Introduction

It was less than two weeks ago that our review of the Plextor M3 Pro was published, and already we have in our hands its successor, the Plextor M5 Pro. This new solid state drive comes packing Marvell’s latest 88SS9187 controller and Toshiba’s 19 nm NAND – both of which are firsts. With new controllers and memory comes the potential for incredible performance, but also the potential for new problems. Have Plextor rushed the M5 Pro to market or is this an SSD on the bleeding edge? Let’s find out!

Specifications & Features

• Capacity: 128 GB (our sample), 256 GB, 512 GB
• Controller: Marvell 88SS9187
• NAND: Toshiba 19nm Toggle-Mode MLC Nand
• Sequential Read: 540 MB/s
• Sequential Write: 340 MB/s
• 4K Random Read: 91K IOPS
• 4K Random Write: 82K IOPS
• Cache: 256 MB DDR3
• Warranty: 5 years
• Availability: September (UK & EU)

Packaging

The M5 Pro comes in sparkly blue box. Like its predecessor, it shows off the drive itself at a jaunty angle, its capacity and useful features to shout about like the five year warranty, included extras and True Speed technology.

On the back, we see more extensive specifications in European and East Asian languages. Performance numbers are listed here, too: 540 MB/s reading and 340 MB/s writing for the 128 GB version. The 256 and 512 GB models offer faster 450 MB/s writing speeds.

Immediately upon taking the inner box out, we see the drive adapter plate wrapped in plastic. This’ll allow you to mount the drive in a 3.5″ bay if your case doesn’t included dedicated 2.5″ units.

Breaking the seal and opening the book-like inner structure reveals screws and the drive itself on the left side…

…and the installation instructions, warranty and CD on the right.

Here’s how these riveting documents look.

There are two sets of four screws for securing the drive to the adapter plate and securing that inside your PC.