Western Digital teases 15GB/s PCIe 5.0 SSD with 7W power draw

The fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD? Western Digital teases HUGE SSD performance gains

At the 2024 Flash Memory Summit (FMS), Western Digital showcased what may become the fastest PCIe 5.0 SSD on the market. Using in-house NAND and an in-house SSD controller, Western Digital has create an SSD that breaks past the 14 GBps barrier. Better still, this drive consumes less than 7 watts of power.

This new SSD uses BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash and fits within the M.2 2280 form factor. At FMS 2024, this drive was shown operating at speeds of 15 GBps, exceeding the performance limits of today’s PCIe 5.0 storage devices. This drive uses an 8-channel PCIe 5.0 SSD controller that features a DRAM cache. However, Western Digital also showcased a slower 10.7 GB/s drive that used a 4-channel DRAM-less SSD controller.

(Images from Anandtech)

Western Digital’s new high-end SSD delivers 15GB/s sequential read speeds and 2 million+ IOPS. That’s incredible performance levels for an 7W PCIe 5.0 SSD. This could make this new performance-focused SSD incredibly popular amongst enthusiasts, as many of today’s PCIe 5.0 SSDs require beefy cooling solutions due to their higher power draw.

Western Digital may be late to the PCIe 5.0 SSD market, but the wait appears to be worth it. Western Digital appear to be besting today’s fastest M.2 SSDs with this prototype drive. What’s more impressive is that they are using in-house technology and not a new iteration of Phison’s popular E25 PCIe 5.0 SSD controller.

More competition is coming to the PCIe 5.0 SSD market, and that is a good thing for consumers. This will make PCIe 5.0 storage more widely available, and may help reduce the pricing of PCIe 5.0 storage solutions.

You can join the discussion on Western Digital’s high-end PCIe 5.0 SSD on the OC3D Forums.