Mass Production of Samsung PM9E1 PCle 5.0 Up to 4TB M.2 2280 SSD with 5nm Controller and 8th-Gen V-NAND

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has begun mass producing PM9E1, a PCle 5.0 SSD with high performance and largest capacity.

Built on its in-house 5nm-based controller and 8th-gen V-NAND (V8) technology, the product will provide performance and enhanced power efficiency, making it a solution for on-device AI PCs. Key attributes in SSDs, including performance, storage capacity, power efficiency and security, have all been improved compared to its predecessor (PM9A1a).

“Our PM9E1 integrated with a 5nm controller delivers industry-leading power efficiency and utmost performance validated by our key partners,” said YongCheol Bae, EVP, memory product planning, Samsung. “In the rapidly growing on-device AI era, Samsung’s PM9E1 will offer a robust foundation for global customers to effectively plan their AI portfolios.”

Thanks to the 8-channel PCIe 5.0 interface, the sequential RW speeds of this SSD have more than doubled compared to the previous-gen, reaching up to 14.5GB/s and 13GB/s, respectively. This performance enables faster data transfer even with data-intensive AI applications, allowing a 14GB large language model (LLM) to be transferred from the SSD to DRAM in less than a second.

The PM9E1 offers a range of storage options, including 512GB, 1, 2TB and the capacity of 4TB. The 4TB option is especially an optimum solution for PC users in need of high-capacity storage for large-sized files such as AI-generated contents, data-heavy programs and high-resolution videos, as well as tasks that require intensive workloads such as gaming.

Additionally, the significantly improved power efficiency of over 50% allows for longer battery life which is for on-device AI applications.

For stronger security measures, Samsung has applied Security Protocol and Data Model (SPDM) v1.2 to the PM9E1. The SPDM specification provides ‘Secure Channel,’ ‘Device Authentication’ and ‘Firmware Tampering Attestation’ technologies that can help prevent supply chain attacks involving forgery or manipulation of stored data in the product during production or distribution processes.

Starting with PM9E1, the company plans to expand its advanced SSD offerings to global PC makers and expects to launch PCIe 5.0-based consumer products in the future to solidify its leadership in the on-device AI market.