M.2 SSDs

M2 SSD Benchmark & Performance Tests

Here you can find detailed SSE speed performance tests of the new 4th generation PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs, as well as the slower PCIe 3.0. The maximum speed of the PCIe 4.0 x4 is 64 Gbps. Current cards currently achieve around 7,000 MB/s and the PCIe 3.0 x4 around 3,500 MB/s (measured with CrystalDiskMark). SSDs with the new Phison E18 controller can achieve very high speeds, making them suitable as additional storage for PlayStation 5 Gaming.
SSDs compatible with PlayStation 5 are marked "PS5 compatible".

We have tested 340 SSDs:

Product Image Capacity Read Write Score Price $/GB Test Shop
ADATA LEGEND 710 1TB ALEG-710-1TCS 1024 GB 2702 MB/s 2055 MB/s 2946 73 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
ADATA LEGEND 800 1TB ALEG-800-1000GCS 1024 GB 3747 MB/s 2618 MB/s 3338 64 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
ADATA LEGEND 960 1TB ALEG-960-1TCS 1024 GB 7434 MB/s 6668 MB/s 8122 132 $ 0,13 $ Performance Test
ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro 1TB AGAMMIXS11P-1TT-C 1024 GB 3421 MB/s 3309 MB/s 4102 102 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
ADATA XPG Gammix S50 Lite 1TB AGAMMIXS50L-1T-C 1024 GB 3909 MB/s 3193 MB/s 5622 170 $ 0,17 $ Performance Test
ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade 1TB AGAMMIXS70B-1T-CS 1024 GB 7464 MB/s 6408 MB/s 7934 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
ADATA XPG SX6000 Lite 1TB ASX6000LNP-1TT-C 1024 GB 2079 MB/s 1474 MB/s 2694 120 $ 0,12 $ Performance Test
ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1TB ASX8200PNP-1TT-C 1024 GB 3412 MB/s 2712 MB/s 3242 85 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP400 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP400 1024 GB 3454 MB/s 2100 MB/s 3984 49 $ 0,05 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP600 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP600 1024 GB 5015 MB/s 4249 MB/s 7019 150 $ 0,15 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP600 PRO 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP600PRO 1024 GB 7126 MB/s 5498 MB/s 7000 105 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP600 PRO XT 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP600PXT 1024 GB 7364 MB/s 5845 MB/s 7569 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP700 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP700R2 1024 GB 9619 MB/s 8796 MB/s 11793 150 $ 0,15 $ Performance Test
Corsair MP700 (@Gen4) 1TB CSSD-F1000GBMP700R2 1024 GB 7126 MB/s 6833 MB/s 9020 150 $ 0,15 $ Performance Test
Crucial P1 1TB CT1000P1SSD8 1024 GB 2004 MB/s 1690 MB/s 2622 68 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Crucial P2 1TB CT1000P2SSD8 1024 GB 2313 MB/s 1934 MB/s 2846 74 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Crucial P3 1TB CT1000P3SSD8 1024 GB 3666 MB/s 3217 MB/s 4322 73 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Crucial P3 Plus 1TB CT1000P3PSSD8 1024 GB 5162 MB/s 3671 MB/s 4586 70 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Crucial P5 1TB CT1000P5SSD8 1024 GB 3537 MB/s 3316 MB/s 5290 129 $ 0,13 $ Performance Test
Crucial P5 Plus 1TB CT1000P5PSSD8 1024 GB 6853 MB/s 5006 MB/s 7574 107 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Crucial T500 1TB CT1000T500SSD8 1024 GB 7336 MB/s 6821 MB/s 8755 85 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Crucial T700 1TB CT1000T700SSD3 1024 GB 11730 MB/s 9646 MB/s 9655 180 $ 0,18 $ Performance Test
