HP EX900 500 GB Review — Entry PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD (2026)

Posted on May 23, 2026 by Raymond Chen

The HP EX900 500 GB is the volume-sweet-spot of HP\xe2\x80\x99s budget NVMe family \xe2\x80\x94 a DRAM-less PCIe 3.0 drive aimed at SATA upgraders who want NVMe speeds at a SATA price.

HP EX900 500 GB Review — Entry PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD

Controller & Memory

The HP EX900 500 GB is the mid-capacity of HP’s mainstream consumer NVMe family, built around the Silicon Motion SM2263XT — a DRAM-less four-channel controller that leans on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to borrow a slice of system RAM for its flash-translation-layer map. NAND is Micron 3D TLC arranged across packages on a single-sided M.2 2280 PCB, which makes the EX900 a clean drop-in for both desktops and thin laptops. The HP brand is licensed; the drive is actually built and supported by Biwin, which is why it shares a controller lineage with several other budget NVMe drives sold under other names.

At 500 GB the EX900 hits the family’s mid-tier rated speeds — 2,100 MB/s sequential reads and 1,500 MB/s sequential writes — with 120,000 IOPS random reads and 108,000 IOPS random writes. The 500 GB capacity is meaningfully faster than the 120 GB and 250 GB siblings on writes, and slightly slower than the 1 TB on sequential figures. The closest direct rivals at 500 GB are the WD Blue SN570 500 GB (DRAM-less HMB but newer 112-layer TLC, with steadier sustained writes), the Crucial P3 500 GB (PCIe 3.0, DRAM-less QLC, more capacity per dollar), and the Kingston NV2 500 GB (DRAM-less HMB, sometimes faster but lower TBW). The EX900’s case is the long 5-year warranty and a known-quantity firmware lineage.

The target audience is narrow but well-defined: a Windows boot drive plus light application storage in a budget desktop, a SATA-to-NVMe upgrade in a laptop that has an M.2 slot, or a cheap secondary drive in a small-form-factor build. It is not a fit for a gaming-only build that needs to hold three or four large modern AAA installs, and it is not a PS5 candidate — the EX900 is PCIe 3.0 and well below the PS5’s 5,500 MB/s recommendation.

Storage Comparisons:

Top PCIe 3.0 SSD Drives Best Deal of 1 TB SSDs NVME Top 2 TB SSDs

EX900 Performance & Benchmarks

HP rates the EX900 500 GB at up to 2,100 MB/s sequential reads and 1,500 MB/s sequential writes, with random performance of up to 120,000 IOPS read and 108,000 IOPS write. Those numbers are in the middle of the PCIe 3.0 envelope — well above any SATA SSD, well below a flagship Gen 3 NVMe like the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500 GB, and consistent with the entry-tier DRAM-less Gen 3 segment. In real-world testing reviewers measure sequential reads and writes essentially at the rated values, with the 4K random scores landing close to the 120,000 IOPS figure.

Performance comparison

HP EX900 500 GB vs M.2 3.0 x 4 peers

Switch between sequential throughput and random IOPS to see how this drive stacks up against other M.2 3.0 x 4 SSDs in our database. The highlighted bar is the drive on this page — click any other bar to open that drive.

ADATA SX 8800 Pro 512 GB: 3,500 MB/s read, 2,700 MB/s write
ADATA SX 8800 Pro 1 TB: 3,500 MB/s read, 2,700 MB/s write
ADATA XPG Spectrix S40G RGB 256 GB: 3,500 MB/s read, 3,000 MB/s write
ADATA XPG Spectrix S40G RGB 512 GB: 3,500 MB/s read, 3,000 MB/s write
HP EX900 500 GB (this drive): 2,100 MB/s read, 1,500 MB/s write

The practical experience is that the EX900 500 GB feels noticeably faster than any SATA SSD on application launches, OS boot times, and file copies, but is not the steady performer that a DRAM-equipped Gen 3 drive is under mixed-workload pressure. Larger game installs that push tens of gigabytes contiguously will exhaust the SLC cache and drop the drive into direct-to-TLC mode at a few hundred MB/s, which is noticeable but rarely painful on a budget build. For a boot disk and light secondary storage on PCIe 3.0 the EX900 500 GB is fine; for sustained creator workloads or PCIe 4.0 game-load benchmarks a newer mid-range NVMe will pull ahead.

HP EX900 vs Competitors

See how the EX900 stacks up against other M.2 3.0 x 4 drives in our database:

Compare with rival drives:

ADATA XPG Gammix S5 512 GB Addlink S68 512 GB Lexar NM610 500 GB

Endurance, TBW & Warranty

HP rates the EX900 500 GB at 200 TBW (terabytes written) over a 5-year limited warranty, whichever limit is reached first. That endurance figure is in line with other entry-tier TLC NVMe drives at this capacity and corresponds to roughly 109 GB of host writes per day for the full five-year period \xe2\x80\x94 well above what a typical Windows boot disk generates. At a more realistic 20\xe2\x80\x9330 GB/day workload the rated 200 TBW corresponds to roughly 18 to 27 years of nominal life before the counter is exhausted, comfortably beyond the warranty window. HP publishes an MTBF figure of greater than 1 million hours, which is a statistical population metric rather than a guaranteed lifespan for any individual drive. Warranty service is handled via HP / Biwin RMA with proof of purchase. The TBW scales with capacity inside the family: 70 TBW at 120 GB, 100 TBW at 250 GB, and 500 TBW at 1 TB.

