Samsung teases blistering fast PCIe 5.0 SSDs

Ahead of CES 2022, Samsung has teased some ridiculously fast PCIe 5.0 SSDs, snappily named PM1743 SSD, that can apparently hit 13,000 MB/s read speeds without breaking a sweat. 

The advances come from Samsung combining the lightning fast PCIe 5.0 protocol with its own sixth-generation V-NAND. The only downside that we can see is that these SSDs are specifically designed for enterprise servers, not your gaming rig. 

“For over a decade, Samsung has been delivering SATA, SAS and PCIe-based SSDs that have been recognized for outstanding performance and reliability by leading enterprise server customers …,” said Yong Ho Song, who leads Samsung's memory division. “The introduction of our PCIe 5.0 SSD, along with PCIe 6.0-based product developments that are underway, will further solidify our technological leadership in the enterprise server market.”

So, what can these SSDs do?

An awful lot as it turns out. 

According to Samsung, you're looking at read speeds of 13,000 MB/s (as we said); 2,500K input/output operations per second, which is roughly double PCIe 4.0; and up to 32 gigatransfers per second (GT/s), also double PCIe 4.0. 

Samsung has had to build a bunch of bespoke components to handle the sheer fury of these SSDs, much of it in partnership with Intel, another leader in the memory market. 

“Intel has been working with Samsung to test Samsung’s newest PCIe NVMe SSD, the PM1743. Together, we have jointly resolved complicated technical issues encountered with PCIe 5.0 during this initial evaluation period. The performance potential of Gen5 is truly impressive,” said Intel executive Jim Pappas. “In the near future, we strongly believe that PCIe Gen5 systems with high-speed NVMe SSDs will have the ability to transform applications such as AI/ML and high-performance databases.” 

Looking forward

And the craziest part is that PCIe 6.0, which promises to blow PCIe 5.0 out of the water, is right around the corner. According to Al Yanes, president and chairperson of the standards organization PCI-Special Interest Group (SIG), PCIe 6.0 could come as soon as early 2022.  

Of course, just being available doesn't mean it will surpass PCIe 5.0 anytime soon; Samsung and Intel aren't going to release a brand new SSD only for it to immediately be outdated. But it does mean that within the next few years, 13,000 MB/s read speeds will seem tame. 

Samsung says the PM1743 SSD will be available in capacities from 1.92TB to 15.36TB and mass production will begin in Q1 2022. 

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Via Engadget