# Lexar NM700 1TB Review — A DRAM-Equipped PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD (2026)

The Lexar NM700 1 TB is a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive that earns its keep through a dedicated DRAM cache and strong sequential throughput at a price tier where most competitors have already ditched the buffer.

Quick answer: The Lexar NM700 1 TB makes sense for a specific buyer: someone on a PCIe 3.0 platform who wants a DRAM-equipped NVMe drive at a budget price and is willing to buy used or NOS. The dedicated 1 GB LPDDR3 buffer keeps the drive responsive under mixed workloads that would cause DRAM-less alternatives to falter, and the 600 TBW endurance rating on a 5-year warranty is solid for this price class. Gamers, office-PC builders, and anyone cloning an old SATA SSD will find the NM700 a meaningful upgrade. Skip it if you can stretch to a used Samsung 970 EVO Plus, which is faster in every metric and runs cooler, or if your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0 — a new WD Blue SN580 or Lexar's own NM790 costs roughly the same and delivers Gen4 bandwidth with better thermals. The NM700's age shows in its power draw and heat output, but for a DRAM-backed PCIe 3.0 stopgap, it gets the fundamentals right.

## Specifications

| Specification | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Capacity | 1 TB |
| Interface | M.2 3.0 x 4 |
| Controller | Marvell 88SS1092 |
| Memory type | 3D TLC |
| DRAM cache | Nanya LPDDR3 |
| Sequential read | 3500 MB/s |
| Sequential write | 2000 MB/s |
| Random read IOPS | 293000 |
| Random write IOPS | 272000 |
| Endurance | 600 TBW |
| MTBF | 1.5 |
| Warranty | 5 years |

## Performance

The Lexar NM700 1 TB is rated for 3,500 MB/s sequential reads and 2,000 MB/s sequential writes, with random performance of up to 293,000 IOPS reads and 272,000 IOPS writes. These figures are competitive for a PCIe 3.0 x4 drive and reflect the Marvell 88SS1092's eight-channel architecture running at full lane saturation. Independent reviewers found the NM700 hitting its rated sequential numbers consistently, though random I/O performance at low queue depths — the pattern most relevant to boot and application launch — fell noticeably behind the Samsung 970 EVO Plus and even some DRAM-less HMB designs like the WD Blue SN570.

The NM700's SLC cache behavior is a mixed story. The dynamic cache is large — up to roughly 330 GB when the drive is mostly empty — and sustains writes at around 1,800 MB/s until exhaustion, which covers nearly any real-world consumer transfer. After the cache fills, direct-to-TLC writes settle at approximately 400 MB/s, which is competitive with SATA SSDs but slower than the ~600 MB/s sustained that the 970 EVO Plus manages in its own post-cache regime. Thermally, the NM700 runs hot — reviewers recorded controller temperatures reaching the mid-90s Celsius under sustained sequential load, which triggered thermal throttling in some test scenarios. A motherboard M.2 heatsink or at least passive airflow is recommended, especially in compact cases. For gaming, the NM700 loads titles within a second or two of faster PCIe 4.0 drives, and the DRAM cache keeps Windows responsive during mixed read/write multitasking that would cause DRAM-less drives to stutter.

## Endurance, TBW & Warranty

Lexar covers the NM700 1 TB with a 5-year limited warranty and rates the drive for 600 TBW of endurance. At 600 TBW, the NM700 can absorb roughly 328 GB of writes per day for the full five-year warranty period — an endurance envelope that exceeds typical consumer workloads of 20 to 50 GB per day by a wide margin. At a 30 GB/day pace, the drive would last over 50 years before hitting the TBW limit, so write endurance is effectively a non-issue for gaming and general desktop use. The MTBF is rated at 1.5 million hours, a standard population statistic for consumer NVMe SSDs that reflects expected failure rates across a large installed base. The 256 GB and 512 GB variants carry lower endurance ratings of 150 TBW and 300 TBW respectively, making the 1 TB model the clear choice for buyers who plan to keep the drive long-term. Lexar handles warranty claims through its standard RMA channel, and the brand's backing by Longsys provides more stability than some smaller SSD labels.