Emtec X300 Power Pro 1TB ECSSD1TX300 1024 GB 3454 MB/s 2064 MB/s 3241 69 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Emtec X400 Power Pro 1TB ECSSD1TX400 1024 GB 4727 MB/s 2053 MB/s 3156 76 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S500 Pro 1TB S500PRO1T 1024 GB 3655 MB/s 3215 MB/s 4308 65 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S501 1TB S501-1TB 1024 GB 2146 MB/s 1719 MB/s 2746 69 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S660 1TB FX-S660-1TB 1024 GB 5004 MB/s 4290 MB/s 5400 70 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S770 1TB S7701T 1024 GB 7230 MB/s 5458 MB/s 7100 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S880 1TB FX-S880-1TB 1024 GB 7446 MB/s 6620 MB/s 7326 79 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
fanxiang S900 1TB S900-1TB 1024 GB 9633 MB/s 8858 MB/s 9316 200 $ 0,20 $ Performance Test
Fikwot FN501 Pro 1TB FN501Pro-1TB 1024 GB 3655 MB/s 3202 MB/s 4307 62 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
Fikwot FN950 1TB FN950-1TB 1024 GB 5003 MB/s 4389 MB/s 5688 80 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Gigabyte Aorus 7000s 1TB GP-AG70S1TB 1024 GB 7107 MB/s 5664 MB/s 7385 92 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen4 1TB GP-ASM2NE6100TTTD 1024 GB 5012 MB/s 4248 MB/s 7209 103 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Gigabyte NVMe 1TB GP-GSM2NE3100TNTD 1024 GB 2407 MB/s 2058 MB/s 2737 111 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
Goodram IRDM 1TB IR-SSDPR-P34B-01T-80 1024 GB 3452 MB/s 3083 MB/s 6957 316 $ 0,31 $ Performance Test
Goodram PX500 1TB SSDPR-PX500-01T-80 1024 GB 2337 MB/s 1851 MB/s 2953 105 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
GOODRAM PX600 1TB SSDPR-PX600-1K0-80 1024 GB 5116 MB/s 3911 MB/s 6208 183 $ 0,18 $ Performance Test
Hikvision G4000 1TB HV-G4000-1TB 1024 GB 7455 MB/s 6615 MB/s 7454 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Intel Solidigm P44 Pro 1TB SSDPFKKW010X7X1 1024 GB 7350 MB/s 6661 MB/s 9191 112 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
Intel Solidigm P41 Plus 1TB SSDPFKNU010TZX1 1024 GB 4159 MB/s 2917 MB/s 4220 68 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Intenso Premium 1TB 3835460 1024 GB 2442 MB/s 1856 MB/s 2559 75 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Kingston A2000 1TB SA2000M8/1000G 1024 GB 2280 MB/s 2178 MB/s 3527 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Kingston FURY RENEGADE 1TB SFYRS/1000G 1024 GB 7363 MB/s 6143 MB/s 8020 109 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
Kingston KC2500 1TB SKC2500M8/1000G 1024 GB 3522 MB/s 3020 MB/s 4289 123 $ 0,12 $ Performance Test
Kingston KC3000 1TB SKC3000S/1024G 1024 GB 7362 MB/s 6113 MB/s 7840 99 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Kingston NV1 1TB SNVS/1000G 1024 GB 2212 MB/s 1713 MB/s 2430 68 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Kingston NV2 1TB SNV2S/1000G 1024 GB 3692 MB/s 2569 MB/s 3322 61 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
KIOXIA EXCERIA 1TB LRC10Z001TG8 1024 GB 1756 MB/s 1685 MB/s 3972 105 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
KIOXIA EXCERIA G2 1TB LRC20Z001TG8 1024 GB 2162 MB/s 1783 MB/s 4078 106 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
KIOXIA XG6 Client 1TB KXG60ZNV1T02 1024 GB 3264 MB/s 3052 MB/s 4431 160 $ 0,16 $ Performance Test
