The Lexar NQ790 is a solid-state drive in the M.2 2280 form factor, launched in 2024. It is available in capacities ranging from 500 GB to 2 TB. This page reports specifications for the 2 TB variant. With the rest of the system, the Lexar NQ790 interfaces using a PCI-Express 4.0 x4 connection. The SSD controller is the MAP1602A Falcon Lite from MaxioTech, a DRAM cache is not available. Lexar has installed 232-layer QLC NAND flash on the NQ790, the flash chips are made by YMTC. To improve write speeds, a pseudo-SLC cache is used, so bursts of incoming writes are handled more quickly. The cache is sized at 500 GB. Thanks to support for the fast PCI-Express 4.0 interface, performance is excellent. The NQ790 is rated for sequential read speeds of up to 7,000 MB/s and 6,000 MB/s write; random IO reaches 800K IOPS for read and 600K for writes.
At its launch, the SSD was priced at 137 USD. The warranty length is set to five years, which is an excellent warranty period. Lexar guarantees an endurance rating of 1200 TBW, a typical value for consumer SSDs.