Over the years, Lexar has sent us several of their different products to check out. Our latest review features the recently released 1TB version of the Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Silver. If you have been following our CFexpress reviews, you probably read the review for the 512GB variant of this card last year.
Over the years, Lexar has sent us several of their different products to check out. Our latest card under review is the recently released 1TB version of the Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Silver. If you have been following our CFexpress reviews, you probably read the review for the 512GB variant of this card last year.
The Professional series of Lexar memory cards are available in three tiers; Diamond, Gold, and Silver. Higher-tier cards tend to have increased read and write speeds and a better warranty. The Diamond series is targeted at Power Users, the Gold to Professionals, and the Silver to mainstream users. The Silver series for CFexpress Type B cards was introduced last year.
| Lexar Professional Type B Silver | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 128GB | 256GB | 512GB | 1TB |
| Form Factor | Type B |
| Interface | PCIe Gen3x2 |
| Max Read | 1,750 MB/s |
| Max Write | 1,300 MB/s |
| Minimum Sustained Write | 128GB: 480 MB/s 256GB: 480 MB/s 512GB: 850 MB/s 1TB: 1,200 MB/s |
| Operating Temperature | -10°C to 70°C (14°F to 158°F) |
| Storage Temperature | -25°C to 85°C (-13 °F to 185 °F) |
| Warranty | 10-year limited warranty |
| Product Number | 128GB: LCXEXSL128G-RNENG 256GB: LCXEXSL256G-RNENG 512GB: LCXEXSL512G-RNENG 1TB: LCXEXSL001T-RNENG |
The build of the Professional Silver CFexpress cards is similar to that of the Diamond and Gold cards, as the CFexpress standard doesn’t allow much variation. The face and rear card are both metal to help with heat transfer. The front of the card around the connector is plastic, and the rear is plastic, with some of the mid-body being plastic as well. The front of the case is labeled with brand, series, speed, and capacity, making it easy to differentiate between card personalities at a glance.
The rear of the card indicates the different certifications, serial numbers, models, and manufacturing locations.
Since we reviewed the 2TB Gold last year, we will compare it against the 1TB Silver to show how the family scales. Spec-wise, between the Silver and Gold cards, the Gold sees a 150 MB/s bump in max read and a 200 MB/s bump in max write. Minimum sustained write indicates an improved 100 MB/s over the Silver 1TB. Since we reviewed the 512GB Silver last year, we were going to include that for comparison but have opted not to. The reason for this is at the time of review for the 512GB Silver, we did not have a CFexpress Type B reader that could do 3.2 Gen2x2, so that the results would be skewed between the 1TB and 512GB models. However, we are still comparing 1TB Silver to 2TB Gold.
| Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Silver 1TB | Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Gold 2TB | |
|---|---|---|
| Max Read | 1,750 MB/s | 1,900 MB/s |
| Max Write | 1,300 MB/s | 1,500 MB/s |
| Min Sustained Write | 1,200 MB/s | 1,300 MB/s |
| Warranty | 10-year limited warranty | Limited lifetime warranty |
| Product Number | LCXEXSL001T-RNENG | LCXEXPR002T-RNENG |
These two cards were tested in the Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Reader.
The first test is the popular Blackmagic Disk Speed Test, which writes a 5GB file to the card to test performance. The results fell short of the advertised max write speed at 1,430.1 MB/s of the rated 1,750 MB/s. On the read speeds, however, we saw 1,335.2 MB/s, where the card is rated for 1,300 MB/s. Although it fell short on write speeds, this card performed very well. We may also see improvements once we get to multi-thread workloads.
For comparison, the 1TB Silver was just a hair behind the 2TB Gold on write but pulled ahead by roughly 8 MB/s.
| Blackmagic Disk Speed Test | Lexar Professional Type B Silver (1TB) | Lexar Professional Type B Gold (2TB) |
|---|---|---|
| Write | 1,430.1 MB/s | 1,472.0 MB/s |
| Read | 1,335.2 MB/s | 1,327.8 MB/s |
Our second test is IOMeter, divided into two sections: single-thread and four-thread. These two sections contain six different workloads. Typically, we see the most performance in the four-thread section since it allows the media to reach its full potential.
Starting with the single-thread workload, we see better performance across the board from the 1TB silver, though some results were close. Surprisingly, a lower-tier card is pulling better numbers than its higher-spec counterpart. We will see if this changes in the four-thread test since that portion tends to let the cards run to their full potential.
| IOMeter (1-Thread) | Lexar Professional Type B Silver (1TB) | Lexar Professional Type B Gold (2TB) |
|---|---|---|
| 2MB Sequential Write | 1,316.0 MB/s | 1,194 MB/s |
| 2MB Sequential Read | 1,392.2 MB/s | 1,064 MB/s |
| 2MB Random Write | 1,218.2 MB/s | 1,158 MB/s |
| 2MB Random Read | 1,047.6 MB/s | 856.6 MB/s |
| 4K Random Write | 15,246 IOPS | 14,364 IOPS |
| 4K Random Read | 4,868 IOPS | 4,744 IOPS |
Moving on to the four-thread workload, we see a similar story between the Silver and Gold cards, except the Gold did better in the 2MB sequential and 2MB random write. On the read tests, however, the Silver still outperformed the Gold a fair amount. Here, the write speeds give an advantage to the Gold cards, leaving more overhead for high write workloads in high-end cameras.
| IOMeter (4-Thread) | Lexar Professional Type B Silver (1TB) | Lexar Professional Type B Gold (2TB) |
|---|---|---|
| 2MB Sequential Write | 1,450.5 MB/s | 1,684.1 MB/s |
| 2MB Sequential Read | 1,749.0 MB/s | 1,585.9 MB/s |
| 2MB Random Write | 1,449.8 MB/s | 1,621 MB/s |
| 2MB Random Read | 1,369.2 MB/s | 1,050 MB/s |
| 4K Random Write | 54,132 IOPS | 51,876 IOPS |
| 4K Random Read | 19,343 IOPS | 19,016 IOPS |
From a performance perspective, the 1TB Silver did surprisingly well, surpassing its performance ratings on the 4-thread IOMeter test. It also pulled ahead of the Gold card in most read workloads and wrote on 1-thread IOMeter. On 4-thread IOMeter tests, though, the Gold did get the lead over the Silver.
The 1TB Silver is nearly half the price of the 1TB Gold, so the performance tests show excellent value for the Silver, but that’s not to say the Gold cards don’t have an advantage. The Gold cards tend to perform better in 4-thread write tests, essential for high-speed cameras. The Gold cards also benefit from a lifetime warranty, though the 10-year warranty on the Silver cards is nothing to balk at.
Overall, the 1TB Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Silver did well on the performance side, sometimes beating the 2TB Gold. The benchmark numbers help give a “real world” performance view over the advertised number and help make an informed decision. For something more budget-friendly than the Gold cards, the Silver cards are worth the buy if the extra write speeds on the Gold are unnecessary.
Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B Silver 1TB Product Page (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Lexar Professional CFexpress Type B USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 Reader
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