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In a post yesterday, we stated the SSD performance wars would heat up again in 2018. Today we have more proof of that. Plextor leaked some early performance data for the upcoming M9Pe. The new series is set for release in early 2018; it looks like someone jumped the gun, and Plextor USA was excited to get the word out.

It's been almost a year since the company first released details about the M9Pe, but our most recent public images come from Computex 2017. At a large press event filled with everything from professional gamers to famous Asian bloggers to yours truly, the event kicked off the countdown for the new NVMe SSD series from this legendary company.

We'll have more details soon enough, but you can see from the above that the performance is higher than Samsung's 960 EVO and gets right up to the door of the 960 Pro. This will be a highly competitive area for 2018. Several products are grouped around the same performance. End users will pick the winners in this battle, but pricing will play a pivotal role in the selection process.

Plextor is vying to come out on top with the M9Pe series, delivering two form factors, HHHL Add-in Card and M.2 2280. Like the M8Pe and M8Se NVMe from the previous two years, this series will again include two versions of the M.2 2280, one with and one without a heatsink. Shoppers will be able to chose from the three options. Each carries a different price point.