Lexar NM610 Pro 1TB LNM610P001T-RNNNG 1024 GB 3647 MB/s 2600 MB/s 3854 76 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Lexar NM620 1TB LNM620X001T-RNNN 1024 GB 3291 MB/s 2977 MB/s 3551 76 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Lexar NM790 1TB LNM790X001T-RNNNG 1024 GB 7453 MB/s 6613 MB/s 7029 79 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Lexar Professional NM700 1TB LNM700-1TRB 1024 GB 3526 MB/s 1830 MB/s 3596 176 $ 0,17 $ Performance Test
Lexar Professional NM800 Pro 1TB LNM800P001T-RN8NG 1024 GB 7465 MB/s 6268 MB/s 8325 82 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Magix X-EVO 1TB XEVO1TB 1024 GB 2155 MB/s 1790 MB/s 2644 64 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
MediaRange MR1031 1TB MR1031 1024 GB 1632 MB/s 1502 MB/s 2450 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
MSI SPATIUM M390 1TB S78-440L650-P83 1024 GB 3464 MB/s 3280 MB/s 5210 111 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
MSI SPATIUM M461 1TB S78-440L1D0-P83 1024 GB 5109 MB/s 3902 MB/s 6268 182 $ 0,18 $ Performance Test
MSI SPATIUM M480 1TB S78-440L490-P83 1024 GB 7373 MB/s 6093 MB/s 7665 163 $ 0,16 $ Performance Test
Mushkin Element 1TB MKNSSDEV1TB-D8 1024 GB 3312 MB/s 2803 MB/s 4504 81 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Mushkin Pilot-E 1TB MKNSSDPE1TB-D8 1024 GB 3524 MB/s 3105 MB/s 4283 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Mushkin Tempest 1TB MKNSSDTS1TB-D8 1024 GB 3314 MB/s 2773 MB/s 4489 72 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Netac NV3000 1TB NT01NV3000-1T0-E4X 1024 GB 3415 MB/s 2913 MB/s 3907 81 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Netac NV5000-t 1TB NT01NV5000t-1T0-E4X 1024 GB 4785 MB/s 4442 MB/s 3854 33 $ 0,03 $ Performance Test
Netac NV7000 1TB NETAC-NV7000-1TB 1024 GB 7318 MB/s 5275 MB/s 7221 117 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
Patriot P300 1TB P300P1TBM28 1024 GB 2394 MB/s 1635 MB/s 2587 68 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Patriot Viper VP4100 1TB VP4100-1TBM28H 1024 GB 5014 MB/s 4256 MB/s 7536 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Patriot Viper VP4300 1TB VP4300-1TBM28H 1024 GB 7471 MB/s 5792 MB/s 6218 132 $ 0,13 $ Performance Test
Patriot Viper VP4300 Lite 1TB VP4300L1TBM28H 1024 GB 7446 MB/s 6618 MB/s 7239 82 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Patriot Viper VPN100 1TB VPN100-1TBM28H 1024 GB 3506 MB/s 3212 MB/s 4133 55 $ 0,05 $ Performance Test
PNY CS1030 1TB M280CS1030-1TB-RB 1024 GB 2463 MB/s 1951 MB/s 3084 80 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
PNY XLR8 CS3030 1TB M280CS3030-1TB-RB 1024 GB 3455 MB/s 3093 MB/s 6456 170 $ 0,17 $ Performance Test
PNY XLR8 CS3040 1TB M280CS3040-1TB-RB 1024 GB 5014 MB/s 4425 MB/s 7510 46 $ 0,04 $ Performance Test
PNY XLR8 CS3140 1TB M280CS3140-1TB-RB 1024 GB 7361 MB/s 6607 MB/s 7429 93 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 1TB SB-RKT4P-1TB 1024 GB 7136 MB/s 5570 MB/s 7018 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Sabrent Rocket NVMe 1TB SB-ROCKET-1TB 1024 GB 3454 MB/s 3105 MB/s 6381 95 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Sabrent Rocket NVMe 4.0 1TB SB-ROCKET-NVMe4-1TB 1024 GB 5014 MB/s 4428 MB/s 6804 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB SB-RKTQ-1TB 1024 GB 3095 MB/s 1943 MB/s 3689 100 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Samsung 970 EVO 1TB MZ-V7E1T0BW 1024 GB 3570 MB/s 2531 MB/s 5879 170 $ 0,17 $ Performance Test
