Samsung’s SSD rival has just released one of the world’s fastest PCIe 5.0 SSDs. No, it won’t beat out Crucial’s blazing-fast T705, but its no-nonsense approach means it’s likely to be a lot cheaper.
Samsung’s big South Korean rival SK Hynix has launched its high-end PCB01 SSD, which is specifically designed for on-device AI PCs.
This PCIe Gen 5.0 SSD features impressive sequential read and write speeds of 14GB and 12GB per second respectively, combined with random 4K read and write speeds of 2 million IOPS.
The company says these speeds are fast enough to perform LLM training and inference tasks almost instantaneously, in less than a second. The SSD also reportedly offers a 30% improvement in power efficiency compared to previous generations, improving the stability of large-scale AI computing tasks.
Three capacities
One of the notable features of the PCB01 is the application of SLC caching, which improves performance. This technology places the single-level cell in some parts of the NAND cell, for a faster computing experience for both AI services and conventional tasks. The PCB01 also includes a root of trust (ROT) solution that prevents cybersecurity attacks and protects personal data.
PCB01 is currently undergoing validation, and SK Hynix says it plans to mass produce and ship the drive to business and general consumers later this year in three capacities: 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB. Initially targeted at OEMs, these bare-bones drives are part of the company’s new Alistar platform, which utilizes an 8-channel interface and 238-layer TLC NAND technology.
Since this is an OEM product, it comes without any bells and whistles, including a heatsink. Any model that eventually hits stores will almost certainly be cheaper than Crucial’s blazing-fast T705 for this reason alone, but we have no indication of pricing at this time.
Ahn Hyun, head of the NS Committee at SK Hynix, said the company is seeing strong demand for new products from global AI PC makers. “We will work to strengthen our leadership as the global top supplier of AI memory, including in the NAND solution space, by successfully completing customer validation and mass production of PCB01, which will be in the spotlight,” he added.