After a several-year delay, Samsung finally joins the ranks of Corsair and Essential by announcing its entry into the PCIe 5.0 SSD club. Samsung’s pioneering PM9E1 solid-state drive promises unparalleled speeds of up to 14.5GB per second, while also touting significant advancements in power efficiency and battery life. Could this ultimately be a compact PCIe 5.0 M.2 solution for laptops, sans an oversized heat sink?
Samsung has been mum on specific details regarding thermal efficiency, leaving enthusiasts to speculate about when the company might deliver a PCIe 5.0 SSD that strikes the perfect balance between performance and power efficiency – all while keeping temperatures in check. The Samsung PM9A7 is indeed the primary M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD to enter mass manufacturing, whereas the Samsung 990 Evo purportedly utilizes the PCIe 5.0 interface, but only employs two lanes, implying it’s no faster than a PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Samsung asserts that its novel PM9E1 leverages four PCIe 5.0 lanes to achieve what it terms “industry-leading performance,” boasting sequential read and write speeds of up to 14.5 GB/s and 13 GB/s, respectively. The device meets the read pace expected for a 2TB Essential T705, while its write pace exceeds that of the comparable Essential drive. Samsung is set to make a significant splash in the PCIe 5.0 landscape with its full arsenal at the ready.
Compared to using the widely adopted Phison E26 controller found in most current PCIe 5.0 drives, the Samsung PM9E1 employs a cutting-edge, in-house controller built utilizing a 5nm process. Meanwhile, Samsung’s innovative eighth-generation 3D V-NAND technology enables precise storage capabilities, a feature it initially unveiled in 2022. The storage options will range from a modest 512GB to an expansive 4TB, with 1TB and 2TB capacities available as well.
While Samsung hasn’t provided temperature guidelines, it does claim that the drive offers “significantly improved energy efficiency of over 50%,” compared to the PCIe 4.0 Samsung PM9A1a, stating this allows for longer battery life. As the uninspired model name suggests, the Samsung PM9E1 is an OEM drive designed for PC manufacturers to install in pre-built systems rather than a drive intended for enthusiasts building their own gaming PCs.
Samsung suggests its new drive is suitable for demanding tasks like gaming, and hints at forthcoming PCIe 5.0-based consumer products. Will we soon see a Samsung 1080 Pro take on the Corsair MP700 Pro and Essential T705? Let’s hope so; particularly if it runs cooler.
Samsung hasn’t always been at the forefront of adopting PCIe interfaces; this is their latest attempt to catch up with the industry’s advancements. The Samsung 980 Pro, a PCIe 4.0 SSD, arrived on the market in September 2020, approximately 12 months after Corsair’s MP600 made its debut.
In the interim, if you’re eager to expand your storage capacity, explore our comprehensive guide detailing straightforward ways to install an SSD, featuring a step-by-step tutorial on setting up an M.2 drive, complete with the addition of a heatsink for optimal performance.
