Gigabyte wades into NVMe SSDs with a trio of budget-priced drives

[dylanthompson2]

I think it is relevant because soon you will be able to build a pc out of parts from the same manufacturer.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3307178/components/gigabyte-wades-into-nvme-ssds-with-a-trio-of-budget-priced-drives.html

Giabayte has started manufacturing budget friendly NVMe M.2 SSDs. While budget oriented, the 128GB drive delivers up to 1,100 MB/s read and 500 MB/s write rates.

There are 3 models being released for Gigabyte to get started: 128 GB model, 256 GB model and 512 GB model. The 256GB drive delivers 1,200 MB/s read and 800 MB/s write rates.

Quote

Three PCIe NVME M.2 drives will be available initially, in capacities of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, the company said. The 256GB drive is rated at sequential read speeds of 1,200MBps and 800Mbps sequential writes. The 128GB drive will hit 1,100MBps sequential reads and 500MBps sequential writes.

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3307178/components/gigabyte-wades-into-nvme-ssds-with-a-trio-of-budget-priced-drives.html

Those are nice drives for the price. Beside CPU, Gigabyte is now making: motherboards, RAM, Power supplies, computer cases, laptops and now SSDs. What do you think of this? Will you get a fully made Gigabyte branded PC (beside CPU)?

[DocSwag]

So it's PCIe 3.0 x2 then, I wonder what controller it is. Maybe an E8? The rated speeds seem a bit low tho which is what's really strange.

[Enderman]

Anyone who uses all parts from one manufacturer is either a fanboy or has no idea how to choose good components.

[GoodBytes]

Considering that Gigabytes makes laptops, I see it as no braining for the, to make their own memory. Probably save a bit, helping increase their profit or be more price competitive by doing so.

[Demonking]

I wonder how these compare to my Corsair M force MP300 256GB.

[dylanthompson2]

28 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Considering that Gigabytes makes laptops, I see it as no braining for the, to make their own memory. Probably save a bit, helping increase their profit or be more price competitive by doing so.

Thank you for putting my topic back under tech news.

[S w a t s o n]

1 hour ago, Enderman said:

Anyone who uses all parts from one manufacturer is either a fanboy or has no idea how to choose good components.

Eh, Corsair might actually be one that you could reliably source every part (that they make) and have it be at least good

[BuckGup]

4 minutes ago, S w a t s o n said:

Eh, Corsair might actually be one that you could reliably source every part (that they make) and have it be at least good

Corsair GPU, Corsair CPU, Corsair Motherboard

[S w a t s o n]

1 minute ago, BuckGup said:

Corsair GPU, Corsair CPU, Corsair Motherboard

well it's not like gigabyte makes hard drives, thats why I said "that they make"

I think evga is the closest to actually making everything one would need but still can't because of CPU

[ZcanKal]

Gigabyte is making Gigabytes.

[Enderman]

2 hours ago, S w a t s o n said:

Eh, Corsair might actually be one that you could reliably source every part (that they make) and have it be at least good

I've had an AX860i fail on me and now only buy seasonic PSUs.

I also recommend ducky keyboards and logitech mice more than corsair.

Even though everything corsair could be "good", if you're aiming for the best of each component then I would only consider their ram or maybe cases (although cases are mostly subjective)

[schwellmo92]

8 hours ago, DocSwag said:

So it's PCIe 3.0 x2 then, I wonder what controller it is. Maybe an E8? The rated speeds seem a bit low tho which is what's really strange.

I'm pretty sure it supports up to PCI-E 3.0 x4 - what makes you think it only supports up to x2?

[schwellmo92]

8 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

<snip>

this is usually x2 when it's NVMe and not SATA ._.

That's incorrect. NVMe is the faster of the two. SATA 3.0 M.2 drives max out at 6Gb/s whereas NVMe can use all 4 PCI-E lanes for a total of 32Gb/s. Read here for more info: http://www.enterprisestorageforum.com/storage-hardware/nvme-vs-sata-comparison.html

[schwellmo92]

5 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

there are B+M key NVMe sticks. They only have x2 lanes. you've just looked at one.

