Plextor M8Pe PCIe NVMe SSD Review

[section label=”Price/Where to Buy”] [signoff icon=”dollar”]

Price / Where to Buy:

US – $141.99 – [easyazon_link identifier=”B01JCXXQ0Q” locale=”US” tag=”back2gaming-20″]Plextor PX-128M8PeY[/easyazon_link]
PH – TBA

[easyazon_infoblock align=”none” identifier=”B01JCXXQ0Q” locale=”US” tag=”back2gaming-20″]

[/signoff] [section label=”Introduction”]

Plextor was on a roll with their high-end SSDs last year and were hot in preparing a follow-up to their powerful M6e Black Edition. An M7 series was released but Plextor quickly followed-up with the Plextor M8 series which we saw earlier in Computex 2016. Now fully available in the market, we can finally see the performance of this new drives in both PCIe and M.2 form factors. Plextor’s new PCIe model sports an improved all-metal shroud, with a distinct black-and-red color scheme. This is a good direction for this kind of product that don’t normally receive visual detailing. In today’s test bench we have the Plextor M8Pe drive which is Plextor’s first x4 SSD with NVMe allowing up to 2GB/s read performance.

[section label=”Features”]

Features

• 1st PLEXTOR PCIe Gen 3 x4 Ultra-High Speed SSD with NVMe
• Lightning Fast Speeds – 2,000/1,400 MB/s (random read/write); 280,000/240,000 (read/write) IOPS
• eSports level quality & design – High performance cooling fins designed for pro-gamers
• Guaranteed data accuracy & stability with the latest LDPC error-correction technology
• Best for custom PC building – available in PCIe and M.2 interfaces

Official product page

[section label=”Closer Look”]

Closer Look

The Plextor M8Pe comes in a black box with full colored print. The new design motiff is printed on the front of the box with the model in front along with feature icons. At the back we have specs and details of the product. Opening up the package we have a well-protected bundle containing the Plextor M8Pe itself, a low-profile PCIe bracket, a retention screw and documentations.

The new shroud of the Plextor M8Pe just screams quality and its heavy, cooling shroud is both functional and stylish with the sword-like logo piercing the midline of the board. The back of the PCB is pitch-black which looks exquisitely premium. The device requires a PCIe-x4 connector.

Once powered on, the Plextor M8Pe is illuminated with activity LEDs on the side.

[section label=”Performance Testing”]

Performance Testing

Test Setup

Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K
Motherboard:  ASUS Maximus VIII Ranger
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z DDR4-3200 16GB
Storage: PLEXTOR M8PeY 128GB PCI-e SSD
PSU: Seasonic Platinum P1000

Potential Write

We test potential write speed using HD Tune to write sequentially on the entire disk, graphing the results as it goes.

Crystal DiskMark

Crystal Disk Mark is storage benchmarking software was developed by “hiyohiyo” of Japan, and is available for free. Crystal Disk Mark measures sequential, and random read/write speeds of storage devices.

Real-world Test: File Transfer

We’ve taken our compression test files, a collection of images, documents and other files ranging from 1KB to 50MB amounting to 3,343 files for 3GB and a single, large 12GB file. We’re posting the raw transfer results for your reference. Test data is copied off a PCI-express SSD.

[section label=”User Experience & Conclusion”]

User Experience & Conclusion

The Plextor M8Pe averages around 1300MB/s reads and 400MB/s writes which is for the 128GB model, the entry-level model of this series. The highest-end 1TB model is rated at a blistering 2500MB/s reads and 1400MB/s writes which is multitudes faster than the 128GB model. Still, at a rating of 1600MB/s reads, the 128GB Plextor M8Pe is still over 3x faster than a conventional SSD with writes just sitting above those. The price is where the real value lies and at $260, the 512GB model offering 2300/1300MB/s performance is the price/performance choice for the Plextor M8Pe.

As it is, the price is competitive against similar NVMe devices at the same capacity with the Plextor M8Pe offering a more premium build quality than the competing solutions from Samsung and Kingston, for example. Overall, performance and build quality set this model apart and the price is quite competitive making it an ideal option for any gamer or professional looking to upgrade their system with a faster storage solution.

[signoff icon=”dollar”]

Price / Where to Buy:

US – $141.99 – [easyazon_link identifier=”B01JCXXQ0Q” locale=”US” tag=”back2gaming-20″]Plextor PX-128M8PeY[/easyazon_link]
PH – TBA

[easyazon_infoblock align=”none” identifier=”B01JCXXQ0Q” locale=”US” tag=”back2gaming-20″]

[/signoff] [section label=”Awards”]

Plextor backs the M8Pe with a 5-year warranty. We give it our B2G Recommended Award!