On this review, we are taking a good look at Plextor’s M9PEY NVME PCI-E SSD. What we’ve got is the 512GB model in attached to an HHHL PCI-E form factor, featuring 3D NAND flash memory inside. This is technically the badass cousin of the M9PEGN we tested just recently.

Technical Specifications

The Plextor M9PEY has 3 main SKUs to choose from with 256GB, 512GB and 1TB models at bay. We got the 512GB variant, with transfer speeds rated up to 3200MB/s read and 2000MB/s write.

Specifications

Model PX-256M9PeY PX-512M9PeY PX-1TM9PeY
Capacity 256 GB 512 GB 1 TB
Cache 512 MB LPDDR3 512 MB LPDDR3 1024 MB LPDDR3
Controller

Marvell 88SS1093

NAND Flash

TOSHIBA BiCS3 3D TLC

Performance (Under Windows NTFS)

Sequential Read Speed (MB/s) Up to 3,000 Up to 3,200 Up to 3,200
Sequential Write Speed (MB/s) Up to 1,000 Up to 2,000 Up to 2,100
Random Read Speed (IOPS) Up to 180,000 Up to 340,000 Up to 400,000
Random Write Speed (IOPS) Up to 160,000 Up to 280,000 Up to 300,000

Environment and Reliability

Power Requirement DC 12V 1.0A (Max.) at PCIe Slot
Temperature 0℃ ~70℃ / 32℉ ~ 158℉ (Operating)
MTBF >1,500,000 Hours
Endurance (TBW) 160 320 640
Warranty

5 years

Compatibility

Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1, 10/ Linux OS
Supported UL, TUV, FCC, CE, BSMI, VCCI, RCM, KCC, EAC, ROHS, WHQL
Agency Approval TRIM, S.M.A.R.T, IO queue, NVMe command
Command Set Support M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x 4 with NVM Express
Interface Supported

Form Factor and Connectors

Form Factor Standardized PCI Express Card with Half-Height/Half-Length
Power Connector DC 12V PCI Express Slot
Data Connector PCI Express Slot

Dimension and Weight

Dimension (L x W x H) 176.33 x 121.04 x 22.39 mm / 6.94 x 4.77 x 0.88 inch
Weight (Max.) 200g / 7.05oz

Package Content

Drive 256GB / 512GB / 1TB SSD
Accessory Half-Height Bracket

Plextor provided all the necessary information to get us started with the drive. That being said, the M9PEY is definitely no slouch when it comes to technical specifications.

Packaging and Accessories

The PCI-E SSD is packed inside a larger than usual Plextor packaging. It aint flimsy and comes with a cardboard internal packaging to keep everything together.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 1

Inside, you’ll find a screw for the expansion slot mounting. There’s also a Half-Height, Half-Length (HHHL) bracket should you require the SSD to be mounted on a slim chassis. A manual is also provided.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 2

Design, Build and Connectivity

The Plextror M9PEY NVME PCI-E SSD is technically a PCB married to a solid block of aluminum. Think of it as the Plextor M9PEGN but a whole lot better in terms of styling and thermals.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 6

Style meets function with the M9PEY’s heatsink. It’s a prettier sight compared to their older generation M8PE drives.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 3

The back of the SSD is bare at best which is not bad considering that Plextor had the PCB coated in matte black.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 4

Finally, we get to see the RGB light bar on the M9PEY. It’s rather slim but it just works. Do note that this is not compatible with motherboard lighting suites. No headers, nada. Just a working light bar that produces rainbows.

Plextor M9PEY NVME PCI E SSD 5

Throughput

Throughput performance measured in MB/s is measured with CrystalDiskMark. First up on the test is the Sequential read and write performance, measured with a block size of 1MB, 1GB transfer size and 32 Queue Depth. This test is more in line with large file transfers; similar to watching a movie.

Plextor M9PEY PCI E SSD Benchmarks 1

The second one is the Random 4K read and write performance, measured with a random block size of 4KB, 1GB transfer size and 32 Queue Depth. This test is more in line with small file transfers; similar to transferring installation files and reading game data.

Plextor M9PEY PCI E SSD Benchmarks 2

The sequential transfer rate of the M9PEY is excellent – able to achieve 3199 MB/s for the read and 2035 MB/s for the write. Random 4K performance is great at 614 MB/s for the read and 525 MB/s for the write respectively.

IOPS

Input/Output Operations per Second is is measured with AS SSD. The Random 4K-64Thrd read and write benchmark is used for this test. Performance is measured with a random block size of 4KB, a 1GB transfer size and 64-thread IO requests. This tests the storage medium’s ability to use Native Command Queuing (NCQ) at higher Queue Depth. A Useful metric for server side applications.

Plextor M9PEY PCI E SSD Benchmarks 3

IOPS for the Random 4K-64Thrd read and write benchmarks are within NVME specs though we can’t reach the advertised speeds via our selected benchmark.

Access Time

The read and write latency is measured with AS SSD using a 512KB block size. Access Time is just as important as the throughput and IOPS performance of the drive; allowing us to peak into how fast or slow a storage medium can access a given data. Latency is measured in milliseconds.

Plextor M9PEY PCI E SSD Benchmarks 4

Read latency is recorded at 0.021ms, while the write latency is at 0.028ms. Excellent results for the Plextor M9PEY. The best access times we recorded vs the other drives tested.

Productivity

Our real world performance test consists of 3 file folders containing 6GB worth of text files, images and videos each. The files are copied within the drive using TeraCopy to evaluate the storage medium’s performance. File copy performance is measured in seconds.

Plextor M9PEY PCI E SSD Benchmarks 5

The Plextor M9PEY recorded the fastest file copy performance we got from any drives. A testament of the SSD’s performance with large and small file transfers.

Conclusion

The Plextor M9PEY is a stupidly fast PCI-E x4 SSD. It is intended to function as a high performance storage solution with looks to back it up.

Plextor’s M9PEY is generally fast. Technically the fastest on our list considering all the test we did. Still, IOPS figures could be a little better. This is baffling since the M9PEY shares the same amount of cache, the same controller and 3D NAND with the M9PEGN. We tried different boards, chipsets and configurations as well. The cache on this drive is just weird.

The Plextor M9PEY sits at $275 USD. That’s about 40 dollars more than the bare model which is justifiable considering the SSD’s performance, cooling and aesthetics.

Plextor M9PEY 512GB SSD

8/10

Summary

The Plextor M9PEY sits at $275 USD. That’s about 40 dollars more than the bare model which is justifiable considering the SSD’s performance, cooling and aesthetics.

One Response

  1. painter
    January 1, 2021

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