Lexar NM800 Pro shows the importance of using a heat sink for PCIe4 x4 SSDs

Though heat sinks for SSDs have always been optional, they have become a necessity this generation if you want to utilize PCIe4 x4 speeds to the fullest. The Lexar NM800 Pro includes one as an option and it'll fit inside the PS5, too.

Allen Ngo, Published 11/10/2022 🇪🇸 🇫🇷 ...

The Lexar Professional 2TB NM800 Pro is now shipping on Amazon for $180 or $220 USD. The manufacturer has sent us a sample with the heat sink for our benchmarks and impressions. For this test, we're particularly interested in temperatures and how capable the drive is at maintaining its maximum advertised read rate of 7500 MB/s.

Our host PC for testing the NM800 Pro is the Intel NUC11 with the 11th gen Core i7-1165G7 CPU. It supports PCIe4 x4 transfer rates and it even includes a built-in heat sink for any installed SSD, but we've removed this heat sink inside of the Intel mini PC in order to test the Lexar SSD and heat sink.

Heat sink comes already installed and it is guaranteed to fit inside a PS5

Philips screwdriver is required if you want to remove the heat sink

Drive with heat sink is relatively heavy at 47 g

Host Intel NUC mini PC with no drive installed

Host Intel NUC mini PC with Lexar NM800 drive installed

Keep in mind that the retail box does not include a screw for securing the drive onto the M.2 slot. Other SSD makers tend to include one in comparison. Hopefully your host device will have a screw already included.

Once installed, we ran DiskSpd in a loop for half an hour to see how warm the drive would become and if transfer rates would need to throttle. Fortunately, our graphs and screenshots below show the drive stabilizing at 7100 MB/s and at a reasonable 66 C. We're unable to reach the advertised 7500 MB/s read rate, however, which is a bit of a bummer. Nonetheless, it's relieving to see no major temperature or throttling problems with the NM800 and heat sink.

HWiNFO SSD when stressed. Note the stable temperatures and sequential read rates

To show how important the SSD heat sink can be, we repeated the above test with a 2 TB SK Hynix P41 PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD with no heat sink installed. Temperatures would reach as high as 93 C necessitating performance throttling to as low as 3500 MB/s. In short, the PCIe4 drive would behave more like a PCIe3 drive if there is no heat sink.

Of course, users can still purchase the Lexar NM800 without the heat sink to save on some cash, but the temperature and performance differences are significant enough for us to recommend a heat sink whenever possible.

CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6

AS SSD

DiskSpd

CDM 5/6 Read Seq Q32T1: 7103 MB/s

CDM 5/6 Write Seq Q32T1: 5261 MB/s

CDM 5/6 Read 4K Q32T1: 477 MB/s

CDM 5/6 Write 4K Q32T1: 495.4 MB/s

CDM 5 Read Seq: 2824 MB/s

CDM 5 Write Seq: 3430 MB/s

CDM 5/6 Read 4K: 84.86 MB/s

CDM 5/6 Write 4K: 169.2 MB/s

Lexar NM800 heat sink hot spot at 60 C when stressed

SK Hynix P41 hot spot with no heat sink is much warmer at 93 C when stressed

Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8

Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB : Ø7044 (6476.06-7085.23)

SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB : Ø4820 (3473.07-6916.41)

Drive Performance Rating | DiskSpd | AS SSD

Drive Performance Rating - Percent
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	92.8 pt
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	75.4 pt
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	72.8 pt
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	70.2 pt
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	65.2 pt
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	41.4 pt

