First PCIe Gen5 SSD from Samsung coming in mid-2022

Next year, when Intel’s first server platform with PCIe 5.0 is released, Samsung wants to launch its first PCIe Gen5 SSD on the market. The PM1743 will then be one of the first enterprise SSDs with PCIe 5.0.

Timed to perfection

For the PM1743 PCIe Gen5 SSD, the market launch has been perfectly timed with the planned server CPUs from Intel’s Sapphire Rapids family. In an initially smaller run, the server platforms will come out in the first quarter of the new year, and then be manufactured in large-scale production in the second quarter of 2022. Samsung then also plans its PCIe Gen5 SSD for the second quarter. With the Sapphire Rapids from Intel, not only the DDR4 RAM will make its first appearance, but also the new PCIe 5.0 interface. The new interface will then bring an even higher data rate with it, there is talk of a doubling, which means a data rate of around 4 GB/s per lane should be possible.

New form factor and self-developed controller

Here, the Samsung PM1743 in the E3.S form factor uses PCIe 5.0 x4 or twice PCIe 5.0 x2 in dual-port mode and achieves a gross data rate of about 16 GB/s on the interface. Subtracting overhead and considering the performance of the NAND flash as well as the controller, the net transfer rate will be lower. It is unclear so far, but very likely that Samsung will rely on a self-developed controller in the new SSD.

The manufacturer’s planned E3.S form factor is one of the new EDSFF standards for server SSDs. Thus, the board has a length of about 10.5 cm and a width of 7.6 cm. Samsung states a durability of 1 drive write per day (DWPD) for its PM1743. The NAND flash used is, as it looks, a TLC memory with 3 bits per cell and comes from Samsung’s sixth generation of 3D NAND. Thus, the PM1743 does not yet use the announced V7 NAND with 176 layers. Thereby, the power consumption of the hard disk is then expected to be from 20 to 25 watts.

Availability and prices

Pricing for the new PM1743 PCIe Gen5 SSD is not yet known. Samsung’s SSD is expected to be released in the summer of 2022.