provide the ultimate user experience.

Equipped with Plextor firmware technology and advanced LDCP debugging capability, the M8Se series has greatly enhanced read/write reliability. Its exclusive PlexNitro write cache technology can ensure the most reliable read/write performance, and its extended SSD service life guarantees peace of mind to long-term users.

The Plextor M8Se series is anticipated to officially reach the market in June 2017. In addition to providing the PCle expansion card and M.2 2280 specifications, capacities of 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB are also available to satisfy players' diverse needs for system construction and expansion. The M8Se series products have passed Plextor's stringent quality tests, with a 1.5 million hour MTBF (mean time between failures) guarantee in addition to a 3-year warranty period.

PLEXTOR Launching Its M8Pe NVMe SSD On Mid Of August

PLEXTOR, one of the world's leading brands in high-performance digital storage devices brand is launching its new M8Pe series, the latest high-efficient solid-state drive (SSD) built exclusively for gamers. As the first PLEXTOR SSD to adopt the revolutionary NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 interface, the M8Pe series SSD offers outstanding continuous and random read/write speeds. First-rate components, profession heat sink design, coupled with LDPC correction technology, the M8Pe is capable of providing the most stable long-term performance. By satisfying the most stringent professional gaming requirements, the M8Pe offers unparalleled performance in terms of access speeds, creating the smoothest experience for gamers.

PLEXTOR's M8Pe series recreates the highest standard for professional gaming grade SSDs. With NVMe, the M8Pe significantly reduces access latency to provide faster data transmission speeds. Combined with the new generation of PCIe Gen3 x4 high-speed interface, the M8Pe can provide breakthrough performances with continuous sequential read/write speeds of 2500/1400 MB/s, and random read/write speeds of 280,000/240,000 IOPS. This allows players to easily satisfy complicated data access requirements of the latest games.

In order to provide the most reliable data read/write accuracy, the M8Pe is incorporated with the latest LDPC correction technology that uses more advanced error correction capabilities. M8Pe's system stability is also another important point of emphasis during product design. Equipped with the latest professional gaming grade high efficient heat sinks, the M8PE is able to use air flow within its own chassis for rapid heat dissipation, preventing its components from overheating thereby extending the SSD's optimum operation effectiveness and service life.

PLEXTOR SSDs always use top quality components made by renowned manufacturers in the industry. The M8Pe is equipped with Marvell's latest controller chip, Toshiba's 15 nm MLC NAND Flash memory and PLEXTOR exclusive firmware technologies to satisfy user demands for read/write speeds, performance, stability, and long-term service life.

PLEXTOR's Senior Director Shu-Qing Li states, "Gamers have always had the strictest requirements on system specifications, not to mention that the latest games are pursuing extreme video and audio effects which pose a great challenge on the processing capabilities of computers. As a result, PLEXTOR has designed a series of SSD products aimed exclusively for gaming use. All of them are equipped with the most advanced high-speed interface specifications while also supporting the industry's latest standards/protocols. The new M8Pe NVMe PCIe Gen3 x4 interface enables the SSD to help optimize the system, allowing maximum computation power. For enthusiasts and advanced gamers alike, through M8Pe's professional gaming capabilities, everyone will be able to enjoy games like never before."

PLEXTOR's M8Pe series solid state drives will be available in mid-August. To satisfy various system configurations and expansion requirements of today's gamers, PLEXTOR will offer two different connection standards including the PCIe and M.2 2280 in various capacities - 128 GB, 256 GB, 512 GB, and 1TB. All series of products have passed PLEXTOR's stringent quality tests, with a 2.4 million hour MTBF (mean time between failures) guarantee in addition to a 5-year warranty period.

Unboxing & Review: Plextor M7V 512GB SSD

Thanks to the rising demand and heated competition amongst SSD manufacturers, the price of SSD went down drastically to a point that it no longer cost you an arm and a leg to own one. Plextor is a renowned brand that offers some of the highly reliable SSD available in the market back then and we're looking at its latest budget-friendly TLC NAND Flash based SSD this time, the Plextor M7V 512GB SSD. 

