Changes To Plextor M5Pro Xtreme Series SSD

[Ian]

If you read our article on Plextor's Xtreme firmware for the M5P (http://www.cdrlabs.com/Reviews/plextor- ... mware.html), we mentioned that there would be some changes to the hardware when the actual M5 Pro Xtreme shipped. Plextor has now released some more details. Sorry.. its in Japanese.

http://www.links.co.jp/2013/02/post-18/

Here are the main points:

- NAND flash chips are now a TSOP package (pins along the shorter edges) instead of BGA
- TSOP package has a maximum page size of 16KB vs 8KB with the BGA. This supposedly gives the drive better "buffer management"
- TSOP has better heat dissipation so thermal pads are no longer needed
- PCB has been updated to support TSOP

[Ian]

In the end, there will be three versions of the M5P series. You'll have

1. Original M5P
2. Updated M5Pro (M6S PCB)
3. M5Pro Xtreme (Same as the M5Pro with 1.02 firmware)

Take note of the slight name change. Apparently they had to change it when switching to a new PCB.

Confused yet?

[Ian]

The M5Pro Xtreme is out in Japan. Slightly updated packaging advertising True Protect and the 100K IOPS. Take note of the changed specs on the back of the box. I still can't get over the fact that the write speeds are slower on the 128GB model. Maybe just more accurate?





Model number is still "M5Pro" for the Xtreme.