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Oct 27, 2023

Crucial T700 SSD review: The king of PCIe Gen5 SSDs

This is the PCIe 5.0 SSD to buy if you're looking to buy one, but should you? PCIe 5.0 SSDs were supposed to be one of the key components in the new generation of computers, but they took longer to

This is the PCIe 5.0 SSD to buy if you're looking to buy one, but should you?

PCIe 5.0 SSDs were supposed to be one of the key components in the new generation of computers, but they took longer to arrive than the other next-gen parts like DDR5 RAM. Well, they’re finally here, but is it a good time to upgrade? Of course, you will need the latest generation hardware to use one, including a PCIe 5.0-supported motherboard. But if you’re looking at an upgrade, you should check out the Crucial T700 SSD. It's one of the first 5.0 SSDs on the market and promises all the speed and performance of this new generation of PC storage. It’s available in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities, and with or without a fanless heatsink. It’s one of the best PCIe 5.0 SSDs you can buy right now, but it may not quite be a necessary upgrade for many people.

About this review: Crucial sent us the T700 and P5 Plus for the purposes of this review. It did not see the contents of this review before publishing.

The Crucial T700 is the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD you can buy right now, and the one to buy if you're looking at an upgrade.

The Crucial T700 is now widely available across all retailers in major global markets. You get three storage versions — 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, and each version is available with and without a heatsink. The starting price of the T700 is $180 for the 1TB version without the heatsink. The non-heatsink version of the 2TB storage variant costs $340, while the 4TB version costs $600. All heatsink-equipped versions cost $30 more than standard ones.

The T700 is definitely on the pricier side of SSDs, but despite having launched very recently, it’s already selling at a discount across retailers. Crucial's own online store has considerable discounts on the 1TB and 4TB heatsink versions and the 2TB standard version. Other retailers like Amazon and Newegg are also offering similar discounts.

PCIe Gen5 SSDs require the latest hardware, and our test bench had exactly that. I tested it in a PC with the Ryzen 9 7950X CPU, an ASRock X670e Taichi motherboard, and 32GB of Kingston HyperX Fury DDR5-6000 RAM. Crucial sent the 2TB version of the T700 without the heatsink, so I had to test it with the Taichi motherboard's included SSD heatsink.

The T700 was tested alongside the 2TB version of the Crucial P5 Plus, which was also provided by Crucial. The P5 Plus was installed on the lower PCIe 4.0 slot, leaving a gap of one slot between the two SSDs. It also had a motherboard heatsink installed over it.

The P5 Plus isn’t the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD on the market (that would be the Samsung 990 Pro), but it’s positioned well to be compared against the T700 and the performance gains that come with the new standard.

In regards to software, the testing was carried out on Windows 11, with the latest Windows update and drivers installed. I used CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 for the benchmarks, with both the Default and NVMe profiles, CrystalDiskInfo 9.0.1 to monitor thermals, and ATTO Disk Benchmark in the default configuration. I also tested a few games on separate Windows instances installed on the two drives to check the real-world performance.

When it comes to measuring SSD performance, especially with this new generation, it’s more than just the raw speed. However, the Crucial T700 absolutely wins at raw speed anyway. CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 measures the read and write speeds of the drive with different kinds and sizes of data. Sequential files (SEQ) are bigger files, which are easier to transfer, while random files (RND) are clusters of small files that are tougher to move.

T700

P5 Plus

SEQ1M, Q8T1

12398/11814

5979/5081

SEQ1M, Q1T1

9460/5839

4384/4358

SEQ128K, Q32T1

9362/5835

5899/5093

RND4K, Q32T16

4758/5015

3008/2646

RND4K, Q32T1

774/600

708/664

RND4K, Q1T1

82/308

59/134

Scores are organized by read/write and are measured in MB/s.

Right from the get-go, the T700 beats out the P5 Plus in every test except one write test. At its peak, it’s twice as fast as the P5 Plus, though the gap is thinner but still considerable in other tests. ATTO Disk Benchmark painted a similar picture. The T700 topped out at 11GB/s after the 1MB mark and fell down to around 9.8 GB/s in the latter tests, likely due to thermal throttling.

