Lexar announces Thor Ultra PCIe 5.0 SSD series

Lexar has introduced the Thor Ultra series, a new lineup of M.2 2280 SSDs utilizing the PCI Express 5.0 x4 interface. The series includes four capacity options: 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB.

For the 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB models, the drives can reach sequential read speeds of up to 11 GB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 10 GB/s. The 512 GB version offers lower performance, with read speeds of 9.9 GB/s and write speeds of 5 GB/s. Random 4K performance is notably high on the 2 TB model, reaching up to 2.2 million IOPS for reads and 1.9 million IOPS for writes.

The drives feature a 6 nm controller with Dynamic SLC Cache and Host-Memory Buffer support to optimize workflows without a dedicated DRAM cache. Designed with a compact form factor and a thin thermal sticker rather than a bulky heatsink, they are intended for use in laptops, compact desktops, and gaming systems. The series offers high endurance, rated at 750 TBW (Terabytes Written) per terabyte of capacity, and is backed by a five-year manufacturer warranty.