Lexar NM790 review: Fast & affordable

When it comes to getting an NVMe SSD, there are so many options out on the market, and we’ve taken A look at Lexar’s NM790, which boasts good speeds, while also coming in an affordable package.

Shopping for an NVMe SSD is not the most exciting thing in the world, but there’s something to be considered with regard to reputation, quality, and price. Some NVMe SSDs can get pretty pricey, with not many performance benefits to speak of.

With the Lexar NM790, you’re not getting anything too fancy, and that’s because, for most people, you don’t really need to get any fancier than what the NM790 currently offers.

Key specs

• Capacity: 2TB
• Form factor: M.2 2280
• Max sequential read: 7400 MB/s
• Max sequential write: 6500 MB/s
• Warranty: 5 years
• Price: £119.99

Design

Dexerto

NVMe SSDs are now the norm, and Lexar’s budget-oriented SSD might not win any awards for its physical appearance, but that’s because it doesn’t need to look fancy in order to perform well. Offering a PCIe 4×4 slot, this speedy SSD is outfitted in a standard 2280 form factor, which will slot in just fine to most desktop PCs and laptops.

The Lexar NM790 offers a no-frills, straightforward design without an additional heatsink: Something to bear in mind if your motherboard, or if the location you are putting the SSD in does not offer any sort of heat dissipation.

There is a sticker that covers the flash storage modules themselves. However, the NM790 is completely barren on its underside, too. This could be a cost-cutting measure, and in our testing, did not affect performance whatsoever. It would have been nice to see a double-layered design and higher storage capacities offered at a budget here, too.

Dexerto

There’s not much indication of what controller the drive is using, though we suspect that it is a bespoke design, simply due to how the SSD manages to keep cool while under sustained loads.

Performance

The Lexar NM790 is a PCIe Gen 4 drive, which means that it can offer blistering speeds, especially when placed in an appropriate slot. Now that Gen 4 drives have matured somewhat, the race to the bottom in terms of value is on. Drives like the NM790 will manage to achieve almost as much performance as others like the Samsung 990 Pro, but for a fraction of the price.

With PCI 5.0 on the horizon, we expect to see another leap in the speed of SSDs, but the thing that you have to keep in mind is that these SSDs will also be inevitably expensive. According to our benchmarks, you’ll get great performance from the NM790, without breaking the bank on a new generation of hardware.

Crystal Disk Mark results

• Sequential Read: 7173 MB/s
• Sequential Write: 6536 MB/s

The Lexar NM790 fared incredibly well when we put it through the gauntlet in Crystal Disk Mark. It almost reached the rated 7400 MB/s rating on the box in the gaming laptop we tested it in, and its sequential write speeds actually slightly overshot what the rating states on the box.

We were able to flawlessly transfer our entire installation of Street Fighter 6 in less than a minute, all the while the SSD managed to somehow keep incredibly cool in the process.

The SSD, under its peak load, only hit 61 degrees. Considering this was without a heatsink, with no thermal dissipation inside a hot gaming laptop, this result is extremely impressive.

Is it good for gaming?

The form factor of this SSD means that you can put it into almost any device you want. Though, it might be best placed in a gaming PC, or even on your PS5. Its quick transfer speeds allow for rapid access to your most important files, where you most need them.

Given that the drive also manages to stay cool, we would suggest that this might also be an ideal drive to slot into your PS5, even without a heatsink.

Should you buy it?

With a five-year warranty, fantastic performance, and competitive price point, there’s almost nothing to hate about the Lexar NM790, we just wish that it also came in a 4TB flavor, too.

When compared to the likes of the Samsung 990 Pro, you get most of that performance in a much cheaper package. There’s also no hardware encryption on the drive, for those looking to protect their privacy.

The Verdict: 5/5

The Lexar NM790 is one of the best budget SSDs around, thanks to its speed and strong thermal performance, too. Its maximum power consumption of just 3.5w make this SSD a Swiss army knife, you can use it almost anywhere, for anything, and you know that it will perform well.

Don’t bother buying an “premium” SSD, just get this, instead. Unless you are playing the one game that currently uses DirectStorage, then there are very few points, or noticeable differences compared to faster drives.

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