As Intel is finally embracing PCI Express 4.0 support on desktops (with RocketLake), as their rival AMD has done since Zen 2, there is now sufficient impetus on SSD makers to ramp up the offerings in terms of speed. Mushkin, an American computer hardware manufacturer, has joined a select group of companies who are now offering PCIe 4.0 SSDs with read speeds upwards of 7GB/s!
Key Takeaways
- Mushkin Gamma Series SSDs announced
- Up to 7,175MB/s of sequential read performance and up to 6,800MB/s of sequential write performance
- Powered by Phison’s E18 Controller
- 2TB and 1TB capacities
- No price or availability information
- Mushkin also announced more affordable Delta line
- Delta line SSDs available in 4TB, 2TB and 1 TB
Specifically, it’s Mushkin’s new Gamma SSDs which boast up to 7,175MB/s of sequential read performance and up to 6,800MB/s of sequential write performance. It should be noted, these are the number which Mushkin themselves have claimed, real world performance may see some slight changes.
Regardless of accurate numbers, this is still great news. The Gamma series is powered by Phison’s flagship E18 controller. This beast of a controller supports max read and write speeds of up to 7,400MB/s and 7,000MB/s respectively, along with capacities of up to 8 TB.
The gamma series SSDs come close to maxing out the controller’s capabilities, which itself is almost saturating. The PCIe 4.0 x4 bus which are used for the fastest SSDs leverage – the theoretical maximum bandwidth of which (not taking into account losses due to overhead and other factors) is 8,000MB/s.
Surprising as it may seem, the Gamma series is not the first line of SSDs to offer such blazing fast speeds. In fact, it isn’t the fastest or even the second fastest SSD. Here is where it ranks in front of the competition,
- PNY XLR8 CS3140—7,500MB/s reads, 6,850MB/s writes
- Adata XPG Gammix S70—7,400MB/s reads, 6,400MB/s writes
- Mushkin Gamma—7,175MB/s reads, 6,800MB/s writes
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus—7,100MB/s reads, 6000MB/s writes
- Samsung 980 Pro—7,000MB/s reads, 5,000MB/s write
Nonetheless, the Gamma series is one amongst the best PCIe 4.0 SSDs for gaming. If the real world performance mirror the on paper numbers, Gamma would be the third fastest SSD on the market, in both read and write speeds.
The company is offering the Gamma series SSDs in two capacities right now: 1TB and 2TB. There is however no news on the pricing and availability of the Gamma series for consumers as yet.
Mushkin has also announced their more affordable Delta line in 4TB, 2TB and 1TB capacities. While not reaching the same blazing fast speeds of the Gamma SSDs, the Delta line are still performance oriented with up to 4,975MB/s of sequential read performance and up to 3,975MB/s of sequential write performance. Putting these numbers in perspective, the best performing SATA SSDs max out at 550-580MB/s.
About Mushkin
Mushkin is an American computer hardware company, known best for the production of computer memory modules (RAM) and is located in Pflugerville, Texas. The company’s customers include gamers and industry professionals.
Mushkin products include solid-state drives SSD, computer power supply units (PSUs), and RAM modules for desktops, servers, and laptops. They also produce a line of USB flash drives. Of their most notable RAM products is the “REDLINE” series, intended for overclockers.
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