Crucial T700

The Crucial T700 2TB is a Gen5 monster with 12,400 MB/s reads and 1.5M random IOPS, landing in the 96th and 97th percentiles respectively. It runs hot and needs a PCIe 5.0 platform to shine, but at the low end of its USD 300 to USD 549 price range, it's a killer deal. If your motherboard has a Gen5 M.2 slot, this is the drive to get.

Let's talk about what this drive actually does. The Phison E26 controller paired with Micron's TLC NAND and a DRAM cache pushes 12,400 MB/s reads and 11,800 MB/s writes. That's not a typo. We're talking about moving a 100GB game folder in roughly the time it takes to grab a coffee. The random IOPS sit at 1.5 million for both reads and writes, which is top of the charts in our database. DirectStorage support means games built for it can load assets straight from the drive without choking the CPU, and that's where the T700 really earns its keep for gaming.

Endurance lands in the 83rd percentile at 1,200 TBW, which is solid but not class-leading. You'd have to write over 650GB a day for five years to hit that limit, so for most people it's effectively a non-issue. The 5-year warranty backs that up. Just remember, sustained heavy writes will push the controller into thermal throttling territory without proper cooling. The heatsink version helps, but it's not magic.

Against the Samsung 9100 Pro, the T700 trades blows on sequential speeds but Samsung's drive tends to run cooler and has a stronger track record for sustained performance. The WD_BLACK SN850X is a Gen4 drive that can't match the T700's raw numbers, but it's often cheaper and still plenty fast for most people, plus it doesn't need a Gen5 slot. The Kingston Fury Renegade and Seagate FireCuda 530R are both solid Gen4 options that will save you money if you're not on a bleeding-edge platform. The T700's real advantage is that 12,400 MB/s ceiling and the DirectStorage headroom, but you need the right motherboard and cooling to actually use it. If you're on Intel 13th/14th Gen or Ryzen 7000 with a Gen5 M.2 slot, the T700 is the one to beat. If not, any of those Gen4 competitors will feel nearly identical in day-to-day use.

Pricing is all over the place right now. We're seeing USD 300 to USD 549 across five US listings, which is a massive spread for the same drive. The CAD 540 listing in Canada is a single data point, so take that with a grain of salt. At the low end, around USD 300, this drive is an absolute steal for Gen5 performance. At USD 549, you're paying early-adopter tax and should probably wait or shop around. The bundled Acronis software and one-month Adobe Creative Cloud subscription add a little extra value, but they're not worth paying a premium for. If you can find this near the bottom of that range, it's one of the best price-to-performance ratios in Gen5 storage right now.

The Crucial T700 2TB hits 12,400 MB/s sequential reads and 11,800 MB/s writes in our testing, landing it in the 96th percentile for speed among all drives in our database. That's the kind of number that makes Gen4 drives look like they're standing still. The random performance is even more impressive, 1.5 million IOPS on both reads and writes puts it in the 97th percentile, which means this thing doesn't just move big files fast, it handles the small scattered stuff that actually makes a system feel snappy.

But here's the thing. All that speed comes with some real caveats. You need a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot on an Intel 13th/14th Gen or AMD Ryzen 7000 platform to get anywhere near these numbers. Drop it in an older board and you're paying Gen5 money for Gen4 performance. And the heat, well, we'll get to that. The drive runs hot enough that Crucial basically requires a heatsink and decent airflow, which is why the portable score in our database is a brutal 21.8 out of 100.

If you're on a PCIe 4.0 or older platform, skip this drive. You'll never see those 12,400 MB/s speeds, and you're paying a Gen5 premium for Gen4 performance. The portable score of 21.8 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know about laptop use, this thing runs too hot and draws too much power for mobile. And if you're the type who never checks temperatures or has a case with poor airflow, the thermal throttling will eat into those headline numbers. Save your money and grab a Gen4 drive like the SN850X or Fury Renegade instead.

The Crucial T700 2TB is the fastest drive we've tested in this category, and the numbers back that up. 96th percentile speed, 97th percentile random performance, and enough endurance to outlast most builds. The heat issue is real but manageable with the included heatsink and decent case airflow. The real question is whether your platform can actually use it. If you're on a Gen5-capable system and you can find this drive near the USD 300 mark, buy it without hesitation. At the higher end of that USD 549 spread, you're paying for bragging rights more than practical performance.