- The upcoming Phison E37T SSD controller manages to max out PCI-E 5.0 read speed ratings at 14,900 MB/s
- It uses less than a third of the power of Phison’s older DRAM-infused SSD controllers
- The move is crucial, in line with Phison’s expectation of high DRAM prices for the foreseeable future, with the aim of providing relief to mainstream and enthusiast consumers
With SSD prices moving sharply upwards over the past few months, thanks to relentless AI demand across the board, consumers are increasingly looking to the lower end of the spectrum to bridge their budgets and the cost of modern SSDs.
The upcoming Phison E37T SSD controller can help kick things off. It happens to be the first Gen 5 DRAMless SSD controller that maximizes bandwidth over the 4 lanes available for an M2 SSD on modern PCs, laptops and consoles.
The consumer-centric offering at least partially solves the RAM crisis by delivering comparable performance to high-end DRAM-infused SSDs while remaining frugal with power.
An economical, yet effective offer for ordinary consumers
Based on a recent interview with Tweaktown, which also received a review sample of Phison’s E37T, Phison was already monitoring the situation as it saw DRAM prices supported by insatiable AI demand and came prepared with a solution that caters to performance users and gamers alike.
Phison’s director of technical marketing, Chris Ramseyer, stated, “We knew it was going to be a problem later, in the future, for our flagship SSDs. And we needed a way, so we kind of started working.”
The E37T not only eliminates DRAM from the equation, like the older E31T, which tops out at 10.3GB/s, but also pushes the ceiling of PCI-E 5.0 SSD read speeds at 14.9GB/s, while offering equally potent write speeds (13GB/s).
With a maximum power consumption of 3.4W and a less than 50% increase in IOPS compared to the E31T, it targets consumers seeking enthusiast quality without the cost of its older DRAM-equipped sibling, the E26.
Comparing the E37T with the E26 gives an even sharper picture. With less than a third of the peak power requirements of its predecessor, it also offers higher IOPS, peak read and write speeds and bypasses the need for active cooling, although it supports much faster NAND flash (+33%).
While Phison is still testing the E37T and rolling out firmware updates across the board, some reviews are reporting mixed results, including a Tweaktown review that was unable to achieve above the mandated 5500MB/s score on the PS5.
However, these issues are expected to be resolved when E37T-based SSDs finally hit the market later this year, in a future that seems increasingly DRAM-less for SSDs, at least until the current memory crisis subsides.
Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews and opinions in your feeds.
