INTRODUCTION

   Even though the latest PCIe 5.0 Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD models should be able to deliver data transfer speeds even surpassing 11000MB/s the reality is that they are still a rare sight in the market and so PCIe 4.0 Gen4 models are still the hottest storage media around. Now according to all the latest unveilings during this year's CES i do expect new PCIe 5.0 Gen5 NAND controllers to make their product debuts in the next months (both for the consumer and enterprise markets) and from what i hear from manufacturers they should improve on things like temperature levels (and performance since some are advertised as going well over 12000MB/s) but until then i just don't see a change in the market. So, today I’m testing yet another PCIe 4.0 Gen4 M.2 NVMe model and more specifically the BG5 (KBG50ZNV1T02) 1TB client-grade model by KIOXIA.

   KIOXIA Europe GmbH (formerly Toshiba Memory Europe GmbH) is the European based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory and solid state drives (SSDs). From the invention of flash memory to today's breakthrough BiCS FLASH 3D technology, KIOXIA continues to pioneer cutting-edge memory solutions and services that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. The company's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, SSDs, automotive and data centers.

   Being client-grade the BG5 SSD line by KIOXIA includes both regular and SED (self-encryption) models available in both M.2 2230 (256/512/1024GB) and M.2 2280-S2 (512GB/1024GB) form factors (single sided). These PCIe 4.0 Gen4x4 M.2 NVMe v1.4 SSDs are virtual multi-LUN (VML)-enabled models (this means the end user has access to the drive's back-end) based on the DRAMless TC58NCOL 1BGSB NAND flash controller by KIOXIA together with their very own 112-layer BiCS5 3D TLC NAND flash memory (the resulting sequential performance is advertised at 3500MB/s for reads and 2900MB/s in writes). Unfortunately, not much is known for the TC58NCOL 1BGSB controller other that it supports the Host Memory Buffer (HMB) architecture (uses a fraction of your PC's system memory to cache mapping tables - only supported on versions of Windows 10/11 launched from 2019 and beyond), sanitize function, error-correction, TRIM and NCQ (SED models also support TCG opal 2.01). In terms of durability KIOXIA just reports an MTTF (mean time to failure) of 1.5 million hours and covers the entire BG5 line with a 3-year limited warranty.