Lexar NM990

The Lexar NM990 2TB is one of the fastest drives we've tested, with 14,000 MB/s reads and top-tier random performance. It's expensive and DRAM-less, but if you want PCIe 5.0 speed, this is a serious contender. Worth it if you need the best, skip it if you're on a budget.

The headline numbers are absurd. 14,000 MB/s sequential reads and 10,000 MB/s writes mean game loads, file transfers, and video scrubbing all feel instant. Random performance is where this drive really shines, landing at the 98th percentile in our database. That's best-in-class territory. The DRAM-less design doesn't seem to hurt much here, though sustained writes under heavy load might dip more than a drive with a dedicated cache. For most people, you'll never notice.

Against the Samsung 9100 PRO, the NM990 trades blows on speed but gives up endurance and brand trust. The WD_BLACK SN850X is a PCIe 4.0 drive that's cheaper and still excellent for gaming, though it can't touch the NM990's sequential numbers. The Crucial T710 is the closest direct competitor in the PCIe 5.0 space, and it's a toss-up depending on price. The Kingston Fury Renegade and Seagate FireCuda 530R are both solid PCIe 4.0 options that cost less and still feel fast. If you need the absolute fastest drive, the NM990 is in the conversation. If you just want a great drive, the PCIe 4.0 crowd is hard to ignore.

Pricing is all over the place in Canada, ranging from CAD 540 to CAD 775 across three listings. That's a CAD 235 spread, which is wild. If you're buying in Canada, shop around because the cheapest listing is a much better deal than the most expensive one. In the US, it's listed at USD 503. For a 2TB PCIe 5.0 drive with this kind of speed, that's not outrageous, but you're paying a premium over PCIe 4.0 drives that are still very fast for everyday use.

The Lexar NM990 2TB is a PCIe 5.0 drive that screams. 14,000 MB/s reads and 10,000 MB/s writes put it in the top tier of our database, and the random performance is even better at the 98th percentile. This is a drive built for people who want the fastest possible storage and don't mind paying for it.

But there's a catch. It's DRAM-less, which is unusual for a flagship drive, and the endurance rating of 1,500 TBW is solid but not class-leading. Still, for raw speed, this thing is a monster.

Skip this if you're on a PCIe 4.0 platform or you don't do heavy file transfers. The speed advantage over a good PCIe 4.0 drive like the SN850X is real but not life-changing for most people. Also skip it if you need a portable drive, the portable score of 21.9 out of 100 is one of the worst we've seen for this category.

Buy this if you have a PCIe 5.0 motherboard and you want the fastest storage money can buy right now. It's a great fit for high-end gaming rigs and content creation workstations where every second counts. The DRAM-less design is a minor concern, but the real-world performance speaks for itself.