The Acer Predator GM7000 takes the winning formula of components and gives it unique branding. The combination is powerful and efficient, especially at 2 TB, but the GM7000 is in a highly competitive market. This high-end PCIe 4.0 drive works flawlessly with a PlayStation 5 or PC with the help of Acronis True Image OEM software. Otherwise, this SSD doesn’t stand out, especially against the fastest drives we tested, such as the SK hynix Platinum P41 and WD Black SN850X.
The GM7000 is a great comparison to the HP FX900 Pro. Because the controller and the flash are the same. The pSLC caching method is similar. It looks like some tweaks have been made to the GM7000, probably by updated firmware, but it’s roughly in the same position as the FX900 Pro and other similar drives. TB, it’s a bit cheaper than other high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Acer announced a partnership with Biwin over a year ago, and we’re seeing that flash with the GM7000. Biwin previously worked closely with HP, including the FX900 Pro. Biwin provides services for flash binning and drive manufacturing. It should come as no surprise that the GM7000 is very close to his FX900 Pro. That means you have a little better idea of what you’re getting. Otherwise, you’re relying on Acer support for warranty and software.
specification
| product | 512GB | 1TB | 2TB | 4TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| price | $69.99 | $109.99 | $219.99 | none |
| Capacity (User / Raw) | 512GB / 512GB | 1024GB / 1024GB | 2048GB / 2048GB | 4096GB / 4096GB |
| form factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| interface/protocol | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 | PCIe 4.0 x 4 |
| controller | IG5236 | IG5236 | IG5236 | IG5236 |
| DRAM | DDR4 | DDR4 | DDR4 | DDR4 |
| flash memory | 176-layer micron TLC | 176-layer micron TLC | 176-layer micron TLC | 176-layer micron TLC |
| Sequential read | 7,400MBps | 7,400MBps | 7,400MBps | 7,400MBps |
| Sequential write | 3,400MBps | 3,400MBps | 6,700MBps | 6,700MBps |
| random read | 540K | 1000K | 1300K | 1350K |
| random write | 900K | 1000K | 1100K | 1150K |
| safety | none | none | none | none |
| Endurance (TBW) | 300TB | 600TB | 1300TB | 3000TB |
| part number | BL.9BWWR.104 | BL.9BWWR.105 | BL.9BWWR.106 | BL.9BWWR.107 |
| guarantee | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years | 5 years |
The Acer GM7000 is available in capacities of 512GB, 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB. This is a great range, but at the time of this review we were unable to find a drive available in the highest capacity. So the price actually dropped while I was writing this.
Its closest competitor, the HP FX900 Pro, is slightly cheaper at 2TB. 2TB capacity is becoming more and more popular, and with more drives of this size selling this year, it’s a competitive space. One of the benefits of the GM7000 is the graphene foam heating pad that the FX900 Pro also uses. Graphene is a very high thermal conductor and PCIe 4.0 SSDs can get very hot, so this is a solution that saves a bit of physical space.
The GM7000 is otherwise no exception, coming with a five-year warranty and 300, 600, 1,300, and 3,000 TBW ratings in each capacity option. Like the FX900 Pro, the rated IOPS are very high. Sequential performance can peak at 7.4/6.7GBps for reads and writes respectively by using the new flash on the IG5236 controller. This makes for a powerful drive that ticks all the boxes you’d expect.
Software and accessories
GM7000 comes with a free customized copy of Acronis True Image OEM. This is software that allows you to clone, backup, or image your drive, making storage upgrades easy. It’s bare-bones software, and there are good freeware options, but it’s still nice that it’s bundled.
look carefully
image 1 of Four
This is a 2TB double-sided drive with labels on the back covering two NAND packages and one DRAM package. Removing the top graphene pad reveals one DRAM module, a controller and two NAND packages.
image 1 of 2
The controller is InnoGrit IG5236, a popular and powerful PCIe 4.0 solution. It competes with the Phison E18, the upcoming SMI SM2264 and proprietary designs from Western Digital, Samsung, Crucial and SK hynix. InnoGrit as a company is relatively new, but it has veterans at the helm. Its latest controller design has proven to be very effective, and is often paired with drives that are slightly less expensive than its competitors.
The DRAM package is NANYA NT5AD512M16A4, DDR4 with 512M x 16b configuration, total 8Gb or 1GB. Since there are two packages, the total DRAM of this 2TB drive is 2GB. This is a sufficient amount of memory, even for heavy workloads.
The flash package is labeled BW29F4T08ENLEE. This is the same flash we saw on the 2TB FX900 Pro. Biwin has been managing his SSDs from HP for a long time, but over a year ago it was announced that they also work with Acer. Some of his SSD offerings from HP, such as the EX920 and his EX950, were so good that historically this wasn’t an issue.
“BW” stands for Biwin and 29 is a common code for Micron (or Intel) Technology. These are 4Tb or 512GB modules, four for a total of 2TB, a typical 8-bit configuration. Flash is TLC in 176 layer generation. This flash has been found on many drives and has proven to be very fast. In fact, Phison’s choice for his early I/O+ firmware was flash, albeit at 1600 MT/s. The GM7000’s flash is a standard 1200 MT, which doesn’t significantly affect performance.
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