Crucial Pro T700 2TB PCIe 5 NVMe Review

Final Score: 92 out of 100

It quickly became blatantly obvious that Micron’s Crucial division is taking their new ‘Pro’ series moniker seriously. This new breed of Crucial branded NVMe SSD’s are not (just) meant for the average user but the PC enthusiast… and all we have to say is ‘tis about darn time’. Make no mistake, the last generation Micron NVMe drives were very, very good. They were excellent showcase models for what the second generation of Replacement Gate (176-layer) NAND could do when paired with a very decent controller. Sadly, what no one would ever accuse them of being was “best of the best” performance models. With the Crucial PRO T700 that all changes.

Thanks to a noticeable increase in NAND deck performance, this new breed of third generation (232-layer) RG NAND is so fast that even bleeding edge PCIe 5.0 NVME controllers are not (yet) capable of harnessing all their power. Let that sink in. We finally have NAND that is handicapped by next generation controllers instead of the controllers being bottlenecked by the NAND. To put that in perspective the Micron 232-layer RG NAND is the Crysis of the NVMe world and when new a NVMe controller is announced the question many will be asking is ‘yeah, but can it run Micron B58R’s at full speed?’

Sadly, that day is still not here and the best we will see (for now) is the rather good Phison E26 paired with this new NAND. This is both a good and bad thing. It is good as, unlike most of the competition running this combination, Crucial/Micron engineers were able to pre-select the best of the best NAND from each batch. NAND that ran a bit more efficiently. NAND that was good enough to not run in 1.6GB/s mode (like ‘the other guys’) but in 2.0GB/s mode. This slight edge in performance is what propels the Crucial Pro T700 series to the top of the charts and will likely keep it in (at least) the top 3 position for the foreseeable future.

Sadly, there is a bit of sour to go along with all that sweetness. To be candid the Phison E26 controller runs hot. These NAND ICs also run hot in 2.0GB/s mode. As such, and to beat our gaming analogy to death, one can consider the T700 series to be the modern day equivalent of ID Games’ Doom 3. Much like Doom 3 needed a ‘duct tape mod’ the T700 also needs a bit of a mod. A mod in the form of great cooling. Yes, the heatsink variant is a decent option for most mainstream buyers who rarely push their systems all that hard. Yes, it minimizes incompatibility issues compared to more robust 3rd party options. Yes, even enthusiasts will rarely push it to the point of noticeable thermal throttling. It still is a possibility.

For this reason, we personally prefer the nekkid variant of the T700 and either pairing it with a motherboard that offers robust M.2 heatsinks, or an excellent aftermarket solution. Basically, you will want better than what the OEM small(ish), low profile(ish) heatsink offers to get the most from the T700. Instead, what one will want is to pick up an Acidalie/EleGear M.2 heatsink, a Thermalright HR-10 (an improvement on the Acidalie design), a Thermalright HR-10 Pro (aka Ineo aka GrauGear actively cooled heatsink), or a Thermalright HR-09 Pro (our personal ‘sink of choice at the moment) M.2 heatsink. Basically an M.2 cooler that that makes use of dual heatpipes and a fin array good/big enough to be capable of handling the heat loads PCIe 5.0 devices put out. Such cooling options will keep it from thermal limiting (in all but the most useless of PC cases) and will allow one to full unleash the full potential of what they paid good money for.

In between these two ‘extremes’ is the asking price… as the T700 Pro once again lives up to its Pro moniker. With an asking price of either $339 for the nekkid or $369 for the OEM heatsink equipped model the T700 2TB is one of the more expensive options available today. However, we feel that it easily justifies its price premium at this is the same and even less than what the Crucial P5 Plus 2TB retailed for on launch day – at $339/$369 vs. $368… a series which even at its zenith was never the best of the best option. More importantly, the T700 series is for all intents and purposes the king of performance right now. So, if you want the best… you must be willing to pay the price premium for using the best. As such the T700 is not going to be right for everyone, but everyone who uses it will love what it has to offer. So if you do not mind the asking price, which is a rounding error in the overall cost of a high end system build these days, the T700 2TB is the SSD you want to own. It truly is in a class all its own. Congratulations Crucial for finally releasing a showcase model that does more than just showcase what Micron’s latest tech has to offer and rather is an excellent drive in its own right.