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB MZ-V7S1T0BW 1024 GB 3571 MB/s 3339 MB/s 6642 91 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Samsung 970 PRO 1TB MZ-V7P1T0BW 1024 GB 3569 MB/s 2736 MB/s 5958 400 $ 0,39 $ Performance Test
Samsung 980 1TB MZ-V8V1T0BW 1024 GB 3572 MB/s 2767 MB/s 5264 80 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Samsung 980 PRO 1TB MZ-V8P1T0BW 1024 GB 6625 MB/s 4998 MB/s 7974 90 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Samsung 990 PRO 1TB MZ-V9P1T0BW 1024 GB 7457 MB/s 6856 MB/s 8521 109 $ 0,11 $ Performance Test
SanDisk Extreme PRO 3D 1TB SDSSDXPM2-1T00 1024 GB 3486 MB/s 2862 MB/s 4281 200 $ 0,20 $ Performance Test
Seagate BarraCuda Q5 1TB ZP1000CV3A001 1024 GB 2457 MB/s 1970 MB/s 2611 60 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB ZP1000GM30002 1024 GB 5007 MB/s 4451 MB/s 7161 167 $ 0,16 $ Performance Test
Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB ZP1000GM30013 1024 GB 7387 MB/s 6097 MB/s 8155 118 $ 0,12 $ Performance Test
Seagate FireCuda 540 1TB ZP1000GM3A004 1024 GB 9621 MB/s 8818 MB/s 11921 170 $ 0,17 $ Performance Test
Silicon Power UD85 1TB SP01KGBP44UD8505 1024 GB 4779 MB/s 2914 MB/s 4195 85 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
SK hynix Platinum P41 1TB SHPP41-1000GM-2 1024 GB 7396 MB/s 6667 MB/s 9177 106 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup MP33 1TB TM8FP6001T0C101 1024 GB 2106 MB/s 1681 MB/s 2736 71 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup MP33 Pro 1TB TM8FPD001T0C101 1024 GB 3513 MB/s 3177 MB/s 4340 65 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup MP44 1TB TM8FPW001T0C101 1024 GB 7442 MB/s 6627 MB/s 7137 75 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup MP44L 1TB TM8FPK001T0C101 1024 GB 5133 MB/s 4837 MB/s 7238 69 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup T-Force Cardea A440 Pro 1TB TM8FPR001T0C128 1024 GB 7368 MB/s 5776 MB/s 7590 61 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
TeamGroup T-Force Cardea Zero Z440 1TB TM8FP7001T0C311 1024 GB 5008 MB/s 4262 MB/s 6707 93 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Transcend 220S 1TB TS1TMTE220S 1024 GB 3366 MB/s 2855 MB/s 4128 93 $ 0,09 $ Performance Test
Verbatim Vi3000 1TB 49375 1024 GB 3654 MB/s 3206 MB/s 4360 60 $ 0,06 $ Performance Test
Verbatim Vi7000G 1TB 49367 1024 GB 7231 MB/s 5238 MB/s 7202 193 $ 0,19 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD Blue SN550 1TB WDS100T2B0C 1024 GB 2446 MB/s 2036 MB/s 2846 70 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD Blue SN570 1TB WDS100T3B0C 1024 GB 3605 MB/s 3246 MB/s 2368 87 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD Blue SN580 1TB WDS100T3B0E 1024 GB 4181 MB/s 4110 MB/s 4445 69 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD Green SN350 1TB WDS100T3G0C 1024 GB 3511 MB/s 2799 MB/s 3506 68 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD Red SN700 1TB WDS100T1R0C 1024 GB 3407 MB/s 3102 MB/s 4678 136 $ 0,13 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN750 1TB WDS100T3X0C-00SJG0 1024 GB 3437 MB/s 3107 MB/s 4725 99 $ 0,10 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN770 1TB WDS100T3X0E 1024 GB 5221 MB/s 4859 MB/s 4709 75 $ 0,07 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 1TB WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 1024 GB 7034 MB/s 5223 MB/s 8590 130 $ 0,13 $ Performance Test
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850X 1TB WDS100T2X0E-00BCA0 1024 GB 7298 MB/s 6372 MB/s 8113 85 $ 0,08 $ Performance Test

