The Bottom Line
While Biostar isn't a big player in the SSD market, they do tend to release incremental updates to their portfolio of storage solutions on occasion. Their latest update includes both the SATA-powered S120 series that we will have in a future review and the NVMe M700, which we are looking at here today.
The M700 is targeting the value segment of the market quite aggressively by putting together a DRAM-less design with Silicon Motion's SM2263XT controller and Intel's 64-layer 3D NAND. Capacity options include a 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB model with features that include support for the NVMe 1.3 specification, as well as Host Memory Buffer (HMB) and AES 256-bit encryption.
No endurance ratings have been released for this series of drives, but we can ballpark it based on similar drives like the HP EX900 and Silicon Power P34A60 reviewed last month. Based on the rating from those two drives, the M700 should be in the range of 200TBW for the 512GB model.
The MSRP of the Biostar M700 is set at $49.99 for the 512GB model and $29.99 for the 256GB solution. You can also pick up the 1TB capacity at $94.99. Warranty is listed at three-years.
The packaging is on point for the M700 with capacity listed bottom right.
The back goes into more detail with a short specification list.
The drive was delivered in a plastic clamshell. From here, we have a large sticker that covers the model and capacity along with the serial number.
The M700 is a 2280 form factor solution. The 512GB model has four NAND flash modules with the SM2263 controller to the far right.
The drive is an m.2 M keyed solution.
To start testing, we once again visit CDM. The drive is at 50% fill standard for all of our testing. From here, we see 1954 MB/s read and 1651 MB/s write. 4KQ1 offers an impressive 67.9 MB/s read and 217 MB/s write.
Turning to ATTO, we see erratic write behavior from the M700, a common symptom of a DRAM-less design. Read performance, however, is quite stable and excels from 256K to 2M and again at higher file sizes 32M through 64M.
PCMark10 offered 203 MB/s bandwidth and a score of 1634 for the M700 in the quick test.
As a full system drive, the M700 brought in 268.5 MB/s bandwidth and a score of 1629.
Price/Performance puts the M700 on top of our current charts, but this does take into account an MSRP of $49.99. If the actual price comes out any higher, it will drop below the P34A60.
Having used the M700 during testing and day to day, I can undoubtedly say this is a solid boot drive with no noticeable performance loss coming from the MP600 that the test system usually uses. Of course, drive transfers will be limited to the sequential performance of the M700, but even at that, the M700 offers four times the performance of a SATA SSD in sequential and two times in random read/write.
Speaking of performance, our sample of the M700 was able to reach close to marketing numbers with 1954 MB/s read and 1651 MB/s write. ATTO was a bit erratic for write performance due to the drive's design, but it did produce a solid read platform with the best performance coming from 256K through 2M. Our PCMark10 results gave the M700 a score of 1634 in the quick test and 1629 in full system drive. We will begin to build charts in the future for comparison between drives.
Moving into price/performance, as said previously, the M700 has taken top marks here with its excellent MSRP of $49.99. Comparable solutions include the P34A60 from Silicon Power, which has the same BOM as the M700 but comes in a bit higher at $54.99. To offset the cost, SP does include a five-year warranty with their solution while Biostar is currently offering three years on the M700.
Tyler's Test System Specifications
- Motherboard: ASUS Crosshair VIII Formula X570 (buy from Amazon)
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (buy from Amazon)
- RAM: Corsair Vengeance 16GB 2x8GB DDR4 3600 (buy from Amazon)
- Cooler: Corsair Hydro H60 (buy from Amazon)
- Case: Corsair Carbide 275R (buy from Amazon)
- OS Storage: Corsair MP600 1TB (buy from Amazon)
- Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (buy from Amazon)
- OS: Microsoft Windows 10 (buy from Amazon)
Performance |
85% |
Quality |
85% |
Features |
85% |
Value |
95% |
Overall |
88% |
Biostar's M700 is a game changing solution offering consumers a viable daily driver at 10 cents per GB.
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