The Plextor M7V comes available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB variant that is surprisingly affordable at $49.99, $69.99 and $129.99 on Newegg, a sweet spot price that makes it as one of the most affordable SSD around. Performance wise? That's what we will be finding out in this review. 

Specifications

Performance
Sequential Read Speed**	Up to 560 MB/s
Sequential Write Speed**	Up to 530 MB/s
Random Read Speed***	Up to 98,000
Random Write Speed***	Up to 84,000
Physical
Capacity	512GB
Controller	Marvell 88SS1074B1
NAND Flash	TOSHIBA 15nm TLC with Toggle mode
DRAM Cache	768MB DDR3
Form Factor	2.5 inch
Interface	SATA 6Gb/s, compatible with SATA 3Gb/s and 1.5 Gb/s
Power Connector	15-pin SATA connector for DC 5V input
Data Connector	7-pin SATA connector
Dimension (L x W x H)	100 x 69.85 x 6.8 mm / 3.94 x 2.75 x 0.27 inch
Weight	60g / 2.12oz (Max.)
Environment and Reliability
DC Requirement	5V / 2.0A (Max.)
Temperature	0°C ~ 70°C / 32°F ~ 158°F (Operating)
Shock	1500G (Max.), at 1 msec half-sine
Vibration	7 ~ 800Hz, 2.17Grms (Operation)
MTBF	1,500,000 hours
Endurance (TBW)	320
Warranty	3-Year
Compatibility
Operating System Supported	Microsoft Windows OS / Linux OS / APPLE Mac OS
Agency Approval	UL, TUV, FCC, CE, BSMI, VCCI, RCM, KCC, EAC, ROHS, WHQL
Command Set Support	TRIM, S.M.A.R.T., NCQ, ATA/ATAPI-8
Firmware Upgrade	Supported
Highline Features
Features	PlexTurbo, PlexCompressor, PlexVault, PlexNitro, LDPC

Unboxing

The M7V which Plextor sent to our test lab is the 512GB variant, which falls under the same Value series as the M6V in our previous review. It comes with a 3-year limited warranty from Plextor, support for PlexTurbo, PlexCompress, and PlexVault.

At the back of the box, you'll find the specifications of the drive, performance, power requirements, operating system and file format support, box content, etc.

Other than the user's guide and the Plextor M7V SSD, there are no fancy accessories included in the box which is to keep the cost down to a minimum.

Another noticeable different is that the M7V comes in an enclosure that looks similar to the previous M5S and doesn't come with any fancy sticker like what the M6V has.

At the back of the M7V, you'll find the usual details i.e serial number, model name, capacity, etc.

A warranty sticker can be found on the side of the enclosure and any tampering done to the sticker will result in the void of the 3 years limited warranty from Plextor. 

Software: Plextool
The Plextool is Plextor's very own SSD Toolbox that is tailored for Plextor SSD with features such as viewing necessary information, firmware updates, secure erase/format, diagnostic, and SSD caching feature.

Software: PlexTurbo Viewer
While Plextor did mention PlexTurbo support for M7V, the PlexTurbo for the M7V doesn't appear to be the same as the built-in with the PlexTool for the Plextor M6e Black Edition but rather a dedicated tool of its own named PlexTurbo Viewer. Options available are the  adjustments for cache size, cache release time, enable or disable preloaded hot operation files and auto execute PlexTurbo Viewer on boot.

Testing Method

Test Rig Configuration
CPU Cooler	Raijintek Triton 240
CPU	Intel Core i7 4790K
Motherboard	ASUS Maximus Hero VII
Memory	G.Skill TridentX @2400MHz
Primary Hard Drive	-
Power Supply	be quiet! Straight Power 10 600W
Chassis	Vector BenchCase

Synthetic Benchmark

We've run a series of Synthetic Benchmark with a few selected SSD benchmark tools to see how it does on the numbers, both with and without PlexTurbo feature. 

