Plextor M5 Pro 256GB SSD with Xtreme 1.02 Firmware Review

Introduction

There seems to be a bit of confusion surrounding Plextor's M5 Pro / Xtreme products. The M5 Pro hit the market several months ago and was one of the first SSDs to use Toshiba's 19nm Toggle NAND. At the time we didn't realize Toshiba already had a newer design in the works. The first 19nm NAND has an 8K page size, the standard we've had for the last few years. The new 16KB page size is the future and will eventually allow for higher density NAND dies and packages.
The Plextor M5 Pro uses the 8K page size design and the new Plextor M5 Pro Xtreme uses the new 16KB page size. That's pretty simple, a change to the BOM and a new tag, but it isn't. Just prior to announcing the M5 Pro Xtreme, Plextor released Xtreme firmware for the original M5 Pro. The Xtreme firmware gives a solid boost across the full spectrum with the largest performance bump coming in the sequential read and write area. This is good news for those who've already purchased a Plextor M5 Pro because with the Xtreme firmware updates, version 1.02 and above, you gain some free performance.

When we reviewed the M5 Pro 256GB the first time with firmware 1.00 we felt as if Plextor held back with the release. In the review, we commented that the M3 Pro performed better in a few key areas. Plextor isn't just sitting back and letting Xtreme 1.02 become the end all be all for M5 Pro either. After finishing this article, Plextor released version 1.03. 1.03 doesn't introduce a radical shift in performance like 1.02 did, but it does increase the efficiency of TRIM so some of our benchmarks might see even higher results.
PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.
United States: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon's website.
United Kingdom: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon UK's website.
Canada: Find other tech and computer products like this over at Amazon Canada's website.
- Page 1 [Introduction]
- Page 2 [Specifications, Pricing and Availability]
- Page 3 [Plextor M5 Pro SSD]
- Page 4 [Benchmarks - Test System Setup and ATTO Baseline Performance]
- Page 5 [Benchmarks - Sequential Performance]
- Page 6 [Benchmarks - AIDA64 Random Access Time]
- Page 7 [Benchmarks - Anvil Storage Utilities]
Recommended for You
- We at TweakTown openly invite the companies who provide us with review samples / who are mentioned or discussed to express their opinion of our content. If any company representative wishes to respond, we will publish the response here.
Related Tags
Latest News Posts
- PowerColor teases Radeon RX Vega Nano prototype
- AMD teases Ryzen 7 2800X, could be a 10C/20T beast at 4GHz+
- Xbox One could soon have 120Hz high refresh rate option
- Valve picks up Campo Santo, Firewatch developer
- Gearbox CEO addresses current Borderlands 3 rights rumors
Forum Activity
- FS 40 Pieces Samsung Galaxy S9+ (www.BizFests.com) 128GB $8,520
- Legacy Mode
- Possible Router Issues
- ADATA Premier Memory Cards
- Can't complete BIOS recovery
Press Releases
- Micron Launches Industry's First Enterprise SATA Solid State Drives Built on Leading 64-layer 3D NAND Technology
- Micron, Rambus, Northwest Logic and Avery Design to Deliver a Comprehensive GDDR6 Solution for Next-Generation Applications
- Toshiba Memory America Unveils UFS Devices Utilizing 64-Layer, 3D Flash Memory
- ASUS Announces GeForce GTX 1070 Ti Series Gaming Graphics Cards
- ASUS Announces ASUS Hangouts Meet Hardware Kit