Biostar Announces M500 M.2 PCI-Express NVMe SSD

Faster Storage from Biostar

Biostar is announcing their new M500 series SSDs using an M.2 form factor. This stick-of-gum size storage may be compact, but it is also quite faster than typical 2.5″ SATA drives. That is because it leverages PCI-Express and NVMe standards, instead of the aging AHCI and SATA which were primarily for traditional platter drives.

The new M500 drive also offers some features unique to Biostar. Instead of simply offering up an M.2 drive, Biostar puts a heatsink as well as activity LED indicators on the drive itself. As most who have experience with M.2 NVMe drives, thermal management is important or else performance throttling may occur. So the inclusion of a heatsink is further added value.

How Fast is BM500 M.2 Drive?

The M500 uses 3D TLC NAND and reaches 1700MB/s sequential read and up to 1100MB/s sequential write speeds. That is of course for the largest capacity 1TB model. The company also offers the M500 in 128GB, 256GB and 512GB sizes, with the 128GB model running at 1500MB/s read and 550MB/s write speeds.

How Much Are These M500 Series M.2 Drives?

Prices start at just $59 USD for the 128GB model, while the 256GB version costs $99 USD. For those with larger capacity needs, the 512GB version does not cost much more at only $149 USD. Meanwhile, the largest capacity and fastest 1TB version costs $269 USD.