AS SSD Benchmark

Widely used SSD benchmarking utility that uses incompressible data to simulate the worst possible scenario for an SSD and thus giving a much lower sequential read and write speed result than what has been stated by the manufacturer as a result of the heavy workload. 

ATTO Disk Benchmark

The most frequently used benchmarking utility by many manufacturers for performance specification. As ATTO Disk Benchmark uses compressible data rather than compressible data, it results in higher benchmark scores. We've run the benchmark with transfer size ranged from 0.5KB to 8192KB and a total length of the test to be 256MB.

CrystalDiskMark

Developed by a Japanese coder that goes by the nickname Hiyohiyo, CrystalDiskMark is one of the most frequent used SSD Benchmark utility to measure SSD's read and write performance. 

Real World Performance

We've run several tests using several SSD with at least 50% capacity occupied with various commonly used software to simulate the real world scenario. 

There isn't much performance gap seen but from the result above, we can see that the Plextor M7V is doing pretty well with all the test conducted. 

Verdict

The Plextor M7V isn't the fastest SSD around but it's doing pretty okay across all synthetic benchmarks conducted if we were to compare its result with its predecessor, the Plextor M6V, the improvements are quite significant in terms of performance - not just the price! 

Set aside the performance difference that might not seem to be too significant in real world usage if we weren't even looking at the stock clock, the M7V is a real steal if we were to compare it against other SSDs of its category that performs closely or worse, but costs a few bucks more.

With a price that is surprisingly affordable - especially for the 512GB model, we couldn't find any reason to not recommend it to those who has been longing for a decent SSD without having to break the bank to own one.

Pros

• Very reasonable price 
• Comes with a standard 3-year warranty
• Reasonable performance

Cons

• No additional accessories included

Plextor has it all! Releases all new PlexTurbo and M6V series SSDs for simple system upgrades

SSD may have always felt unattainable to average consumers, but today, the leading global SSD brand Plextor has released a new mainstream SSD - the M6V series SSD. Perfect for beginners looking for a PC upgrade that noticeably increases speeds; the M6V is also equipped with the all new exclusive PlexTurbo, Plextor’s smart SSD cache technology. It aims to allow your average consumer to gain access to optimal high performance and the durability that SSDs brings.

The M6V series uses SMI’s newest generation 2246 controllers, which have outstanding high-performance, low-power utility. They also use Toshiba’s newest and highest-level 15 nm process Toggle NAND flash memory with sequential read/write speeds up to 535/455 MB/s and random read/write speeds up to 83000/80000 IOPS. This great combination along with the superior customization of Plextor’s exclusive firmware makes the M6V a great choice for consumers. 

Besides the excellent pedigree of the product itself, the M6V series that Plextor released is also equipped with PlexTurbo, which shined during COMPUTEX 2015. It uses dynamic cache buffer instead of the average SSD cache, and can automatically identify cold and hot data, releasing the cold data from the system cache and making use of memory cache space more efficiently. The three major features of PlexTurbo include: increases access performance up to 8 times, prolongs SSD usage life, and prevents memory cache data loss. 

Upholding Plextor SSD’s excellent, stable performance and quality, the M6V also passed rigorous tests executed with Plextor’s strenuous SSD testing equipment. Professional simulations on actual read/write statuses were performed with several “Plextor endurance testing mechanisms” to ensure that the M6V series SSD have a MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) of 1.5 million hours. Three-year warranty and global Plextor extensive support and maintenance center services are also provided. 

Plextor M6V series SSD is estimated to hit the SEA market in August 2015, and will come in three specifications and capacities shown in the table below:

Model	Capacity			PlexTurbo Supported
M6V (2.5")	128GB	256GB	512GB	V
M6GV (M.2 2280)	128GB	256GB	512GB	X
M6MV (mSATA)	128GB	256GB	-	X

The PlexTurbo smart SSD cache software is estimated to be available for user download at the official Plextor website with an estimated starting date of August 2015. (The PlexTurbo equipped with M6V series SSD is the 1GB cache version.)