Lexar NM790 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4x4 NVMe SSD review

The NM790 is an M.2 2280 NVMe drive that uses a PCIe Gen 4 x4 interface. The figures below are for the 2TB model. It is a bare stick measuring 80 x 22 x 2.45 mm and weighing 6 g. Lexar also sells a version with a heatsink.

It makes sense for a desktop, a laptop or a compact homelab box that needs a lot of fast storage. The strongest parts of the specification are the endurance rating, the warranty and the power claims. The main caution comes from owners, who describe uneven behaviour in some heavy workloads.

Lexar rates the drive at up to 7400 MB/s sequential read and up to 6500 MB/s sequential write. At 2TB, random read reaches up to 1000K IOPS and random write up to 900K IOPS on PCIe 4.0. These are rated peaks, not guaranteed everyday speeds.

The drive supports Host Memory Buffer (HMB) 3.0 and Dynamic SLC caching. Owners link HMB to somewhat uneven performance when copying large files. Some also report stutter in games. With those reports in mind, the drive fits general desktop use, boot drives and bursty workloads better than long, steady bulk transfers where consistent speed matters.

A buyer who mostly loads applications, runs containers or works with moderately sized files is unlikely to be limited by the rated figures.

Lexar claims the NM790 draws up to 40% less power than DRAM-cache PCIe Gen 4 SSDs. It does not publish a wattage, so that claim is a relative one and you cannot work out a figure from it.

Owner feedback points the same way. A recurring theme is low power draw and cool running. That matters in small cases, laptops and low-power servers, where heat and idle draw add up. A cooler drive may also need less cooling hardware, though that depends on your chassis and airflow.

For buyers who want extra cooling, the separate heatsink version is listed by the manufacturer. The bare drive is only 2.45 mm thick and 6 g.

The 2TB model carries a 1500 TBW endurance rating. The drive also comes with a five-year limited warranty. Both figures suit heavy home use and homelab duty, such as container storage, build caches and media libraries. The rating gives a lot of write headroom over the warranty period, but it is a rated figure, not a promise of how long any one drive will last.

Owners often call the drive good value. A common comment is that it is cheaper than competing drives, especially when it is on sale. That fits the combination of a high rated speed, a long endurance figure and a five-year warranty. Check current pricing and compare against the drives you are actually considering, since sale pricing changes.

The NM790 is built around fast rated speeds, low power and a long warranty. Its endurance rating at 2TB is a clear strength. The trade-off is the HMB-related unevenness owners report when copying large files and in some games. If your work is mostly everyday desktop, laptop or light server use, those reports matter less. If you often move very large files and need steady speeds throughout, weigh them carefully.