Computer

We are already in 2023 and we still have no news of these new SSDs

Theoretically in September 2022 we should have seen the first PCIe 5.0 SSDs on the market. Today is January 2, 2023 and we still have no reliable news about the launch of these SSDs. It is very probable that you do not care release of PCIe 5.0 SSDsand rightly so, but what is happening with these hard drives?

First, a bit of context. Intel introduced support for the PCIe 5.0 interface in the Core 12 Gen and thus subsequent generations of processors. AMD, for its part, offers support for this PCIe 5.0 interface in its new Ryzen 6000 processors. But, there is no component that uses this communication bus.

Speed ​​is sometimes a great detriment

Intel was a “early adopter” of the PCIe 5.0 interface. It was the first company to offer support for this communication bus in its Core 12 Alder Lake. It offered (and offers, because they are on the market) support for an SSD with PCIe 5.0 interface with 4 direct lines to the processor. But, a year or so after the launch of said processors, there are no SSDs supported.

Who is in charge of developing the controller for this PCIe 5.0 SSD is Phison. The company is known (to a realistic few) for being the leading manufacturer of controllers for M.2 SSDs. Between October and November 2021, it already announced that, by the second half of the year, its PCIe 5.0 controller for SSD would go into mass production and that for Q4 2022we would have the first commercial SSDs.

ssd pcie 5.0 fan

just 48 hours ago we have entered 2023 Y we do not have are units on the market (which, on the other hand, would be expensive and inaccessible to 99% of users). But of course, is there a reason or reasons for this event? Yes, there are several reasons why they haven’t been released yet. These are:

  • Serious temperature problems. Most of the PCIe 5.0 based M.2 SSD models shown use a fan on their heatsink for the generated heat. This new interface allows reaching between 13,000-15,000 MB/s of reading and writing, which generates high temperatures. Something that has forced the heatsinks, which until now were passive, to include a fan
  • Low chip production. The industry is currently experiencing serious problems in meeting the demand for chip manufacturing. Although they are less than a year or two ago, they still exist
  • Reduced demand for SSD. Another factor is the brutal drop in demand for SSD drives, which is around 20%. Throwing out now a 1TB SSD that could cost 400-500 euros makes little sense. Yes, the speeds will become brutal, but does that interest the average user?

But, it is necessary that they leave now

You still don’t see the point of launching these PCIe 5.0-based SSDs and, to a certain extent, you’re right. But the arrival of these new SSDs could lower the price of the current ones based on PCIe 3.0 and PCIe 4.0. Which could mean savings for those who set up a new system.

Currently, a PCIe 3.0 SSD is more than enough for excellent gaming performance. If PCIe 4.0 were cheaper, many users would bet on these for their computer. As always, it is an adjustment of supply and demand for products. While we don’t need 7000 MB/s at least, we won’t notice the difference in many cases, any extra performance is always appreciated.

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