Plextor M8Pe 1TB NVMe SSD Review (2026)
The Plextor M8Pe 1TB is the flagship of Plextor's first NVMe line — a Toshiba MLC drive with 1 GB of LPDDR3 DRAM, 2,500/1,400 MB/s speeds, and a five-year warranty.
Controller & Memory
The M8Pe 1TB uses the Marvell 88SS1093 "Eldora" eight-channel NVMe controller paired with Toshiba 15nm MLC NAND and a full 1,024 MB (1 GB) of LPDDR3 DRAM — twice the DRAM of the smaller capacities. The drive supports NVMe 1.1 over PCIe 3.0 x4 and ships as an M.2 2280 module. The 1TB is the only M8Pe capacity that uses both sides of the PCB, which may limit compatibility with a small number of ultra-thin laptops.
The 1TB is the top performer in the M8Pe line, achieving the full rated 2,500 MB/s reads and 1,400 MB/s writes with 280,000 read IOPS and 240,000 write IOPS. The 1 GB DRAM cache provides ample mapping table space for the full capacity. The drive is available in M8PeGN (bare M.2), M8PeG (with heatspreader), and M8PeY (PCIe AIC) variants.
At launch, the M8Pe 1TB competed against the Samsung 950 Pro 1TB and Toshiba OCZ RD400 1TB. Samsung's vertically integrated design gave it an edge, but the M8Pe was priced aggressively. Plextor is the retail brand of Lite-On, one of the larger OEM SSD suppliers.
Storage Comparisons:
M8Pe Performance & Benchmarks
Plextor rates the M8Pe 1TB at up to 2,500 MB/s sequential reads and 1,400 MB/s sequential writes, with 280,000 read IOPS and 240,000 write IOPS. These are the highest numbers in the M8Pe family.
Plextor M8Pe 1 TB vs M.2 or PCIe 3.0 x 4 peers
Switch between sequential throughput and random IOPS to see how this drive stacks up against other M.2 or PCIe 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.
- Kingston KC2000 1 TB: 3,200 MB/s read, 2,200 MB/s write
- Kingston KC2000 2 TB: 3,200 MB/s read, 2,200 MB/s write
- Plextor M9Pe Series 512 GB: 3,200 MB/s read, 2,000 MB/s write
- Plextor M9Pe Series 1 TB: 3,200 MB/s read, 2,100 MB/s write
- Plextor M8Pe 1 TB (this drive): 2,500 MB/s read, 1,400 MB/s write
AnandTech's review of the 512GB M8Pe showed it performing competitively with the Samsung 950 Pro in sequential workloads, with Samsung maintaining edges in random IO and power efficiency. The 1TB model benefits from more NAND dies and double the DRAM, which should improve sustained write performance further. The MLC NAND provides consistent write performance without the SLC cache drop-off that TLC drives exhibit during sustained transfers. Power consumption is higher than Samsung's drives, particularly in the M8PeY AIC variant which adds voltage conversion and LED overhead.
Plextor M8Pe vs Competitors
See how the M8Pe stacks up against other M.2 or PCIe 3.0 x 4 drives in our database:
Compare with rival drives:
Endurance, TBW & Warranty
The M8Pe 1TB carries a five-year limited warranty. Plextor does not publish a specific TBW rating for the 1TB model, but the endurance is proportional to the MLC NAND capacity and is expected to exceed the 768 TBW rating of the 512GB model. The 2.4 million hour MTBF is above average for consumer SSDs. The five-year warranty was generous for the 2016 market and remains competitive today.
Plextor M8Pe 1 TB Specifications
| Category | Value |
|---|---|
| Capacity [?] | 1 TB |
| Interface [?] | M.2 or PCIe 3.0 x 4 |
| Controller [?] | Marvell 88SS1093 |
| Memory type [?] | Toshiba MLC |
| DRAM [?] | 1024MB LPDDR3 |
| Read speed (MB/s) [?] | 2500 |
| Write speed (MB/s) [?] | 1400 |
| Read IOPS [?] | 280000 |
| Write IOPS [?] | 240000 |
| Endurance (TBW) [?] | 768 |
| MTBF (million hours) [?] | 2.4 |
| Warranty (years) [?] | 5 |
Verdict: Is the M8Pe Worth It in 2026?
The Plextor M8Pe 1TB is a capable NVMe SSD with MLC NAND, a generous 1 GB DRAM cache, and a five-year warranty — a combination of features that is increasingly rare. Its performance is competitive with the Samsung 950 Pro and OCZ RD400 from the same era, though Samsung edges ahead in power efficiency. Buyers who find the M8Pe 1TB at a discount get a durable drive with MLC endurance. Those seeking the best performance per dollar should look at newer NVMe drives, which outperform this 2016 design in raw throughput.
+ Pros
- 2,500 MB/s reads, 1,400 MB/s writes on PCIe 3.0
- 1,024 MB LPDDR3 DRAM — double the smaller capacities
- Toshiba 15nm MLC NAND for strong endurance
- Five-year warranty
- Consistent MLC write performance without SLC volatility
- Cons
- Double-sided PCB may not fit some ultra-thin laptops
- Trails Samsung 950 Pro in power efficiency
- 15nm planar MLC — older NAND generation
- Endurance TBW not published for 1TB model
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