Performance Evaluation of T710 2TB Solid State Drive: A Stealthy Powerhouse

In the realm of high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs, the Crucial T710 has made a significant impact, challenging the likes of the Sandisk WD_Black SN8100, Samsung 9100 Pro, and drives built on Phison's E28 controller.

The T710, a follow-up to the T705, boasts a superfast single-bit pSLC mode write speed of over 13.1 GB/s for 30 seconds, resulting in a 394GB cache. This cache size is larger than the T705's, but smaller than the WD_Black SN8100's.

Powered by the Phison E28 controller, developed by Phison Electronics Corporation, the T710 stands out for its power efficiency. It is the most efficient PCIe 5.0 drive to date, consuming significantly less power than the T705.

In PCMark 10, the T710 and T705 are neck-to-neck, with the WD_Black SN8100 coming out on top. The Acer Predator GM9000, which uses the same class of controller but has older flash, competes with the T710 on price.

The T710's DiskBench results are disappointing in copy performance, with the Phison E28 and WD_black SN8100 being faster in such workloads. However, in sustained write workloads, the T710's performance is comparable to the T705's, with a steady state speed of around 4 GB/s.

The T710's peak power consumption, at 8.83W, is higher than the 8.25W stated by Crucial. Despite this, the T710's temperature during testing was 81°C, below the 86°C primary throttling point. A heatsink is recommended for the T710, especially for heavy write workloads.

In 3DMark's Storage Benchmark, focusing on real-world gaming performance, the T710 and T705 perform similarly. The WD_Black SN8100, which has the same controller as the T710 but uses BiCS8 TLC flash, is noticeably faster.

For budget-minded users, there are mid-range PCIe 5.0 options based on Phison's E31T, like the Corsair MP700 Elite. On the other hand, the Sandisk WD_Black SN8100 remains the best high-end PCIe 5.0 SSD on the market, with the T710 being a good alternative for those seeking power efficiency or the 1TB SKU.

The T710's 1TB SKU is the best among high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs, thanks to the hardware being used. The Sabrent Rocket 5 Plus is faster than the T710 in sustained write workloads. The Teamgroup MP44, built on the MAP1602 or E27T controllers, might feel outdated in newer builds.

The Kingston Fury Renegade, an E18-based drive with DRAM and the newest firmware update, is often used in upgrades from previous generations.

In summary, the Crucial T710 SSD offers impressive power efficiency and a large cache, making it a strong contender in the high-end PCIe 5.0 SSD market. However, it falls short in copy performance and is outperformed by the WD_Black SN8100 in 3DMark's Storage Benchmark. For budget-minded users, mid-range PCIe 5.0 options like the Corsair MP700 Elite may be more suitable.