Samsung introduced its new PM9C1a, its new NVMe Gen4 SSD earlier this week. The SSD is manufactured using what the Korean electronics giants calls its cutting-edge 5nm process, along with its 7th generatioin V-NAND technology.
“Our new PM9C1a SSD will deliver a robust combination of superior performance, greater power efficiency and increased security, which are the qualities that matter most to PC users,” said Yong Ho Song, Executive Vice President of Memory Solution Product & Development at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to creating storage that satisfies the diverse and changing market requirements as we continue to advance innovation in the PC SSD space.”
On paper, the PM9C1a is expected to deliver at 70% more power efficiency per watt than its predecessor, the PM9B1. In practice, the SSD uses approximately 10% less power, if and when installed and used with a laptop.Specs-wise, it leverages the PCIe NVMe 4.0 inteface, offering sequential read and write speeds of 6000MB/s and 5600MB/s, respectively. Additionally, its random read and write speeds is rated at 900K IOPS and 1000K IOPS, respectively.
Despite the brief mention of specs, Samsung actually hasn’t disclosed the full details of its new 5nm controller, which is reportedly aimed at DRAM-less SSDs. “To address the rising need for stronger security measures, the PM9C1a features powerful security. The SSD supports the Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE) security standard created by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), a global organization that develops open standards for computing security. DICE securely generates cryptographic keys inside the SSD, providing device authentication to protect against supply chain attacks — cyberattacks that target companies through vulnerabilities in their supplier network — as well as attestation to prevent any firmware tampering.”
The Samsung PM91Ca will be available in three storage capacities: 256GB, 512GB, and 1TB. They will also be available in three M.2 sizes, 2230, 2242, and 2280. At the time of writing, the Korean electronics giant has not mentioned global pricing, never mind local pricing and availability. Given that it supports DICE, it’s likely to see distribution through PC OEM brands, before the company even considers making it more easily accessible to the wider general public.
(Source: Samsung)
