The first M.2 SSDs with 16 TByte capacity on the horizon
Manufacturers are doubling the maximum possible storage space on M.2 SSDs from 8 to 16 TByte. Chinese chips are used.
The circuit board of the AGI SSD provides for a DRAM cache, but the manufacturer has omitted this. Instead, the SSD uses the PC memory as a cache.
(Image: c't / chh)
M.2 SSDs with 16 TByte storage capacity are within reach. Patriot and the rather unknown manufacturer AGI announced such models at the Computex IT trade fair and have already exhibited them.
With a length of 80 mm, these SSDs fit into practically every current mainboard. AGI uses a PCI Express 4.0 controller from Innogrit (IG5236) for its AI838 and achieves transfer rates of 7 GByte/s read and 6 GByte/s write. This makes it an average-speed PCIe 4.0 SSD.
(Image: c't / chh)
Chinese chips
Patriot only has prototypes of its Viper PD573 so far. When asked, the company confirmed that NAND flash components from the Chinese manufacturer YMTC are used. The company is apparently still waiting for larger deliveries.
YMTC's QLC components (Quadruple Level Cells, four bits per cell) currently represent the NAND flash memory with the highest cell density. On the downside, interested parties must expect low write rates as soon as the cache is full. The reduced service life is unlikely to be relevant for desktop PCs and notebooks.
The YMTC flash is also likely to be used in the AGI SSD.
Patriot couples the memory modules with a Chinese controller from Maxio (MAP1802). Unlike AGI's Innogrit version, the Viper PD573 is capable of PCIe 5.0. With four lanes, the SSD is said to be capable of 14 GByte/s read and 12 GByte/s write. The integrated mini fan could be a potential source of noise.
(Image: Patriot)
High prices expected
The manufacturers have not yet commented on prices and availability dates. Considering the minimum prices for M.2 SSDs with 8 TByte capacity, 16 TByte models are likely to approach 2000 euros.
Although AGI is rather unknown in this country, its SSDs are also available in Germany. They can mainly be found in Amazon stores, but some are also available from large retailers such as Mindfactory. However, the latter do not list the AGI models on price comparators.
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