Chinese SSD maker YMTC lists first commercial PCIe 5.0 SSD as worldwide shortage intensifies — Xtacking 4.0 NAND powers speeds of up to 10,500 MB/s

Source: Tom’s Hardware

Image credit: YMTC

Chinese manufacturer Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp (YMTC) has listed its first commercial PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD, the PC550. The drive uses a PCIe 5.0 ×4 interface with the NVMe 2.0 protocol and is offered in 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities. It incorporates YMTC’s X4‑9070 3D NAND chips based on the Xtacking 4.0 architecture and a four‑channel design, which YMTC claims reduces power consumption and heat compared with eight‑channel designs.

Form Factor and Target Market

The PC550 is available in both M.2 2242 and M.2 2280 form factors and is aimed at AI PCs and commercial client systems.

Performance

• Sequential read: up to 10,500 MB/s (2 TB model)
• Sequential write: up to 10,000 MB/s (2 TB model)

Random I/O (512 GB model):

• Up to 880 K IOPS read
• Up to 1,100 K IOPS write

Random I/O (1 TB & 2 TB models):

• Up to 1,300 K IOPS read and write

Endurance

• 512 GB: 300 TBW
• 1 TB: 600 TBW
• 2 TB: 1,200 TBW

Power Consumption

• Idle: < 3 mW
• Active workloads: < 6 W

Comparison with Other PCIe 5.0 SSDs

While the PC550’s speeds surpass most PCIe 4.0 SSDs, they fall short of the highest‑performing PCIe 5.0 drives that approach 15,000 MB/s. Earlier in 2024, a PCIe 5.0 SSD built on YMTC’s 5th‑generation Xtacking 4.0 NAND (the Zhitai TiPro9000) achieved 14,527 MB/s read and ≈13,800 MB/s write using a Silicon Motion SM2508 controller.

Availability

The official product page does not list pricing or purchasing details. Interested customers can submit an inquiry through YMTC’s website.

Product page: YMTC PC550 SSD

Related reference: Best PCIe 4.0 SSDs – Tom’s Hardware

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