INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    2nd generation of PCIe Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSDs begun making their appearance in the global market earlier this year and have already won over consumers and professionals alike. Again, much like in the past not all PCIe Gen5 SSD models are aimed towards the same audience, depending on the NAND flash controller used some are aimed towards users on a budget whereas others are aimed towards users who just want the best there is. KIOXIA recently released their very first PCIe Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD called the EXCERIA PLUS G4 and today I'll be testing the 2TB capacity model.

    KIOXIA is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). In April 2017, its predecessor Toshiba Memory was spun off from Toshiba Corporation, the company that invented NAND flash memory in 1987. KIOXIA is committed to uplifting the world with "memory" by offering products, services and systems that create choice for customers and memory-based value for society. KIOXIA's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH™, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, data centers and generative AI systems.

    The EXCERIA PLUS G4 is currently available in two capacities (1/2TB) and is based on the DRAM-less PS5031-E31 (E31T) NAND flash controller by Phison which KIOXIA has paired with their very own BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. The PS5031-E31 (E31T) is a single core, quad-channel PCIe Gen5x4 NVMe 2.0 NAND controller (16 CEs) based on TSMC’s 7nm process technology and packs several features including Phison's 7th generation LDPC ECC & RAID ECC engine with end-to-end data path protection, thermal monitoring, L1.2 low power state and host memory buffer (HMB) architecture support (uses a fraction of your PC's system memory to cache mapping tables). It also fully supports the ASPM/APST low-power consumption mechanisms, real time AES 256-bit encryption, hardware SHA384512 and RSA4096, TCG OPAL 2.01, Pyrite 2.01, Toggle 5.1 and ONFi 5.1. As for warranty KIOXIA covers both EXCERIA PLUS G4 models with a 5-year limited warranty and for endurance they report an MTTF of 1.5 million hours and a TBW of 600 for the 1TB capacity and 1200 for the 2TB capacity.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Exceria Plus G4 box has the company logo at the front along with a product picture, capacity and advertised read speeds.

 

 

At the rear we find the manufacturer's warranty and the serial number and barcodes.

 

 

Inside the box you'll find the Exceria Plus G4 SSD and the quick start guide.

 

 

 

THE EXCERIA PLUS G4 2TB

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The EXCERIA PLUS G4 2TB is a single sided M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 NVMe SSD.

 

 

Under the top sticker we find the DRAM-less PS5031-E31 (E31T) NAND flash controller by Phison together with two BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash modules.

 

 

On the opposite side we just find a sticker with the electrical requirements of the drive and several certifications.

 

SSD UTILITY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The SSD Utility by KIOXIA allows you to monitor your Exceria Plus G4 so I do suggest downloading it.

The summary page showcases the current drive health, temperature and allocated capacity.

 

 

You can check online for possible firmware updates from the corresponding tab.

 

 

SMART details are also available for people who may want to dive more into the drive.

 

 

Any potential alerts while using the drive will appear in the above tab.

 

 

Several details about the drive are also available via the software.

 

 

Finally, you can use the SSD utility software to format and/or secure erase the drive.

 

TEST BED

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   I've been using pretty much the same testing methodology for PCIe 3.0 Gen3 and PCIe 4.0 Gen4 SSDs for far too many years now, so I decided to "tweak" it for PCIe 5.0 Gen5 models. Needless to say, Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSDs will be tested using one of my latest test rigs (Intel Core Ultra 285K / ASRock Z890 Taichi Lite) and unlike with both Gen3 and Gen4 SSDs I will not be using the SNIA (Storage Networking Industry Association) 12 hour IOMeter benchmark since it proved to be rather heavy for early Gen5 SSDs (temperature issues). Instead, I decided to use the latest versions of 3D Mark, AIDA64, AS SSD, ATTO, Crystal Disk Mark, HD Tune Pro, HD Tach RW, Performance Test, IOMeter (4k Random Writes / 4k Random Reads – since September 2024 / SNIA Mixed) and Sandra Titanium for performance measuring and ForSpoken for all of you who might be wondering just how well Gen5 SSDs do in regard to Microsoft's DirectStorage API/Technology. Each test will be run a total of 5 times after which the average number will be recorded in each chart.

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - HD TUNE PRO / HD TACH RW

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA TITANIUM / IOMETER

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TEST RESULTS - PERFORMANCE TEST / 3D MARK / FORSPOKEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Just like with Crucial and their P510 line the EXCERIA PLUS G4 by KIOXIA is a mid-range PCIe Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD line which delivers very good overall performance without however targeting higher end models like for example the Kingston G5 or the Crucial T710. The Phison PS5031 (E31T) Gen5 NAND flash controller hasn’t proven to be quite as powerful as the SM2508 model by Silicon Motion, but real world performance difference is not that far apart. The BiCS8 NAND flash is probably the best of its kind currently available (performance wise) so it would have been very strange had KIOXIA not used that for their EXCERIA PLUS G4 line.

    At the time of this review the KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4 2TB Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD retails for USD204.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 199.43Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de). Overall the EXCERIA PLUS G4 may not be the fastest Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSD around but it does very well both in terms of performance and durability and is priced just right which is why it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Quality
- Performance (Up To 10000MB/s)
- 1200TBW / 1.500.000 Hours MTFB Endurance
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Current Available Capacities (Only Up To 2TB)