The ADATA GAMMIX S50 Lite 2TB SSD Review: Mainstream PCIe…

The roll-out of PCIe 4.Zero assist to client NVMe SSDs has been a protracted, drawn-out course of to this point, however it’s progressing. Two waves of high-end SSDs have now hit the market, and final yr we noticed a number of manufacturers introduce QLC-based SSDs utilizing the now-outdated first-wave Gen4 SSD controller from Phison. More lately, PCIe 4.Zero assist has arrived for the mainstream mid-range market phase because of the ADATA XPG Gammix S50 Lite, based mostly on the Silicon Motion SM2267 controller and TLC NAND flash reminiscence.

The ADATA S50 Lite makes use of Silicon Motion’s first PCie 4.Zero SSD controller: the SM2267. Opting to begin small, Silicon Motion has launched their mainstream SSD controller first, whereas their upcoming (overdue?) SM2264 will ultimately be filling the high-end position.

To that finish, the SM2267 serves Silicon Motion’s lineup as a smaller, cheaper design aimed toward mainstream client use instances. To accomplish this, Silicon Motion has constructed the SM2267 on a tried-and-true (and low-cost) 28nm course of and geared up the controller with Four NAND channels, versus the 12nm (or smaller) 8-channel controllers which might be used within the newest high-end drives. This does restrict most efficiency, nevertheless it additionally helps to maintain prices in verify, one thing that is particularly helpful throughout the present chip crunch.

Intel’s recently-launched third technology QLC SSD (the Intel SSD 670p) makes use of a detailed relative of this controller; the SM2265 is an Intel-commissioned spinoff of the SM2267 that lacks PCIe 4.Zero assist, however is in any other case similar in all of the vital methods. As we’ll see from the S50 Lite’s efficiency, the Intel 670p is not lacking out on a lot with out that Gen4 assist.

As for the topic of at the moment’s overview, the ADATA XPG Gammix S50 Lite and its SM2267 controller is a part of a rising pattern of mainstream NVMe SSDs shifting to 4-channel controllers fairly than Eight channels. The capability of particular person NAND flash reminiscence dies has grown to the purpose that an 8-channel controller shouldn’t be essential to get 2TB of flash related, and the IO pace of current generations of NAND flash is quick sufficient {that a} newer four-channel controller can match the efficiency of older 8-channel designs. This was first demonstrated to nice impact by the SK hynix Gold P31. On paper, the Gammix S50 Lite guarantees kind of the identical factor: efficiency that matches or barely exceeds what we see from high-end PCIe Gen3 SSDs additionally utilizing TLC NAND, regardless of working with half as many NAND channels.

ADATA equips the S50 Lite with a reasonably thick heatspreader, and like most of their Gammix SSDs, that heatspreader comes already connected to the drive fairly than packaged individually as with their SX sequence drives. Instead of utilizing their typical thermal paste, this heatspreader is connected with what’s by far essentially the most tenacious thermal tape we have ever encountered. It is strengthened with a tight-woven stiff cloth and the adhesive was sturdy sufficient that eradicating the heatspreader with out completely damaging the drive required copious use of solvents as an alternative of only a little bit of mild prying.

So whereas we had initially speculated that the SM2267 controller may permit the S50 Lite to be the primary Gen4 SSD appropriate for…