HP EX900 500 GB Specifications

Category	Value
Capacity [?]	500 GB
Interface [?]	M.2 3.0 x 4
Controller [?]	Silicon Motion SM2263XT
Memory type [?]	Micron TLC
DRAM [?]	HMB
Read speed (MB/s) [?]	2100
Write speed (MB/s) [?]	1500
Read IOPS [?]	120000
Write IOPS [?]	108000
Endurance (TBW) [?]	200
MTBF (million hours) [?]	2
Warranty (years) [?]	5

Verdict: Is the EX900 Worth It in 2026?

The HP EX900 500 GB is the right pick if you specifically need a cheap NVMe boot drive plus light application storage on a budget PCIe 3.0 build, and you understand that the DRAM-less design and 1,500 MB/s rated writes are the trade. Skip it if a Gen 4 system is in play and a WD Blue SN580 500 GB or Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB is within range \xe2\x80\x94 those drives clear the EX900 on every meaningful benchmark and cost roughly the same per gigabyte. The cleaner alternative on PCIe 3.0 at this capacity is the WD Blue SN570 500 GB, which uses newer 112-layer NAND and has steadier sustained writes. Overall the EX900 500 GB is a quiet, capable budget NVMe at the right price, and the 5-year warranty is the differentiator that keeps it on lists in 2026.

+ Pros

2,100 MB/s sequential reads on PCIe 3.0
200 TBW endurance with 5-year warranty
Single-sided M.2 2280 fits any slot
Cheap entry into NVMe over SATA
Known Biwin firmware lineage

- Cons

1,500 MB/s writes lag flagship Gen 3 drives
DRAM-less HMB design hurts mixed workloads
No PCIe 4.0 upgrade path on this controller
No PS5 compatibility on PCIe 3.0
Older Micron TLC versus newer 112-layer rivals

3.2 / 5 · 64 votes

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Video Review

Cheap $29 NVME SSD From HP! Unboxing & benchmark of HP Ex900

Frequently Asked Questions

The HP EX900 500 GB is workable for casual gaming but not a strong primary drive for a modern gaming build. Its 2,100 MB/s reads and 1,500 MB/s writes are well above any SATA SSD on game level loads, but the DRAM-less HMB design is visible in mixed reads when several titles are running background updates. The 500 GB capacity holds one or two modern AAA installs plus Windows; gamers with three or more big games installed will need to manage storage actively. For new gaming builds, a Crucial P3 Plus 500 GB or WD Blue SN580 500 GB on PCIe 4.0 is the better value.

No, the HP EX900 500 GB does not meet Sony\xe2\x80\x99s PS5 expansion-slot requirements. The PS5 specifies a PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive with at least 5,500 MB/s sequential reads, and the EX900 is a PCIe 3.0 drive rated at 2,100 MB/s reads \xe2\x80\x94 well below the threshold. The capacity is also below the practical minimum for a PS5 expansion bay, where users typically install at least one large modern game. If you need a 500 GB PS5 expansion drive, the WD Black SN850, Samsung 990 Pro 500 GB, or Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 500 GB are the right picks.

No, the HP EX900 is a DRAM-less drive. The Silicon Motion SM2263XT controller it ships with uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to borrow a small slice of system RAM for the flash-translation-layer map instead of carrying its own DDR DRAM chip. HMB is fine for light workloads \xe2\x80\x94 boot, small office tasks, web browsing, single-game loads \xe2\x80\x94 but it cannot match a dedicated DRAM cache once random-write IOPS pressure climbs or the active address space exceeds the HMB allocation. That architectural choice is what keeps the EX900 cheap, and it is the main reason a Samsung 970 EVO Plus pulls ahead under heavy mixed loads.

The HP EX900 500 GB is rated for 200 TBW (terabytes written) over a 5-year limited warranty, whichever limit is reached first. At a typical desktop workload of 20 to 30 GB of host writes per day the rated endurance corresponds to roughly 18 to 27 years of nominal life before the counter is exhausted, comfortably beyond the warranty window. The endurance scales with capacity inside the EX900 family: 70 TBW at 120 GB, 100 TBW at 250 GB, and 500 TBW at 1 TB. For a Windows boot disk plus light secondary storage the 200 TBW figure is not a practical concern.

No, the HP EX900 does not need an aftermarket heatsink for typical use. The Silicon Motion SM2263XT is a four-channel DRAM-less controller that runs cool under realistic consumer workloads, and the modest 2,100 MB/s read ceiling means it never pushes the same thermal envelope as a flagship Gen 4 controller. HP does not ship a heatsink in the retail box, and the single-sided M.2 2280 PCB drops into any motherboard or laptop M.2 slot without extra clearance. If your motherboard already provides a stamped M.2 cover that is plenty; otherwise the EX900 is happy running bare in a normally-ventilated case.

The WD Blue SN570 500 GB is the closest current PCIe 3.0 entry-NVMe rival. On paper the SN570 has the edge across the board: 3,500 MB/s rated reads and 2,300 MB/s rated writes versus the EX900\xe2\x80\x99s 2,100 / 1,500 MB/s, newer Sandisk 112-layer BiCS5 TLC versus older Micron TLC, and the WD Dashboard software for SMART monitoring. Both drives are DRAM-less HMB and both ship in single-sided M.2 2280. The EX900\xe2\x80\x99s case is typically a slightly lower street price; for any meaningful price parity the SN570 is the better default pick.