The general consensus regarding NVMe SSD is “fast but expensive”. That statement might be true for a few years back but as technology advances, we are getting more affordable choices without sacrificing performance, especially with the recent boom of PCIe Gen4 SSDs taking over the market by storm.
Netac’s latest NVMe SSD – NV7000-t perfectly fits into the above narration. Do keep in mind that this is a different product from Netac’s NV7000 series SSD. The new NV7000-t is a DRAMless NVMe SSD that is still capable of fully saturating the PCIe Gen4 x4 interface. This allows the NV7000-t to be priced way more affordable than the original NV7000 which comes equipped with DDR4 RAM and a beefier cooler.
| Netac NV7000-t 1TB | Netac NV7000 1TB | |
|---|---|---|
| Interface / Protocol | PCIe 4.0 x4 / NVMe 2.0 | PCIe 4.0×4 / NVMe 1.4 |
| Controller | Maxio MAP1602 | Phison E18 or IG5236 |
| DRAM | DRAMless HMB | DDR4 |
| Memory | YMTC 232L 2400MT | Hynix TLC or Micron |
| Sequential Read | up to 7,300 MB/s | up to 7,000 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | up to 6,600 MB/s | up to 5,500 MB/s |
| Random Read | up to 1,000,000 IOPS | up to 460,000 IOPS |
| Random Write | up to 700,000 IOPS | up to 920,000 IOPS |
| Endurance | 640 TBW est. | 640 TBW est. |
| Warranty | 5-years | 5-years |
| Current Price | $70 | $90 |
Unboxing
The Netac NV7000-t comes in simple and compact packaging.
What you get in the box:
- Netac NV7000-t SSD
- Self-adhesive heat spreader
- 2x M.2 screws
- paper documentation
The SSD itself is one-sided with two vacant NAND chip spots.
If your motherboard comes with a heatsink, then you can ignore the included heat spreader.
Otherwise, it is a must for those who are using the SSD on motherboards without a dedicated heatsink.
I appreciate the inclusion of the M.2 screws in the package.
Benchmarks
Testbench:
- Intel Core i9-12900K
- Galax NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
- Z690 AORUS Pro
- XPG Lancer RGB U-DIMM 16GBx2
- KLEVV CRAS C920 2TB (boot drive)
- Cooler Master V1200
- Windows 11
CrystalDiskMark shows the SSD’s performance is one of the best we have tested so far, for a DRAMless SSD!
ATTO shows a better picture of the IO size that is favourable for the NV7000-t:
- 64KB~32MB for Write
- 512KB~64MB for Read
Temperature
With the included heat spreader, the SSD reaches 58 degrees Celcius during heavy writing load. That is quite impressive for a thin piece of heat spreader.
Should you buy it?
The Netac NV7000-t is amazing. I cannot emphasize enough how many times I need to redo the benchmark just to check on my sanity. For a DRAMless SSD, the performance of this drive is simply outstanding. Even if DRAM will provide a better and consistent write performance, however, you cannot ignore the fact this is an excellent drive for game storage and extensive reading throughput.
In short, it is the fastest DRAMless SSD we have tested. Perfect for gaming storage and the best bang for the buck. At the price of $70 (1TB) on Amazon, this is one of the best options you can buy right now.
