Crucial T710

The Crucial T710 is one of the fastest SSDs we've ever tested, with 14,900 MB/s reads and top-tier random performance. It requires a heatsink to hit those speeds, and real-world gaming gains over Gen4 are minimal. US pricing ranges from USD 254 to USD 332, so shop around. Buy it if you need Gen5 speed for heavy workloads, otherwise a good Gen4 drive will serve you just as well for less.

The headline numbers are wild. 14,900 MB/s sequential read and 13,800 MB/s sequential write put this drive at the top of our database, literally the 99th percentile for speed. Random performance is just as impressive, with 2,200K random read IOPS and 2,300K random write IOPS. That's also top of the charts. In practical terms, you're looking at near-instant file transfers for anything that isn't bottlenecked by your other hardware. Copying a 100GB video project? It'll be done before you finish pouring your coffee.

But Gen5 drives only reach those speeds under the right conditions. You need a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot, which means a newer motherboard. You need adequate cooling, because sustained writes will push the controller hard and thermal throttling will tank performance fast. And you need workloads that actually benefit from this kind of bandwidth. Loading games? Most titles won't saturate even a Gen3 drive. But if you're doing heavy data processing, rendering, or working with huge datasets, the T710 will chew through it. The endurance rating of 1,200 TBW is also well above average for a 1TB drive, so you're not sacrificing longevity for speed.

The T710's main competition comes from a few directions. The Samsung 990 PRO is the obvious Gen4 alternative. It's slower on paper, around 7,450 MB/s reads, but in real-world gaming and general use, most people won't notice the difference. The 990 PRO also has a rock-solid reputation for reliability and Samsung's Magician software is genuinely useful. If you don't have a Gen5 slot or you're not doing heavy sustained writes, the 990 PRO is the smarter buy.

The WD_BLACK SN850X is another Gen4 heavyweight worth considering. It's consistently cheaper than the T710 and delivers excellent real-world performance, especially for gaming. The Kingston Fury Renegade and Corsair MP700 Elite are also in the mix. The MP700 Elite is actually a Gen5 drive like the T710, so if you want Gen5 speeds but prefer Corsair's ecosystem or find a better deal, it's worth a look. The Lexar NM1090 PRO is another Gen5 option that undercuts the T710 on price in some markets. The trade-off with all of these is the same: you're either giving up raw speed for savings, or paying a premium for the T710's top-tier performance.

Pricing on the T710 is all over the place right now. In the US, we're seeing listings from USD 254 to USD 332 across five different vendors. That's a USD 78 spread, which is significant. If you're shopping, it pays to compare. The cheapest US listing comes in at USD 254, and at that price, this drive starts to make a lot of sense for anyone who wants Gen5 performance without paying early-adopter tax. At USD 332, it's harder to justify, especially when you can grab a top-tier Gen4 drive like the WD_BLACK SN850X or Samsung 990 PRO for noticeably less.

There's also a CAD listing at CAD 1,066, which is a single vendor and frankly looks rough compared to the US pricing. If you're in Canada, you might want to wait for a sale or look at importing, though warranty support across borders can get messy. The value story here is simple: at the low end of the US price range, the T710 is a strong buy for Gen5 early adopters. At the high end, you're paying a premium for bragging rights.

The Crucial T710 is one of those drives that makes you realize how far storage has come. We're talking 14,900 MB/s sequential reads and 13,800 MB/s writes on a PCIe 5.0 interface. That's roughly double what the best Gen4 drives could manage a couple years ago. If you're building a new system around a current-gen AMD or Intel platform, this is the kind of drive that makes your whole machine feel snappier, even if you're just moving large files around.

Who's this for? Honestly, it's overkill for most people. If you're just booting Windows and loading a few games, a solid Gen4 drive will feel nearly identical in day-to-day use. But if you're working with massive video files, running data processing workloads, or you just want the absolute fastest storage money can buy right now, the T710 is squarely aimed at you. Crucial is pitching it hard at gamers and creatives, and the included DirectStorage support is a nice nod toward future game loading tech.

There's a catch though. This drive runs hot. Crucial sells it with and without a heatsink, and the non-heatsink version absolutely needs a motherboard heatsink or aftermarket cooler to hit those advertised speeds without thermal throttling. We'll dig into that more below, but it's the first thing you should know before buying.

If you're building a gaming PC and you're trying to squeeze every frame out of your budget, skip the T710. Put the money toward a better GPU or CPU instead. A Gen4 drive like the Samsung 990 PRO or WD_BLACK SN850X will load games just as fast in practice and cost significantly less. You won't notice the difference in 99% of gaming scenarios.

Also skip this if you don't have a PCIe 5.0 M.2 slot. Buying a Gen5 drive to run it at Gen4 speeds is just throwing money away. And if you're not comfortable dealing with thermal management, or you're putting this in a compact build with limited airflow, look elsewhere. The heat output is manageable with a heatsink, but it's one more thing to worry about. For most people, a good Gen4 drive is the smarter, cheaper, and simpler choice.

If you're building a new high-end system with a PCIe 5.0 slot and you want the fastest storage available, the Crucial T710 is an easy recommendation. The performance is genuinely best-in-class, the endurance rating is strong, and at USD 254, it's priced competitively for what you're getting. Just make sure you have a heatsink ready, because this drive will throttle without one.

For everyone else, think hard about whether you actually need Gen5. Gamers will see almost no benefit over a good Gen4 drive in current titles. Creative professionals working with large files will notice the difference, but only if their workflow involves sustained reads and writes. If you're on the fence, a Samsung 990 PRO or WD_BLACK SN850X will save you money and deliver 95% of the real-world experience. The T710 is a fantastic drive, but it's a specialist tool, not a universal upgrade.