Lexar NQ780 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

The Lexar NQ780 is a budget-friendly 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that delivers solid read speeds for gaming and boot drive use. Write speeds are underwhelming at 2500 MB/s, and the 1-year warranty is short, but the value proposition is strong if you catch it at the right price. It's a great fit for PS5 expansion or as a secondary game drive, just don't expect flagship performance.

The NQ780's performance story is a tale of two numbers. The read speed is genuinely solid for a budget PCIe 4.0 drive, landing in the 57th percentile for speed in our database. That puts it firmly in the middle of the pack, which is fine for loading games, booting Windows, and moving large files around. The write speed is where things get less exciting. At 2500 MB/s, it's well behind the 6000+ MB/s you'd get from something like the Samsung 990 PRO or Crucial T500.

In practice, this means the NQ780 is great as a secondary drive for your game library or as a boot drive where reads dominate. It's not the drive you want if you're constantly writing huge video files or doing heavy content creation work. The DRAM-less design also means sustained write performance can dip under heavy load, though the SLC cache helps smooth things out for typical bursts. For a PS5 expansion drive, the read speed is what matters most for game loading, and the NQ780 handles that fine.

Stacked against the Samsung 990 PRO, the NQ780 is clearly outclassed on speed. The 990 PRO hits 7450/6900 MB/s read/write and has DRAM, which makes it a much better choice for heavy workloads. But it also costs significantly more. The Crucial T500 is another step up, with speeds around 7400/7000 MB/s and a 5-year warranty, and it's often priced competitively enough to make you question the NQ780. The WD_BLACK SN8100 and MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO are similar stories: faster, more expensive, better endurance ratings.

Where the NQ780 holds its own is against other budget drives. It's not trying to beat the flagships, and for a game library or boot drive, the read speed is what you'll notice most. The XPG GAMMIX S70 Blade is probably the closest competitor in spirit, offering PCIe 4.0 speeds at a budget price, though it typically includes a heatsink option. If you're building a PS5 expansion on a budget, the NQ780 is a perfectly reasonable choice. If you're editing 4K video or running a database, look elsewhere.

Value is where the NQ780 makes its case. In the US, prices range from $143 to $180 depending on the retailer, which is a $37 spread worth paying attention to. Best Buy tends to have the lower end of that range, so it's worth checking there first if you're in the US. For a 1TB PCIe 4.0 drive, that's competitive with other budget options, though it's not the cheapest thing on the shelf. The affordability score sits at the 61st percentile, so it's slightly above average on price. Buyers who grabbed it before the recent SSD price hikes were especially happy, and a few have noted the price has gone up since. If you can find it closer to $143, it's a solid deal. At $180, you're getting into territory where faster drives with better warranties start to look more appealing.

The Lexar NQ780 is a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD that sits in the budget-to-midrange bracket for internal storage. It's a DRAM-less TLC drive in the M.2 2280 form factor, which is the standard size for most desktops, laptops, and the PS5 expansion slot. Lexar markets it as a gaming and creator drive, and the spec sheet backs that up with read speeds up to 7000 MB/s depending on the listing you're looking at. The reality is a bit more nuanced, and we'll get into that below.

If you're searching for a 1TB NVMe SSD that won't break the bank and gets the job done for game storage or a boot drive, the NQ780 is worth a look. It's not trying to compete with flagship drives on raw speed, but it does offer a lot of capacity for the money. The single-sided design also makes it a decent fit for thinner laptops where double-sided drives can cause clearance issues.

One thing to note right away: the listed specs are a bit inconsistent across retailers. Some listings say 7000/6000 MB/s read/write, others say 6500/2500 or 6000/2500. Our data shows the drive is rated for 2500 MB/s write in most real-world listings, which is a significant gap from the marketing copy. That's not a dealbreaker at this price, but it's the kind of thing you should know before buying.

Skip the NQ780 if you're a content creator working with large video files, a database admin, or anyone who does heavy sustained writes. The 2500 MB/s write speed and DRAM-less design will bottleneck those workloads. The 1-year warranty is also a red flag if you're storing anything you can't afford to lose. For those use cases, spend the extra money on a Crucial T500 or Samsung 990 PRO, both of which offer dramatically better write performance and 5-year warranties. If you're building a high-end gaming PC and want the fastest possible load times, you'll also want to look at those flagship drives instead.

Should you buy the Lexar NQ780? If you need a 1TB PCIe 4.0 drive for game storage, a boot drive, or a PS5 expansion, and you can find it at the lower end of its price range, yes. It's a solid performer for reads, easy to install, and owners are generally happy with it. The user sentiment score of 88/100 from our data backs that up, with buyers praising the speed, capacity, and value.

But if you're doing heavy write workloads, want a longer warranty, or need the absolute fastest drive available, this isn't it. The 2500 MB/s write speed and 1-year warranty are real limitations. For most people using it as a secondary drive or console storage, those won't matter much. For everyone else, spending a bit more on a Crucial T500 or Samsung 990 PRO is the smarter move.