M.2 SSDs definitely replace the slower SATA SSDs in the speed benchmark (they are able to transfer a maximum of 600 MB/s) and are now the standard in notebooks. Almost every new motherboard has at least one M2 slot.

Sizes

Common designations for the different SSD lengths are 22110, 2280, 2260, 2242, where the first 2 numbers stand for the width in mm and the last 2 numbers for the length in mm. As an example, 2280 stands for an SSD with a width of 22mm and a length of 80mm.

Connection forms (Keys)

The M.2 cards can have different pin assignments (so-called keys). Cards with a B-Key only support SATA and PCIe x2 and are thus slow. The M-Key, with 5 pins, on the other hand, supports PCIe x4 and can exploit full performance. It is best to only buy cards with M-Key connection form or with B+M-Keys (these can be plugged into both ports). B-Key and M-Key are not compatible with each other.

M.2. Keys

Connection types (SATA or NVMe PCIe)

M.2 cards can be connected via SATA or NVMe PCI Express interface, but SATA is not recommended due to the slow speed. With PCIe 2.0, a maximum of 5 GBit/s is possible per lane. With 2 lanes (x2) this is doubled, i.e. 10 GBit/s. With PCIe 3.0, 8 GBit/s per lane are available and with PCIe 4.0 there are 16 GBit/s per lane. Accordingly, 4 x 16 = 64 GBit/s are theoretically possible here, but these data rates cannot be achieved in practice because every data packet has an Overhead.

The following speed transfer rates are possible: Theoretical Practical
SATA 3 6 GBit/s (=750 MB/s) ~550 MB/s
PCIe 2.0 x2 10 GBit/s (=1.250 MB/s) ~800 MB/s
PCIe 2.0 x4 20 GBit/s (=2.500 MB/s) ~1.600 MB/s
PCIe 3.0 x2 16 GBit/s (=2.000 MB/s) ~1.600 MB/s
PCIe 3.0 x4 32 GBit/s (=4.000 MB/s) ~3.500 MB/s
PCIe 4.0 x4 64 GBit/s (=8.000 MB/s) ~7.500 MB/s
PCIe 5.0 x4 128 GBit/s (=16.000 MB/s) ~15.000 MB/s

Info about the NAND flash

SSDs use different flash memory types. A memory cell can store between 1 (SLC) and 4 (QLC) bits. The more bits/cell that can be stored, the higher the storage density and the cheaper the hard drive usually is. SLC is the fastest type of memory (since only two voltage values need to be distinguished during the readout process) and also has the longest service life of up to 100,000 write/erase cycles. However, this type is also the most expensive flash memory.

There are currently 4 types of memory: Single Level Cell (SLC), Multi-Level Cell (MLC), Triple Level Cell (TLC) and Quadruple Level Cells (QLC).

SLC MLC TLC QLC
Bit per cell 1 2 3 4
Performance ★★★★ ★★★ ★★ ★
Cycles ~ 100.000 ~ 5.000 ~ 1.500 ~ 1.000
Energy consumption low low average average
Costs high high cheap cheap