You are correct, completely glossed over the connector. I guess they only needed 2 lanes as their max throughput is <2GB/s

[Spotty]

Quote

The drives carry a three-year warranty. The 256GB drive is rated at sequential read speeds of 1,200MBps and 800Mbps sequential writes. The 128GB drive will hit 1,100MBps sequential reads and 500MBps sequential writes.

 

Gigabyte officials said the 128GB SSD should sell for $50, while the 256GB drive will be listed at $70. The two lower-capacity drives are expected to be on sale in the US next week. Pricing and availability of the 512GB drive wasn't available, but if the pricing of the smaller drives is any indication, it'll be competitive. 

_{https://www.pcworld.com/article/3307178/components/gigabyte-wades-into-nvme-ssds-with-a-trio-of-budget-priced-drives.html}

Seems like it is trying to hit the middle ground between SATA and NVMe drives.

It can't compete with PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe SSDs such as the 250GB Samsung 960/970 evo or WD Black NVMe in terms of performance, but it is priced cheaper than those and closer to that of some of the high end SATA based SSDs. Looking at the 256GB capacity Gigabyte model which is expected to cost $70, it comes pretty close to the price of some of the 250GB SATA M.2 SSDs such as the MX500 (~$60) and the WD Blue M.2 (~$65).

 

4 minutes ago, schwellmo92 said:

I'm pretty sure it supports up to PCI-E 3.0 x4 - what makes you think it only supports up to x2?

The performance figures are less than half that of PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe drives and are closer to that of other PCIe 3.0 x2 NVMe drives, such as the Corsair Force MP300. So it's probably a safe assumption to make that this is only PCIe 3.0 x2.

[NumLock21]

Just now, schwellmo92 said:

You are correct, completely glossed over the connector. I guess they only needed 2 lanes as their max throughput is <2GB/s

Even Intel Optane for caching only uses 2 lanes.

[Spotty]

11 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

there are B+M key NVMe sticks. They only have x2 lanes. you've just looked at one.

B+M key drives only support x2? Makes sense now that I think about it. Well, that's my 1 thing learned for the day.

[schwellmo92]

4 minutes ago, Spotty said:

B+M key drives only support x2? Makes sense now that I think about it. Well, that's my 1 thing learned for the day.

Yep only x2, VegetableStu was correct. B+M is for compatibility so it can run on B and M keyed slots (duh) but that means it only has 2 PCI-E lanes.

[Spotty]

4 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

it shares that same keying with SATA sticks, so check that spec!!

 It's just not something that I ever put any thought in to before.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

[NumLock21]

I'm curious as if did Gigabyte really made that SSD themselves or it's done by an ODM and, they have their name branded on it. Shouldn't it take months or years of R&D just to design a PCB for a new product.

[Spotty]

Just now, NumLock21 said:

I'm curious as if did Gigabyte really made that SSD themselves or it's done by an ODM and, they have their name branded on it. Shouldn't it take months or years of R&D just to design a PCB for a new product.

I doubt it was made by Gigabyte. My guess is it is probably made by Toshiba since that's who Gigabyte used for their 2.5" SATA SSDs a year or so ago (or at least Toshiba supplied the NAND flash).

[voiha]

8 hours ago, VegetableStu said:

can you imagine the 1024GB sticks, LOL

 

*stares at packing* "no it's not?"

You mean 1000GB

[ZacoAttaco]

Man M.2 is this whole new world of storage to me, I really need to do some more research on it, there's too much that I don't understand.

 

Seems like Gigabyte is getting involved in everything.

[Doobeedoo]

Cool to see them going in on new type of product. SSDs are definitely here to stay. 

[DocSwag]

9 hours ago, schwellmo92 said:

I'm pretty sure it supports up to PCI-E 3.0 x4 - what makes you think it only supports up to x2?

The performance figures are below what pcie 3.0 x2 supplies and I don't know of any x4 controllers that can't do over ~1600 MB/s sequential read.