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For a decade and a half, PCIe connectivity hardware has delivered improved computing performance despite a smaller footprint on motherboards. The PCIe serial bus has helped usher in new advancements in computing applications, from increased capacity drives for in-memory processing to larger-capacity scratch disks and graphics processing units (GPUs) for 3D video and graphics processing.
PCIe (peripheral component interconnect express) is an interface standard for connecting high-speed components. Every desktop PC motherboard has a number of PCIe slots that can be used to add GPUs (aka video cards or graphics cards), RAID cards, WiFi cards or SSD (solid-state drive) add-on cards.
PCIe-driven hardware continues to push the future of computing. With every new generation of PCIe connectivity, we see both an increase in transfer speeds and the number of available lanes for simultaneous data delivery—allowing for larger volumes of data to be transferred and used in short order.
This is why both flash storage and GPU manufacturers are impressed with the next generation of PCI Express (PCIe 4.0), which has only recently gone live in data centers globally.
PCIe interfaces also making their debuts in more commonplace devices.KIOXIA America, Inc. (formerly Toshiba Memory America, Inc.) on Nov. 9 unveiled the PC OEM-focused KIOXIA XG7/XG7-P Series, the company’s first PCIe 4.0 client solid-state drive (SSD) series for notebooks, desktops and workstations with qualification samples currently shipping to customers.
Now spanning enterprise, data center, and client segments, KIOXIA’s PCIe 4.0 SSD portfolio addresses a wide array of applications. Kioxia claims the XG7/XG7-P Series offers 2x the sequential read speed and approximately 1.6x the sequential write speed of the PCIe Gen3 based XG6 Series, delivering a high-performance storage experience for content creators, gamers and professionals.
With leading capacity support up to 4096 gigabytes (GBs), the XG7-P Series SSDs enable power users to take advantage of PCIe Gen4 x4 lane bandwidth and ample storage space. Furthermore, this series deploys an all-new in-house controller vertically integrated with KIOXIA’s BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory, ensuring next-generation feature support, such as the NVMe 1.4 specification and System Management Bus (SMBus) for improved system thermal management through a sideband channel.
The new SSD features an M.2 type 2280 form factor and supports TCG Pyrite 2.01 and TCG Opal SSC 2.01 as a planned option.
The SSDs are available in 256GB, 512GB and 1024GB; for users needing a high-capacity solution, Kioxia offers 2048GB and 4096GB options. Visit KIOXIA America’s virtual booth at the Flash Memory Summit 2020 Nov. 10-12 for more details.