Plextor M6V SSD Review

Value-oriented shoppers in the market for an SSD don't have to settle for TLC-based drives. Plextor found another way to reduce prices with two-bit-per-cell MLC: just use flash with smaller cells.

By Chris Ramseyer
published

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

A Closer Look

Image 1 of 2

The M6V packaging is different from the models before it. Plextor chose a blue and silver color scheme to showcase this model. The back of the package does list four-corner performance data for all three capacities offered in the 2.5-inch form factor.

Image 1 of 4

The M6V's case design is also different from Plextor's other M6-series SSDs. It's stamped, thinner and costs less to manufacture. Fortunately, the enclosure still fits in notebooks that require a 7mm z-height.

Image 1 of 2

I was surprised to find a full-length PCB inside the M6V case. So many modern drives employ half-length boards, and we're even seeing one-third-length PCBs now. It looks like Plextor uses the same board for all three capacities.

The SM2246EN is a go-to controller for companies not rolling their own silicon, in part because Silicon Motion allows its partners to customize the firmware.

Image 1 of 2

The M6V uses a single DRAM package. Our sample shipped with a module from SK Hynix. And of course, Toshiba 15nm single-plane MLC was the flash choice. This 256GB drive uses eight NAND flash packages, all on one side of the PCB.

Data Type Comparison & SLC Cache

Image 1 of 2

Silicon Motion doesn't use data compression to minimize writes to the flash. As a result, its controller's performance with compressible and incompressible data is nearly identical.

It's refreshing that we don't have to talk about TLC-imposed performance roll-off after the SLC layer fills with data. It's really important to remember that Plextor's M6V uses MLC flash. It's the drive's main selling point, and one that Plextor hopes you'll spend an extra $20 to $30 on.

Chris Ramseyer
Chris Ramseyer
Chris Ramseyer is a Contributing Editor for Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews consumer storage.
10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • jimmysmitty
    Man I remember when Plextor was the name when it came to CD burners. You wanted a great burner? You got a Plextor.

    How times have changed....
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    17039348 said:
    Man I remember when Plextor was the name when it came to CD burners. You wanted a great burner? You got a Plextor.

    How times have changed....

    Yeah I still have my B940 that I use for backups and as long as that still works I will continue to use it.
    Reply
  • Quixit
    Man I remember when Plextor was the name when it came to CD burners. You wanted a great burner? You got a Plextor.

    How times have changed....

    They have to sell something, not much money in burners these days.
    Reply
  • CRamseyer
    When Plextor handed over burner manufacturing to LiteOn things went down hill. You could buy the same model with LiteOn branding and flash it to the Plextor firmware and same a few dollars. I still have all of my Plextor hardware going back to the old SCSI 50-pin units.

    Remember bit to bit copying that would write the copy protection to the new media?
    Reply
  • jimmysmitty
    Quixit, I get that. It is just me reminiscing about the good ol days.

    17039993 said:
    When Plextor handed over burner manufacturing to LiteOn things went down hill. You could buy the same model with LiteOn branding and flash it to the Plextor firmware and same a few dollars. I still have all of my Plextor hardware going back to the old SCSI 50-pin units.

    Remember bit to bit copying that would write the copy protection to the new media?

    I do. Was one of the things that made Plextor great, as well as their very fast burning speeds. They were able to burn more reliably at higher speeds than the competition which is what made them truly great.

    It is too bad that their new field is not the same, I would buy a Samsung Evo or Intel SSD over this any day.
    Reply
  • qlum
    We use quite a decent amount of them at work as the 120gb ones are quite cheap and at their price you otherwise only get old low end models you generally don't want.
    Reply
  • kalmquist
    I agree that the M6V is too expensive. (As I write this, the 256GB model is $97 on Amazon.). The 240GB Sandisk Extreme Pro, which outperforms most other SATA SSD's at high queue depths and has a 10 year warranty, is now $95 on several sites (including Amazon). The 256GB Mushkin Reactor, which uses the same controller as the M6V, is selling for $80 on Newegg, and that's high because the 250GB Samsung 850 EVO is selling for $78.
    Reply
  • Nintendork
    For consumer grade use, high queu depths means nothing, most the use as an OS-gaming drive revolves around QD 1-4.

    The 850EVOs offer twice the total written capacity (and it can be more than that).
    Reply
  • TbsToy
    Oh boy, another questionable sata SSD to chase around:)!
    Walt Prill
    Reply
  • mapesdhs
    Yet another pointlessly expensive lesser grade SSD. The 256GB M6V is 81 UKP here, whereas the 850 EVO 250GB is less than 60. Why on earth would anyone buy an M6V?

    Ian.

    Reply