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A heatsink does not cost you more than 15$, nm790 is a worse ssd for 30 more, also most motherboards already come with heatsinks soo u usually don't even need it.
Both the Lexar NM790 and WD_BLACK SN7100 are high-performance, DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives. The Lexar is slightly faster and offers higher endurance, making it ideal for budget-conscious gamers or secondary storage. The WD drive is highly praised for superior power efficiency and thermal performance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] Key Differences:
Performance: The Lexar NM790 takes the edge with up to 7,400 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write speeds. The SN7100 hits up to 6,800 MB/s read and 5,800 MB/s write, depending on the capacity. [1, 2]
Endurance: Lexar offers higher Terabytes Written (TBW) ratings (e.g., 1,500 TBW for the 2TB model) compared to standard drives, giving it a longer expected lifespan for heavy writing tasks. [1, 2, 3]
Efficiency: The WD Black SN7100 excels in power efficiency, which makes it a phenomenal choice for laptops or handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck or Legion Go. [1]
Heat: WD's controllers often run cooler, giving the SN7100 an advantage in tighter, poorly ventilated spaces. [1]
Which one should you pick?
Choose the Lexar NM790 if you need an affordable, blazing-fast drive for your primary desktop setup or PS5 where raw speed and endurance are the priority. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Choose the WD_BLACK SN7100 if you are putting the drive into a laptop, a portable console, or a compact HTPC where thermal management and battery life matter most.
Informational only, for those who now might be considering the SN7100 instead.
Last edited by Hat-Trick July 21, 2026 at 03:27 PM.
Both the Lexar NM790 and WD_BLACK SN7100 are high-performance, DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives. The Lexar is slightly faster and offers higher endurance, making it ideal for budget-conscious gamers or secondary storage. The WD drive is highly praised for superior power efficiency and thermal performance. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]Key Differences:
Performance: The Lexar NM790 takes the edge with up to 7,400 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write speeds. The SN7100 hits up to 6,800 MB/s read and 5,800 MB/s write, depending on the capacity. [1, 2]
Endurance: Lexar offers higher Terabytes Written (TBW) ratings (e.g., 1,500 TBW for the 2TB model) compared to standard drives, giving it a longer expected lifespan for heavy writing tasks. [1, 2, 3]
Efficiency: The WD Black SN7100 excels in power efficiency, which makes it a phenomenal choice for laptops or handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck or Legion Go. [1]
Heat: WD's controllers often run cooler, giving the SN7100 an advantage in tighter, poorly ventilated spaces. [1]
Which one should you pick?
Choose the Lexar NM790 if you need an affordable, blazing-fast drive for your primary desktop setup or PS5 where raw speed and endurance are the priority. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Choose the WD_BLACK SN7100 if you are putting the drive into a laptop, a portable console, or a compact HTPC where thermal management and battery life matter most.
Informational only, for those who now might be considering the SN7100 instead.
Using AI is just funny, especially when it's using advertised speeds as a fact, when it's not even true, look at actual benchmarks instead. https://www.techpowerup.com/revie...-tb/6.html https://www.techpowerup.com/revie...-tb/6.html
Looking at sustained speeds the sn7100 is in the SLC mode for much longer, even the avg speeds after that is about the same, making the sn7100 better https://www.techpowerup.com/revie...m790-2-tb/ https://www.techpowerup.com/revie...7100-2-tb/
Looking at all the benchmarks is basically better in every benchmark.
Don't use AI for comparing ssds again please, it just uses the wrong things to compare ssds, doesn't use actual benchmarks but advertised speeds, which u won't be getting to in real life scenarios, only synthetic useless benchmarks, the sn7100 uses outright better components as it uses the polaris 3 (which is a great high end gen 4 controller) and bics8 which is the best nand, used by the best ssd itw as of right now (mp700 pro xt)
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Key Differences:
- Performance: The Lexar NM790 takes the edge with up to 7,400 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write speeds. The SN7100 hits up to 6,800 MB/s read and 5,800 MB/s write, depending on the capacity. [1, 2]
- Endurance: Lexar offers higher Terabytes Written (TBW) ratings (e.g., 1,500 TBW for the 2TB model) compared to standard drives, giving it a longer expected lifespan for heavy writing tasks. [1, 2, 3]
- Efficiency: The WD Black SN7100 excels in power efficiency, which makes it a phenomenal choice for laptops or handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck or Legion Go. [1]
- Heat: WD's controllers often run cooler, giving the SN7100 an advantage in tighter, poorly ventilated spaces. [1]
Which one should you pick?- Choose the Lexar NM790 if you need an affordable, blazing-fast drive for your primary desktop setup or PS5 where raw speed and endurance are the priority. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Choose the WD_BLACK SN7100 if you are putting the drive into a laptop, a portable console, or a compact HTPC where thermal management and battery life matter most.
Informational only, for those who now might be considering the SN7100 instead.- Performance: The Lexar NM790 takes the edge with up to 7,400 MB/s read and 6,500 MB/s write speeds. The SN7100 hits up to 6,800 MB/s read and 5,800 MB/s write, depending on the capacity. [1, 2]
- Endurance: Lexar offers higher Terabytes Written (TBW) ratings (e.g., 1,500 TBW for the 2TB model) compared to standard drives, giving it a longer expected lifespan for heavy writing tasks. [1, 2, 3]
- Efficiency: The WD Black SN7100 excels in power efficiency, which makes it a phenomenal choice for laptops or handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck or Legion Go. [1]
- Heat: WD's controllers often run cooler, giving the SN7100 an advantage in tighter, poorly ventilated spaces. [1]
Which one should you pick?- Choose the Lexar NM790 if you need an affordable, blazing-fast drive for your primary desktop setup or PS5 where raw speed and endurance are the priority. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Choose the WD_BLACK SN7100 if you are putting the drive into a laptop, a portable console, or a compact HTPC where thermal management and battery life matter most.
Informational only, for those who now might be considering the SN7100 instead.https://www.techpowerup
https://www.techpowerup
Looking at sustained speeds the sn7100 is in the SLC mode for much longer, even the avg speeds after that is about the same, making the sn7100 better
https://www.techpowerup
https://www.techpowerup
Looking at all the benchmarks is basically better in every benchmark.
Don't use AI for comparing ssds again please, it just uses the wrong things to compare ssds, doesn't use actual benchmarks but advertised speeds, which u won't be getting to in real life scenarios, only synthetic useless benchmarks, the sn7100 uses outright better components as it uses the polaris 3 (which is a great high end gen 4 controller) and bics8 which is the best nand, used by the best ssd itw as of right now (mp700 pro xt)
Join The Conversation
Share your experience with the Slickdeals community
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!