TRIM Performance:
While SSD's offer many benefits, there are some downsides to using flash memory. One of the biggest issues people run into is performance degradation. Over time, an SSD will run out of fresh blocks and will have to write over data the file system has marked as deleted. This procedure is very complicated and can slow an SSD's write speeds considerably.
To fix this problem, most manufacturers have added TRIM support to their SSDs. The TRIM command allows an operating system, such as Windows 7, to tell an SSD which data blocks are no longer in use. Using this information, the drive pro-actively erases these blocks and adds them to the free block pool.
To test the M9PG Plus' TRIM and garbage collection functions, I first put the drive in a "dirty" state. I used Iometer to fill 80% of the drive and then ran a random write test for 30 minutes. Looking at the screenshot below, you can see that the M9PG Plus' average read and write speeds dropped to 2550.74 MB/s and 236.49 MB/s, respectively.
Plextor M9PG Plus - Dirty
To see how well the M9PG Plus could recover, I let the computer sit for about 35 minutes and then reran the test. The drive wasn't able to reach the factory fresh performance shown in our earlier tests. However, its sequential write speed jumped up to 1866.89 MB/s.
Plextor M9PG Plus - After TRIM
Lastly, I used Parted Magic to perform a secure erase on the M9PG Plus. With the drive wiped clean, it had average read and write speeds of 2922.34 MB/s and 1883.28 MB/s, respectively.
Plextor M9PG Plus - Secure Erased
Final Thoughts:
Plextor's M9PG Plus SSD is a great choice for the gamer or enthusiast looking for an easy and affordable way to boost the performance and storage capacity of their desktop computer. This M.2 form factor drive is powered by Marvell's 88SS1092 controller and is available with up to 1TB of KIOXIA's 96-layer BiCS4 3D NAND flash. Combine this with an ultra-fast PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe 1.3 interface and you have a drive capable of delivering more than six times the performance of your average SATA 6Gb/s SSD. In our sequential read and write tests, the 1TB version of the M9PG Plus was able to read at speeds as high as 3,465 MB/s and write at speeds in excess of 2,116 MB/s. The drive also did very well in our random write tests, producing nearly 200,000 IOPS at low queue depths.
Of course, fast read and write speeds aren't the only things the M9PG Plus has to offer. In addition to a heavy-duty heatsink, the drive is equipped with a large DRAM cache buffer and features new and improved versions of Plextor's PlexNitro II, TrueProtect II and SmartProtect technologies. To top it all off, the M9PG Plus is backed by a generous 5 year warranty.
According to Plextor, the M9P Plus series will be available at retailers in early March in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities. The suggested retail prices are expected to range from about $45 up to $145 with the 1TB heatsink-equipped drive reviewed here going for about $135.
Highs:
- Heavy-duty heatsink
- Available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB capacities
- PCIe 3.0 x4 interface with NVMe protocol
- Marvell 88SS1092 controller
- Equipped with KIOXIA 96-layer BiCS4 3D TLC NAND
- Good sequential read and write performance
- Supports Plextor's PlexNitro II, TrueProtect II and SmartProtect technologies
- Small M.2 2280 form factor
- Large DRAM cache
- Reasonably priced
- 5 year warranty
Lows:
- Write speed drops when SLC cache is full
- Does not support hardware based encryption
