Kioxia Unveils Fast & Affordable Exceria G3 PCIe 5 SSD To Quell Storage Price Hike Anxiety
Sometimes we can all use a little reassurance that everything will be okay. If you're PC enthusiast, now is definitely one of those times, as the booming AI market is gobbling up NAND flash memory chips and other hardware at a breakneck pace (and sending consumer brands packing for the data center hills). Well, enter Kioxia, which is rolling out a "value-driven addition" to its consumer SSD product line, the Exceria G3.
Before you roll your eyes and say 'Ew, ick!' to the value oriented pitch, which is sometimes code for 'slow as molasses', this is anything but, at least on paper. We haven't gotten our hands on an Exceria G3 to test out, though it's rated to deliver sequential read speeds of up to 10,000MB/s (10GB/s) for the both 1TB and 2TB capacities offered. Sequential write speeds check in at up to 8,900MB/s (8.9GB/s) for the 1TB model and 9,600MB/s (9.6GB/s) for the 2TB drive.
Sure, we've seen faster speeds in the realm of PCI Express 5.0 NVMe models, which have a theoretical maximum throughput of around 15,750MB/s (15.75GB/s) before accounting for overhead. But those speeds are far from slow.
Kioxia's also touting 4K random reads of up to 1,300,000 IOPS and 1,600,000 IOPS for the 1TB and 2TB models, respectively, and up to 1,450,000 IOPS for 4K random writes on both capacities. Not too shabby.
"The Exceria G3 SSDs represent the new sweet spot for PC builders and upgraders seeking modern performance without a premium price tag. By combining the advanced PCIe 5.0 (Gen5x4) interface with the cost-efficiency of BiCS Flash generation 8 QLC NAND, Kioxia delivers exceptional value and a future-proof storage solution," Kioxia says.
Kioxia's Exceria G3 slides between its entry-level Exceria Basic (PCIe 4.0) and Exceria Plus G4 (PCIe 5.0) models and will be available by the end of the year. Unfortunately, for all the talk of value, there's no mention of pricing. As points of reference, we found a 2TB Exceria G4 Plus listed for $219.99 on Amazon and the 1TB model listed for $142.99.