## Pros and Cons

**Pros:**

- 3,500 MB/s sequential reads at PCIe 3.0 ceiling
- Dedicated 1 GB LPDDR3 DRAM cache for consistent mixed workloads
- Single-sided PCB fits thin laptops and ultrabooks
- 600 TBW endurance with 5-year warranty
- Large dynamic SLC cache holds up to ~330 GB of sustained writes
- Often priced well below the Samsung 970 EVO Plus on the used market
**Cons:**

- Runs hot — controller can hit 94°C and thermal throttle under sustained load
- Random I/O at low queue depths trails Samsung 970 EVO Plus and some HMB drives
- Post-cache write speed drops to ~400 MB/s
- Effectively discontinued — limited to used and NOS stock
- No PCIe 4.0 support — cannot be used in a PS5


## Verdict

The Lexar NM700 1 TB makes sense for a specific buyer: someone on a PCIe 3.0 platform who wants a DRAM-equipped NVMe drive at a budget price and is willing to buy used or NOS. The dedicated 1 GB LPDDR3 buffer keeps the drive responsive under mixed workloads that would cause DRAM-less alternatives to falter, and the 600 TBW endurance rating on a 5-year warranty is solid for this price class. Gamers, office-PC builders, and anyone cloning an old SATA SSD will find the NM700 a meaningful upgrade. Skip it if you can stretch to a used Samsung 970 EVO Plus, which is faster in every metric and runs cooler, or if your motherboard supports PCIe 4.0 — a new WD Blue SN580 or Lexar's own NM790 costs roughly the same and delivers Gen4 bandwidth with better thermals. The NM700's age shows in its power draw and heat output, but for a DRAM-backed PCIe 3.0 stopgap, it gets the fundamentals right.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Does the Lexar NM700 have a DRAM cache?

Yes, the Lexar NM700 1 TB includes 1 GB of Nanya LPDDR3-1866 DRAM. This dedicated buffer stores the flash translation layer mapping table and improves random read and write consistency compared to Host Memory Buffer designs that borrow system RAM over the PCIe bus. The DRAM is a key reason the NM700 remains viable despite its age — many modern budget NVMe drives have eliminated the DRAM cache to cut costs.

### Is the Lexar NM700 good for gaming?

The NM700 1 TB handles gaming well on PCIe 3.0 platforms. Game load times are within a second or two of PCIe 4.0 drives in most titles, and the DRAM cache prevents the micro-stutter that can affect DRAM-less SSDs when Windows performs background writes during gameplay. Large game installations and patch downloads benefit from the generous SLC cache, which sustains high write speeds for transfers far larger than a typical Steam download.

### Is the Lexar NM700 compatible with the PS5?

No. Sony requires a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD with a sequential read speed of at least 5,500 MB/s for the PS5 expansion slot. The NM700 is a PCIe 3.0 drive with a maximum read speed of 3,500 MB/s, which does not meet either the interface generation or speed requirement.

### What is the TBW endurance of the Lexar NM700 1TB?

The Lexar NM700 1 TB is rated for 600 TBW, equivalent to approximately 328 GB of writes per day for the 5-year warranty period. Typical consumer workloads of 20 to 50 GB per day translate to decades of usable life. The 256 GB and 512 GB variants carry lower ratings of 150 TBW and 300 TBW respectively.

### Does the Lexar NM700 need a heatsink?

The NM700 runs hotter than many PCIe 3.0 competitors, and reviewers recorded controller temperatures reaching the mid-90s Celsius under sustained sequential writes. While the Marvell 88SS1092 is rated to operate at these temperatures, thermal throttling was observed in some test scenarios. A passive motherboard M.2 heatsink or at least some airflow across the drive is recommended, especially in compact cases or if you regularly transfer very large files.

### How does the Lexar NM700 compare to the Samsung 970 EVO Plus?

The Samsung 970 EVO Plus is the better drive in nearly every measurable way — 3,500 MB/s reads with higher real-world throughput, superior random I/O especially at low queue depths, cooler operation, and Samsung's mature Magician software ecosystem. The NM700's advantages are a larger effective SLC cache in some scenarios and a typically lower used-market price. If the two are within 15 to 20 percent of each other on price, the 970 EVO Plus is the clear pick. The NM700 becomes interesting only when the price gap widens enough to justify the performance and thermal trade-offs.

### Is the Lexar NM700 still manufactured?

No, the NM700 has been effectively discontinued. Lexar has moved on to PCIe 4.0 models including the NM760, NM790, NM800 PRO, and the flagship NM1090. The NM700 is only available through remaining new-old-stock inventory and the used market.

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Last updated: 2026-05-17. Source: https://ssdrive.net/lexar-nm700-1-tb