INTRODUCTION

   The unveiling of the upcoming Intel Z590 chipset motherboards by all the leading manufacturers might have put PCIe Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSD models under the spotlight but PCIe Gen 3 models are not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. This of course makes sense since on one hand most consumers will not be moving to PCIe Gen 4 systems in the near future (primarily due to cost) and on the other well real world performance benefits still remain to be seen. Of course, I’m always looking to test/review any M.2 NVMe SSD model i can get my hands on but since PCIe Gen 3 models are clearly far more popular and also since some of you have been asking for a while now today with me i have the top of the line model by KIOXIA, the Exceria Plus 2TB.

   KIOXIA Europe GmbH (formerly known as Toshiba Memory Europe GmbH) is the European based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a worldwide leading supplier of Flash Memory and Solid State Drives (SSDs). Toshiba Memory is known as the Inventor of NAND flash memory in 1987 and was the first in the world to begin mass-producing it in 1991. Under its new name, KIOXIA remains a storage leader today with its BiCS FLASH 3D technology, focusing on innovation, quality and reliability. This technology is an important component in almost all electronic devices where data need to be stored. KIOXIA is leading a new era by providing advanced memory solutions to enrich people’s lives. By evolving "memory", KIOXIA creates uplifting experiences and changes the world.

   Unlike the mid-end Exceria SSD which i reviewed a while back (review here) the Exceria Plus (available in 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities) is largely based on the RD500 released back in 2019 so it too is based on an NVMe 1.3c compatible 8-channel NAND flash controller (Toshiba TC58NC1201GST-00-BB) which KIOXIA has paired with BiCS 96-Layer 3D TLC NAND by Toshiba and DDR4 DRAM by SK Hynix. The 2TB model which i have here with me today is equipped with 2GB DDR4-2666 (SK Hynix H5AN8G6NCJ) and as for the Toshiba 8-channel controller it fully supports TRIM, Idle Time Garbage Collection, SMART, Error Correction, Device Sleep, TLC caching, NCQ, thermal-throttling and of course AES-256bit hardware encryption. Because of this hardware combination the Exceria Plus 2TB can hit performance numbers of up to 3400-3200MB/s in reads and writes respectively and as for durability KIOXIA reports an MTBF of 1.5 million hours and a TBW of 200 for the 500GB model, 400 for the 1TB model and 800 for the 2TB model (KIOXIA also covers the entire line with a 5 year limited warranty).