Compatible CPUs and motherboards have been around since 2021. Several vendors announced their first footage last summer. AMD also said during the launch of the Ryzen 7000 processor that it expects models in November 2022. But blazing fast, melt-in-your-face PCIe 5 SSDs have yet to materialize.
That point was driven home at CES 2023, where much of the big PC news remained centered around chip and laptop launches. If you’ve been looking forward to a big display of several PCIe 5 SSDs, your hopes have been dashed. Vendors with previous announcements have remained largely silent.
But the glittering city lights may finally be visible at the end of this long, winding road. CES 2023 at least provided hints that concrete launches are just around the corner. At MSI’s booth, two PCIe 5 SSDs are on display (which you can see for yourself Tom’s Hardware report) and have an estimated Q2 launch date. The MSI Spatium 570 will achieve read and write speeds of 10GB/s, while the Spatium 570 Pro can achieve read speeds of 12GB/s and write speeds of 10GB/s.
Further reading: The best of CES 2023: the most intriguing and innovative PC hardware
A demo drive at the Phison booth at CES 2023.Phison
And Phison, the company behind SSD controller chips used across the industry, is showcasing the performance of its new E26 controller through a PCIe 5 SSD engineering sample. It’s capable of doubling bandwidth and improving latency by 30%. compared to its Gen 4 technology. Phison also showcases its enterprise controller, which can exceed 14GB/s sequential read and write speeds.
Given Phison’s partnerships – MSI, Corsair, Gigabyte and Sabrent, to name a few – it’s likely that a truly ready state for PCIe 5 drives is finally approaching. It will be a welcome development for anyone with big wallets and huge transfers. of files. Current SSDs are still very fast for gaming and everyday computing, but when time is money, PCIe 5 just can’t get there fast enough.
So maybe a little renewed hope is warranted: the Q2 estimate for those MSI units might be a bit more reliable than previous promises. But only time will tell.
