Samsung reveals their 5nm PM9C1a SSDs with 7th Gen V-NAND

Samsung raises the bar for everyday computing with their 5nm PM9C1a M.2 SSDs

While it is fun to look at the fastest hardware available, it is always worth remembering that mainstream products are what really push the world forward. Yes, cutting-edge PCs are where peak performance is at, but it’s mainstream products that push the whole market forward. 

Today, Samsung has revealed their new PM9C1a lineup of PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSDs, new mainstream SSDs that offer users 1.6x faster sequential read speeds and a 1.8x faster sequential write speeds than Samsung’s last-generation PM9B1 SSDs. Samsung’s new PM9C1a SSDs can offer users 6,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) sequential read speeds and 5,600MB/s sequential write speeds respectively, which are huge numbers for a mainstream M.2 SSD.

Alongside a huge performance bump, Samsung’s new PM9C1a is also said to be 70% more power efficient than its predecessor. The drive is also said to have 10% lower power draw when used in notebook PCs in standby mode. When it comes to battery life, every little helps, and while M.2 SSDs don’t consume much power, ever watt matters in the world of mobile computing.

    Samsung Electronics today announced production readiness of a high-performance PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, the PM9C1a. Integrated with a new controller based on Samsung’s cutting-edge 5-nanometer (nm) process and the company’s seventh-generation V-NAND technology, the PM9C1a will provide elevated computing and gaming performance in PCs and laptops.

“Our new PM9C1a SSD will deliver a robust combination of superior performance, greater power efficiency and increased security, which are the qualities that matter most to PC users,” said Yong Ho Song, Executive Vice President of Memory Solution Product & Development at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to creating storage that satisfies the diverse and changing market requirements as we continue to advance innovation in the PC SSD space.”

With top-tier speeds, the PM9C1a SSD is ideal for everyday use as well as for more demanding computing and gaming applications. Leveraging the PCIe 4.0 interface, Samsung’s PM9C1a boasts a 1.6x faster sequential read speed and a 1.8x faster sequential write speed than its previous storage offering (PM9B1), reaching 6,000 megabytes per second (MB/s) and 5,600MB/s, respectively. Additionally, random read and write speeds can support up to 900K input/output operations per second (IOPS) and 1,000K IOPS, respectively.

The PM9C1a also offers up to 70% more power efficiency per watt than its predecessor. This means the new SSD can handle the same amount of tasks using significantly less power. Furthermore, when a notebook PC goes into standby mode, the SSD will use approximately 10% less power.

To address the rising need for stronger security measures, the PM9C1a features powerful security. The SSD supports the Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE) security standard created by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), a global organization that develops open standards for computing security. DICE securely generates cryptographic keys inside the SSD, providing device authentication to protect against supply chain attacks — cyberattacks that target companies through vulnerabilities in their supplier network — as well as attestation to prevent any firmware tampering.

Samsung’s PM9C1a SSDs will be available in 256GB, 512GB and 1TB storage capacities in a M.2 form factor (22mm x 30mm, 22mm x 42mm, 22mm x 80mm).

With 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB models, and models within the M.2 2230, 2242, and 2280 form factors Samsung’s new PM9C1a SSDs are designed to be usable within all modern PCs, even compact mini PCs. With their PM9C1a SSD, Samsung may have created the world’s fastest M.2 2230 SSD, pushing forward the performance of the world’s most compact PCs. 

While this SSD is not as fast as the company’s 990 PRO SSD, their PM9C1a does what the 990 PRO can’t, push the storage performance of mainstream PCs upwards. The PM9C1a will find its home in many OEM PCs and laptops, systems that don’t typically feature PCIe 4.0 storage solutions. With their PM9C1a, Samsung wants to make mainstream laptops more responsive, and that is great news for everyone.

A great Steam Deck upgrade option?

Samsung’s new PM9C1a SSD will be available with 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB options within the M.2 2230, 2242, and 2280 form factors. This is great news for owners of many of Microsoft’s newest Surface devices and Valve’s Steam Deck PC gaming handheld, as these devices, and many other compact PCs, only support compact M.2 2230 SSDs. If a 1TB M.2 2230 PM9C1a is made available, these SSDs will become great upgrade options for users of these compact PCs. That said, Samsung’s PM9C1a implies that these new SSDs will be targeted at OEMs and System Integrators (SIs), not directly at consumers. As such, these SSDs are not expected to be available at retailers in large quantities.

You can join the discussion on Samsung’s new PM9C1a PCIe 4.0 SSDs on the OC3D Forums.