Name: Crucial T710
Brand: Crucial

The standard 2 TB T710 arrives without a tall heatsink. That is convenient when a motherboard already has a cover and thermal pad over the slot. It also puts cooling on the builder’s checklist. A long write is exactly where buying this drive can make sense, and where assuming the bare board will take care of itself is least helpful.

Sustained Writes

2 TB sample
About 394 GB in the fast cache

Tom’s Hardware measured just over 13.1 GB/s for about 30 seconds on its sustained write, around 394 GB of fast cache in that run. It later reached roughly 4 GB/s in steady state. A buyer exporting large media projects should compare those two portions of the run, and still allow for the speed of the source. ¹

Installation & Cooling

M.2 2280
Bare or passive heatsink
1, 2 or 4 TB

Crucial sells 1, 2 and 4 TB versions with or without its own passive heatsink. Inspect the target slot before ordering. If using the motherboard cover, follow its pad and film instructions so the drive actually contacts the cooling surface. The selected 2 TB drive is rated up to 14,500 MB/s for reads. The 14,900 MB/s rating belongs to the 1 TB model.

Capacity & Endurance

1 TB: 600 TBW
2 TB: 1,200 TBW
4 TB: 2,400 TBW
Five-year limited warranty

The 2 TB and 4 TB T710 have the same rated sequential read and write limits. The 4 TB version doubles both usable space before formatting and the rated amount of data you can write over the drive’s life. Keeping more working material on the SSD or distributing repeated writes across more capacity can justify that choice. Switching between the bare and factory-cooled version at the same capacity does not change its published endurance.

Memory & Security

TLC NAND
Onboard LPDDR4
TCG Opal 2.01

The T710 has its own LPDDR4 memory for the controller’s work. That memory is separate from the much larger fast-write area measured in flash during the sustained test. The drive also supports TCG Opal 2.01 hardware encryption. For a managed workstation, check that the organization’s security software can configure and administer that feature before treating it as a purchasing requirement. Installing the SSD by itself does not enroll it in an encryption policy.

Alternatives

Tom’s Hardware found the T710 and its T705 predecessor close in the tested 3DMark and PCMark 10 traces. An owner who already has a T705 working well has little reason to replace it for those tasks. ¹

Verdict

The T710 is a sensible match for a cooled Gen 5 slot and repeated high-volume work. Choose the model whose cooler fits your system, then the capacity you can keep comfortably below full.

Crucial T710 review

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