Skip to main content

Plextor’s newest solid state drive puts gamers in its crosshairs

Lite-On is not a name that’s well known in the western market, but as most enthusiasts can tell you, it does have a significant presence. Its solid state and optical drives end up in many OEM configurations, and they’re often a solid choice for geeks building a custom rig.

Now the company’s sub-brand, Plextor, is looking to make an impression with its M8Pe, a solid state drive built with gaming in mind. We first heard of it at CES 2016, but at Computex the company was ready to announce its specifications and provide a release window.

Recommended Videos

The M8Pe is an NVMe solid state drive that will be available as an add-in PCI card, or in smaller M.2 form factor. It will come in four sizes, with performance increases as storage goes up.

Capacity 128GB 256GB 512GB 1TB
DRAM Cache 512MB 512MB 512MB 1GB
Sequential Read (MB/s) Up to 1,600 Up to 2,000 Up to 2,300 Up to 2,500
Sequential Write (MB/s) Up to 500 Up to 900 Up to 1,300 Up to 1,400
Random Read (IOPS) Up to 120,000 Up to 210,000 Up to 260,000 Up to 280,000
Random Write (IOPS) Up to 130,000 Up to 230,000 Up to 250,000 Up to 240,000

As you can see, the performance of the drive is no joke. The largest, 1TB drive can hit over 2,500 MB/s and perform 280,000 input/output operations per second, figures that make it comparable to the best drives sold today. The speed is provided by 15nm MLC from Toshiba, combined with a Marvell 88SS1093 controller.

Plextor says the quoted numbers are just the beginning. In CrystalDiskMark — a benchmark Digital Trends uses to test SSDs — the drive can hit sequential read speeds of almost three gigabytes per second. The company believes that it will push that up by another 300MB/s with driver updates.

Obviously, the performance will be of interest to gamers, among others. But there are other drives that are quick. Plextor says it has another, less technical feature that will help the M8Pe stand out — the heatsink. Built from sandblasted aluminum and adorned with flashing red LEDs, the heatsink simultaneously keeps the drive cool and spices up the look.

That may seem mundane, but most NVMe solid state drives are sold naked (which is to say the PCB and chips are exposed), or in boring silver or black enclosures. The M8Pe’s heatsink will better fit the aesthetic of a high-end gaming rig.

Plextor is still being cagey about the price. Suffice to say, the M8Pe won’t be inexpensive. We doubt it’ll be long before that information is released, however, because the company expects the drive to be shipping by the end of June.

Matthew S. Smith
Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…
A new supply shortage is now hitting SSDs and hard drives
Two Samsung SSDs on a graphics card.

Cryptocurrency miners are already blamed for the shortage of graphics cards in recent years, and the situation has become especially dire during the global pandemic when coupled with supply chain disruptions. If miners have their way, there's another important PC component that could become scarce. It's reported that if the new Chia cryptocurrency takes off, the PC industry and gamers may have to grapple with a shortage of storage, as inventory of hard disk drives and solid-state drives could quickly become depleted.

Unlike existing cryptocurrencies, the Chia currency heavily relies on storage space, as it's based on a "proof of space and time" model. On the other hand, currencies like Bitcoin are based on a "proof of work," which doesn't require as much storage.

Read more
A coding blunder just ruined a moment of joy for lottery winners
Eurojackpot lottery slips.

Imagine the joy of being notified of a huge lottery win. What would be the first thing you’d do? Get the champagne in? Book a fancy vacation? Call your boss and tell him where to go?

And then imagine being informed that the notification had, in fact, been sent in error. Well, you can always send the booze back and cancel the holiday, but trying to convince your boss that you were just joking ... well, that may be a bigger challenge.

Read more
This TP-Link Wi-Fi 6 router is 45% off in early Prime Day deal
The TP-Link AX1800 Archer AX21 Wi-FI 6 Router on a white background.

If you're planning to buy a new router to improve your home's Wi-Fi network, the good news is that you don't have to wait for Prime Day 2025 to take advantage of huge discounts on router deals from Amazon. Here's an excellent offer — the TP-Link Archer AX21 with an eye-catching 45% discount, which drops its price from $100 to just $55. The $45 in savings will only be available for a limited time though, so you better act fast and proceed with your purchase immediately as this early Prime Day deal may disappear at any moment.

Buy Now

Read more