GIGABYTE Launches M.2 PCIe SSDs: Phison PS5008-E8T, Up to 512 GB
by Anton Shilov on September 20, 2018 10:00 AM EST
GIGABYTE this week expanded its lineup of SSDs with its new M.2 PCIe drives. The company keeps its cautious approach to the storage market and for now continues to aim at the entry level segment. The new drives are based on Phison’s reference design and controller, and the new drives show that GIGABYTE is going to stick to its partnership with this vendor.
GIGABYTE’s M.2 PCIe SSDs will be available in 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB configurations, which are popular capacities for entry-level gaming PC-graded SSDs. The drives are based on Phison’s PS5008-E8T controller and Micron's or Toshiba’s 3D TLC NAND memory. This controller is one of Phison’s cheapest PCIe solutions: it supports NVMe 1.2 interface, it has four NAND channels, it does not support a DRAM buffer, and it uses a PCIe 3.0 x2 interface, which means that the new drives clearly outperform low-end SATA SSDs, but are considerably behind higher-end PCIe 3.0 x4 drives.
Speaking of performance, GIGABYTE claims that its M.2 PCIe 256 GB offers up to 1200 MB/s sequential read speed as well as up to 800 MB/s sequential write speed (with pSLC enabled). As for random performance the maker rates the drive for up to 80K/150K read/write IOPS. The lower-capacity M.2 PCIe 128 GB is capable of up to 1100 MB/s sequential read speed, up to 500 MB/s sequential read speed, as well as up to 90K/100K read/write random IOPS. It is noteworthy that sequential performance numbers that GIGABYTE publishes for its M.2 PCIe SSDs are considerably lower when compared to official performance numbers Phison declares for its PS5008-E8T controller. At the same time, its random performance numbers are actually higher than what Phison expects from its chip. Perhaps, GIGABYTE decided to tune its M.2 PCIe SSDs somehow, or maybe use a custom firmware from Phison.
GIGABYTE already lists 128 GB and 256 GB M.2 PCIe SSDs on its website, so expect the drives to show up in retail shortly with 512 GB version following up a bit later. All the drives are rated for a 1.5 million-hour MTBF and are covered by a three-year warranty or the maximum TBW rating (whichever comes first).
| GIGABYTE M.2 PCIe SSDs Specifications | |||
| Capacity | 128 GB | 256 GB | 512 GB |
| Model Number | GP-GSM2NE8128GNTD | GP-GSM2NE8128GNTD | GP-GSM2NE8512GNTD |
| Controller | Phison PS5008-E8T | ||
| NAND Flash | Spectek/Micron B17 3D TLC |
Spectek/Micron B16 64-layer 3D TLC or Toshiba's 256 Gb 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC |
Toshiba's 256 Gb 64-layer BiCS3 3D TLC |
| Form-Factor, Interface | M.2-2280, PCIe 3.0 x2, NVMe 1.2/NVMe 1.3 | ||
| Sequential Read | 1100 MB/s | 1200 MB/s | ? |
| Sequential Write | 500 MB/s | 800 MB/s | ? |
| Random Read IOPS | 90K | 80K | ? |
| Random Write IOPS | 100 K | 150K | ? |
| Pseudo-SLC Caching | Supported | ||
| DRAM Buffer | No | ||
| TCG Opal Encryption | Unknown | ||
| Power Consumption | Idle: 50 mW Read: 2510 mW Write: 1850 mW |
Idle: 50 mW Read: 2200 mW Write: 2100 mW |
? |
| Warranty | 3 years | ||
| MTBF | 1,500,000 hours | ||
| TBW | 100 TB | 200 TB | ? |
Earlier this year GIGABYTE announced plans to release a lineup of high-end SSDs under its AORUS brand, but did not disclose any details about the products. Having now launched SSDs based on Phison’s PS3110-S10 and PS5008-E8 controllers, GIGABYTE demonstrated its commitment to Phison, which may indicate that its high-end drives will be powered by the PS5012-E12 controllers (although this is naturally speculation for now).
Related Reading
- The Kingston A1000 NVMe SSD Review: Phison E8 Revisited
- Lite-On Adds MU X SSD to Lineup: Phison PS5008-E8, 3D TLC, Up to 1600 MB/s
- GIGABYTE Launches Its First SSDs: Phison PS3110 S10 with Toshiba’s 3D TLC
- GIGABYTE Launches CMT4030-Series PCIe 3.0 x8 and PCIe 3.0 x16 SSD Risers
- GIGABYTE Aorus PCIe x16 M.2: For Four NVMe Drives, X399 Compatible
Source: GIGABYTE
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
9 Comments
View All Comments
Drazick - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
Could we stop with this M.2 nonsense for desktop computers?We want something which isn't thermally limited.
Give us U.2.
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
Nobody wants U.2 . Almost no motherboards have u.2 ports, and very few u.2 drives exist.these thermal limits are trivial to fix. A single case fan pointed vaguely in the direction of the SSD does wonders, most motherboard with a m.2 slot come with a heatsink as well. My 950 pro runs in the 40-42C range under constant usage with a heatsink on it, and delivers performance that sata SSDs could only dream of.
Drazick - Friday, September 21, 2018 - link
M.2 was intended to Laptop.Why pay for something so limited in Desktop use case?
Dragonstongue - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
m.2 seems the "better pick" as it does not require anything more than the physical connection, U.2 requires additional cable as well as the physical connection, there is NO speed benefit as they both operate in the same spec (pci-e 4x) as far as the thermal limit bit, IMO both would "suffer" in the same fashion..also all the u2 drives I have seen mentioned (very few of them actually) were worse spec/TBW ratings then the huge assortment of m.2 drives and their crazy speeds.as for this other guy saying "but my 950 price has no problems" good for him LOL..it always depends on motherboard where the slot is located and if a fan can actually be pointed towards the drive, in perfect world they would locate m2 or u.2 sockets in a nice open area on mobo so airflow would never be the issue, as far as the bit where they come with a heatsink..oh you mean that thing they call a heatshield that 9/10 actually HURTS thermals and does not help LMAO
TheinsanegamerN - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
The only time a heatsink becomes a heat-shield is if it is either designed wrong or installed improperly, so it isnt making good contact with the SSD.You dont need a fan bowing DIRECTLY on the heatsink, you just need a good case with good airflow, something anybody building a high performance machine should be doing.
And most motherboards put the M.2 drive right below the CPU area LOL. And area that is in open area with airflow LMAO. Do some research next time ROLF.
Billy Tallis - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
M.2 thermal limitations don't matter for ordinary desktop usage.Drazick - Friday, September 21, 2018 - link
Why add something which gets hot and spread hot in the place you trying so hard to cool?This is a desktop case. What we can get far away from the motherboard without hurting performance, the better.
Fergy - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
I like M.2 Let's keep it and provide heatsinks for people who overclock their SSD. Or plug the M.2 in a case with a heatsink. The harddisk formfactors are stupid.LtGoonRush - Thursday, September 20, 2018 - link
Isn't Spectek how Micron disposes of NAND that doesn't meet quality standards? Weird to see it on a consumer SSD from a non-generic brand.