Anybody out there for prime capability 8 TB M.2 drives has to date solely had one alternative available on the market. At present Mushkin is coming in because the second vendor to supply an 8TB M.2 NVMe possibility, with its new ALPHA collection of drives. These drives use the identical Phison E12S controller and excessive capability NAND as these additionally obtainable available on the market, however Mushkin charges its drives barely otherwise to the competitors.
One of many methods the storage market has amazed me in the previous few years is capability. Whereas bodily rotating spinning rust is at 16 TB or 18 TB and maybe approaching 24 TB subsequent yr, we’ve seen storage drives in related kind elements attain 64 TB and 100 TB with out an excessive amount of bother. The enterprise is the place we see a few of these loopy SSD capacities utilizing TLC and QLC, therefore the existence of NimbusData and rivals, however the nous that goes into these merchandise trickles down into the prosumer area, the place there’s demand however at a extra palatable price/GB ratio.
The query is at all times considered one of management and value, and NAND remains to be costlier than rotating iron oxides. Client grade NVMe SSDs are hovering across the $100/TB mark, relying on the model, efficiency, and if it’s in a sale, making high-speed storage a really engaging supply. For the high-capacity prosumer NVMe choices, we’ve traditionally seen this come down as nicely, from $1000/TB to $500/TB, and now with these new 8 TB drives, we’re solidly taking a look at under the $200/TB mark. This new Mushkin Alpha 8 TB goes to be obtainable for $1300, which places it at $162.50 per TB.
Right here Mushkin is pairing the Phison E12 controller with QLC NAND, and the PCIe 3.0 x4 interface ought to enable most sequential speeds of 3300 MB/s learn and 2800 MB/s write, or as much as 550K IOPs learn and 680K IOPs write. The truth that that is all inside the usual M.2 2280 kind issue to me remains to be superb, whether or not it’s from Mushkin or anybody else.
| Mushkin ALPHA Sequence | ||
| AnandTech | 4TB | 8TB |
| Kind Issue | M.2 2280 Double Sided PCIe 3.0 x4 | |
| Controller | Phison E12S | |
| NAND Flash | Micron 1TB 96L 3D QLC ? | |
| Sequential Learn/Write (MB/s) | 3200 / 3000 | 3300 / 2800 |
| Random 4K IOPs Learn/Write (MB/s) | 550K / 640K | 550K / 680K |
| Energy Consumpton Idle/Max (W) | 0.3 / 6.5 | 0.3 / 6.5 |
| Guarantee | 3-year Restricted Guarantee | |
| Write Endurance | 900 TB 0.2 DWPD |
900 TB 0.1 DWPD |
| Retail Value | $650 16.3¢ per GB |
$1300 16.3¢ per GB |
The drive has a 3 yr restricted guarantee, and is rated to 900 TB written, which equates to 0.1 drive writes per day, or 800 GB of writes per day in that timeframe. For these working with 4K video, that is most likely not sufficient, however for enterprise customers that want a excessive capability drive for his or her laptop computer or cell workstation, it ought to match the invoice. Mushkin charges the drive at 0.3 W at idle and 6.5 W max. It’s price noting that the 900 TB score is half of what Sabrent charges its 8TB drive for. This score is just for the guarantee interval cowl – the drive will nonetheless work after these numbers, but it surely simply will not get replaced by the producer.
The 8 TB drive (and 4 TB variant) will go on sale close to the top of January within the US, however the listings are already up on Amazon, with inventory anticipated on January twenty third.
Supply: Mushkin