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 10, 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 NM610's 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. This had little impact on the NM610's read speed. However, its average writing speed dropped to 153.00 MB/s.
Lexar NM610 - Dirty
To see how well the NM610 could recover, I let the computer sit for about 30 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 1530.55 MB/s.
Lexar NM610 - After TRIM
Lastly, I used Parted Magic to perform a secure erase on the NM610. With the drive wiped clean, it had average read and write speeds of 1908.46 MB/s and 1568.44 MB/s, respectively.
Lexar NM610- Secure Erased
Final Thoughts:
Lexar's NM610 SSD is an excellent choice for the PC enthusiast looking for an easy and affordable way to increase the performance and storage capacity of their desktop or notebook computer. This compact, M.2 form factor SSD is powered by Silicon Motion's SM2263XT controller and is available with up to 1TB of Intel's 64-layer TLC 3D NAND flash. Combine this with a PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe 1.3 interface and you have a reasonably priced drive capable of delivering up to 3.5x the speed of your average SATA 6Gb/s SSD. In our sequential read and write tests, the 1TB version of the NM610 was able to read at speeds as high as 2,101 MB/s and write at speeds in excess of 1,688 MB/s. It also did relatively well in our random write tests, producing more than 141,000 IOPS at low queue depths.
The NM610 is available now in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities. Prices on Amazon.com start at $40 and go up to $199 for the 1TB version reviewed here.
Highs:
- Available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities
- PCIe 3.0 x4 interface with NVMe protocol
- Silicon Motion SM2263XT controller
- Equipped with Intel 64-layer TLC 3D NAND
- Good sequential and random read and write performance
- Small M.2 2280 form factor
- Features LDPC (Low-Density Parity Check)
- Shock and vibration resistant with no moving parts
- Reasonably priced
- 3 year warranty
Lows:
- Write speed drops when SLC cache is full
- Does not support hardware based encryption
