Model: Plextor M7V 512GB Solid State Drive
Manufacturer: Plextor
Provided By: Plextor LLC

As one of the biggest names in the storage industry, Plextor doesn't need much of an introduction. For more than a decade, they've produced some of the best optical drives the industry has seen. Known the world over for their quality, performance, and features, these drives have become favorites among consumers and professionals alike. Today, Plextor continues to lead the way by bringing cutting edge storage technologies to market. Along with an assortment of high-performance DVD and Blu-ray drives, the company offers a growing number of solid state drives.

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Plextor launched its first TLC NAND-based SSD, the M7V. Designed to meet the needs of cost-conscious consumers, this new entry-level SSD is powered by Marvell's 88SS1074B1 controller and is available with up to 512GB of Toshiba's 15nm TLC NAND flash. To compensate for the slow write speeds typically associated with TLC NAND, the M7V is equipped with Plextor's new PlexNitro cache acceleration technology, which optimizes performance without taking up any space on the drive. The M7V also has many of the same features found on Plextor's higher end SSDs. In addition to the company's PlexTurbo SSD RAM caching solution, the drive offers support for its PlexCompressor and PlexVault technologies.

The M7V is available in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB capacities. For this review, Plextor sent us the 512GB version of the drive which is capable of delivering up to 560 MB/s sequential read and 535 MB/s sequential write speeds as well as up to 98,000 random read and 84,000 random write IOPS.

   Plextor M7V 512GB Solid State Drive
General Specifications
Part Number PX-512M7VC
Capacity 512GB
NAND Flash Toshiba 15nm TLC with Toggle mode
Controller Marvell 88SS1074B1
Cache 768MB DDR3
Form Factor 2.5-inch
Interface SATA III 6Gb/s

Performance
Sequential Read 560 MB/s Max
Sequential Write 530 MB/s Max
Random Read (IOPS 4K) 98,000 Max
Random Write (IOPS 4K) 84,000 Max

Environment and Reliability
DC Requirement 5V / 2.0A
Temperature (Operating) 0°C ~ 70°C / 32°F ~ 158°F
Shock 1500G (Max.), at 1 msec half-sine
Vibration (Operating) 7 ~ 800Hz, 2.17Grms
MTBF 1.5 million hours
Endurance (TBW) 320

Dimensions and Weight
Dimensions 100 mm x 69.85 mm x 6.8 mm
Weight 60g

Other Features
PlexTurbo, PlexCompressor, PlexVault, PlexNitro, LDPC
Supports TRIM, SMART, NCQ, ATA/ATAPI-8
Three year warranty

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the M7V has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at Plextor's new SSD and then see how well it performs.  Does the M7V have what it takes? More importantly, is it the best bang for your buck? Keep reading as we find out.


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