T700

P5 Plus

512B

16/67

53/29

1KB

25/133

107/57

2KB

278/265

209/114

4KB

523/531

395/372

8KB

1023/1023

803/569

16KB

1940/2000

1560/959

32KB

3810/3810

2860/1460

64KB

7220/5500

4360/2300

128KB

10590/7360

4640/3230

256KB

10810/8620

4710/4190

512KB

10950/8770

4130/4900

1MB

11000/9480

4430/4730

2MB

11030/11060

4730/5240

4MB

11000/11560

4750/5570

Scores are organized by read/write and are measured in MB/s.

ATTO Disk Benchmark showcases data transfer performance by reading and writing data in chunks of increasing sizes from 512 bytes to 64 MB. In ATTO, the T700 performed well, too, but there were instances where the P5 Plus outperformed it. Specifically, the 512B and 1KB write tests. In repeated tests, I found the T700 lagging behind in some of the smaller data size write tests.

In terms of real-world performance, there was virtually no difference between the two SSDs while gaming. The FPS figures were pretty much the same, with a 1–2 FPS difference on either side, which is within the margin of error. I also tested load times, which showed the T700 at a slight advantage, with games loading about 5–6 seconds quicker on average.

While benchmark performance was solid, there is one major issue that plagues this new generation of SSDs: thermals. They get quite hot, which affects performance. Since I reside in a hot and humid climate, the effect was even more pronounced for testing.

With the motherboard heatsink installed, the T700 was hitting a temperature of 81 degrees Celsius under peak load when benchmarking. The P5 Plus ran cooler in comparison, hitting up to 70 degrees Celsius. Thermal throttling is a real concern with PCIe 5.0 SSDs, and the T700 started hitting its limits when pushed.

This happens when you put the T700 under sustained loads of reading or writing data. This was particularly noticeable when benchmarking the T700 repeatedly, where I noticed the results dropping with each instance and eventually settling around the same figures as the P5 Plus.

The thermal throttling may be less of an issue with the bundled heatsink, but I don’t expect it to be much better. The results may vary according to the overall system airflow, heatsink design, thermal pad placement, and the ambient temperature of the room in which the PC is located.

While gaming, both SSDs ran around 66-68 degrees Celsius, s gaming performance was unaffected. Overall, I noticed that having this dual-SSD setup raised my motherboard temperature reading by 2-3 degrees Celsius.

This isn’t an issue specific to the Crucial T700, however. The current batch of PCIe 5.0 SSDs are all running very similar hardware, with Micron memory chips and the same Phison controller. That means that likely all of these SSDs will throttle if not cooled properly.

You should buy the Crucial T700 if:

You shouldn't buy the Crucial T700 if:

The T700 is an excellent demonstration of what this generation of computing is capable of. If you have a new-generation system or are planning on building one, the T700 is worth considering, especially if you want the best hardware. You’re going to get cutting-edge performance, and even in the worst-case scenario, with a heatsink on, you’ll likely get performance that matches any PCIe 4.0 SSD.

However, there is very little to demonstrate the use of this faster storage for practical purposes. Games with DirectStorage aren’t quite here yet, and existing games are unlikely to have any noticeable performance gains with a PCIe 5.0 SSD. I expect this to change in the coming months as DirectStorage games release, and we get better cooling solutions for SSDs.

Regardless, the Crucial T700 is the best PCIe 5.0 SSD you can buy right now. You should buy it if you’re looking to get a PCIe 5.0 SSD and cannot wait. I would recommend you get the version with the heatsink and ensure your system has a good cooling setup.

The Crucial T700 is the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD you can buy right now, and the one to buy if you're looking at an upgrade.

Palash has been a technology and entertainment journalist since 2013. Starting with Android news and features, he has also worked as the news head for Wiki of Thrones, and a freelance writer for Windows Central, Observer, MakeUseOf, MySmartPrice, ThinkComputers, and others. He also worked as a writer and journalist for Android Authority, covering computing, before returning to freelancing all over town. He's an engineering dropout with a degree in English Literature. He talks about everything from Apple to Microsoft, Android to Chrome OS, to movies and TV. In addition to keeping a track of the Silicon scene, he also keeps up with the evolution of storytelling on the screen. You can always find him watching, playing, writing, or ranting.