DiskSpd
seq read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	4191 (4183.82^min - 4190.96^max) MB/s +52%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	3747 (3711.67^min - 3747.4^max) MB/s +36%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	3502 (3461.77^min - 3502.37^max) MB/s +27%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	2762 (2741.82^min - 2762.09^max) MB/s
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	2726 (2710.39^min - 2725.88^max) MB/s -1%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1770 (1735.81^min - 1770.42^max) MB/s -36%
seq write
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	4158 (4124.82^min - 4157.89^max) MB/s +17%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	3553 (3226.47^min - 3553.02^max) MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	3495 (3351.26^min - 3494.69^max) MB/s -2%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	3470 (3416.05^min - 3470.37^max) MB/s -2%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	2303 (2258.1^min - 2303.1^max) MB/s -35%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1324 (1199.03^min - 1323.72^max) MB/s -63%
seq q8 t1 read
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	7056 (6103.55^min - 7056.44^max) MB/s
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	6835 (6096.6^min - 6835^max) MB/s -3%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	6719 (6417.91^min - 6718.86^max) MB/s -5%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	6680 (5632.95^min - 6680.12^max) MB/s -5%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	6656 (5809.03^min - 6655.73^max) MB/s -6%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	2260 (1924^min - 2259.89^max) MB/s -68%
seq q8 t1 write
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	5290 (5252.49^min - 5289.55^max) MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	4914 (4664.7^min - 4914.05^max) MB/s -7%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	4910 (4880.17^min - 4910.06^max) MB/s -7%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	4468 (4431.23^min - 4467.85^max) MB/s -16%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	4278 (4242.54^min - 4277.6^max) MB/s -19%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1588 (1424.3^min - 1588.17^max) MB/s -70%
4k q1 t1 read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	88 (87.7^min - 87.99^max) MB/s +14%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	77 (76.58^min - 77^max) MB/s
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	67.5 (65.71^min - 67.48^max) MB/s -12%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	55.7 (54.81^min - 55.71^max) MB/s -28%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	50 (49.75^min - 50.01^max) MB/s -35%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	44.4 (36.52^min - 44.39^max) MB/s -42%
4k q1 t1 write
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	223 (222.73^min - 223.36^max) MB/s +41%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	170.9 (165.47^min - 170.92^max) MB/s +8%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	157.8 (143.9^min - 157.8^max) MB/s
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	155.7 (138.58^min - 155.74^max) MB/s -1%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	150.2 (146.12^min - 150.2^max) MB/s -5%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	139 (135.15^min - 138.9^max) MB/s -12%
4k q32 t16 read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	2191 (917.05^min - 2191.02^max) MB/s +106%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	1175 (1165.82^min - 1174.98^max) MB/s +10%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	1065 (986.8^min - 1065.42^max) MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	1045 (950.02^min - 1044.68^max) MB/s -2%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	805 (800.4^min - 804.86^max) MB/s -24%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	540 (532.43^min - 540.23^max) MB/s -49%
4k q32 t16 write
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	1403 (710.77^min - 1403.25^max) MB/s +171%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	584 (569.81^min - 583.72^max) MB/s +13%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	517 (461.2^min - 517.09^max) MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	507 (497.24^min - 507.37^max) MB/s -2%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	416 (398.57^min - 416.29^max) MB/s -20%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	384 (378.78^min - 383.65^max) MB/s -26%

AS SSD
Score Total
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	5792 Points +28%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	5114 Points +13%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	4976 Points +10%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	4672 Points +3%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	4532 Points
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	2566 Points -43%
Score Read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	2307 Points +46%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	1719 Points +9%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	1577 Points
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	1521 Points -4%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	1451 Points -8%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1184 Points -25%
Score Write
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	3046 Points +38%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	2507 Points +13%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	2499 Points +13%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	2371 Points +7%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	2210 Points
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	818 Points -63%
Seq Read
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	5411.56 MB/s +20%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	5403 MB/s +20%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	4851.77 MB/s +7%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	4633.49 MB/s +3%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	4517.69 MB/s
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1972 MB/s -56%
Seq Write
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	3792 MB/s +32%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	2877.17 MB/s
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	2530.01 MB/s -12%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	2186.99 MB/s -24%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	1910.85 MB/s -34%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	856 MB/s -70%
4K Read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	80.4 MB/s +4%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	77.67 MB/s
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	70.31 MB/s -9%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	61.75 MB/s -20%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	56.7 MB/s -27%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	43.25 MB/s -44%
4K Write
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	232.86 MB/s +14%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	204.7 MB/s
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	195.1 MB/s -5%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	176.4 MB/s -14%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	164.04 MB/s -20%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	83.97 MB/s -59%
4K-64 Read
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	1687 MB/s +61%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	1212.13 MB/s +16%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	1047.14 MB/s
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	974.07 MB/s -7%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	930 MB/s -11%
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	839.87 MB/s -20%
4K-64 Write
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	2560.31 MB/s +49%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	2196.1 MB/s +28%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	2151.98 MB/s +25%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	1797 MB/s +5%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	1717.84 MB/s
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	557 MB/s -68%
Access Time Read
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	0.082 ms * -447%
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	0.036 ms * -140%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	0.036 ms * -140%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	0.035 ms * -133%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	0.031 ms * -107%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	0.015 ms *
Access Time Write
Microsoft Surface Pro 8, i7-1185G7 Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	0.156 ms * -174%
SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB	0.11 ms * -93%
HP Spectre x360 13.5 14t-ef000 Micron 3400 1TB MTFDKBA1T0TFH	0.066 ms * -16%
Lexar NM800 Pro 2 TB	0.057 ms *
Dell XPS 13 Plus 9320 i7-1280P OLED WDC PC SN810 512GB	0.049 ms * +14%
Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Gen2 Core i5 Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ	0.021 ms * +63%

* ... smaller is better

Source(s)

Amazon product page

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Allen Ngo - Lead Editor U.S. - 5190 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2011

After graduating with a B.S. in environmental hydrodynamics from the University of California, I studied reactor physics to become licensed by the U.S. NRC to operate nuclear reactors. There's a striking level of appreciation you gain for everyday consumer electronics after working with modern nuclear reactivity systems astonishingly powered by computers from the 80s. When I'm not managing day-to-day activities and US review articles on Notebookcheck, you can catch me following the eSports scene and the latest gaming news.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2022 11 > Lexar NM800 Pro shows the importance of using a heat sink for PCIe4 x4 SSDs

Allen Ngo, 2022-11-10 (Update: 2022-11-10)

Lexar NM800 Pro shows the importance of using a heat sink for PCIe4 x4 SSDs

Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8

Source(s)

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