Toshiba XG6 NVMe SSDs Offer World-First 96-layer BiCS 3D NAND And 3.1GB/sec Reads
What makes the XG6 so interesting is that it is the world’s first SSD to use 96-layer BiCS 3D NAND flash memory. Compared to its 64-layer predecessors, the new 96-layer tech allows Toshiba to increase capacity per unit chip size by 40 percent. In addition, power consumption of 4.7 watts or less put the SSDs more on par with far slower SATA SSDs currently on market.
When it comes down to hard numbers, the XG6 posts sequential read speeds of up to 3,180MB/sec and sequential writes of up to 3,000MB/sec. Random reads and writes are pegged at 355,000 and 365,000 IOPS respectively. Don’t expect extreme capacities with the XG6 Series, however; it will be available in capacities of 256GB, 512GB and 1TB. For comparison, the XG5 Series tops out at 2TB (read our review of the XG5 here).
“Toshiba Memory is at the forefront of 3D flash memory development with 96-layer BiCS FLASH,” said Jeremy Werner, VP of SSD marketing and product planning for Toshiba Memory. “SSDs pose the most formidable flash design challenge, and becoming the first company in the world to bring an SSD to market with the most advanced flash node is an achievement that is only possible due to our years of commitment to advancing our SSD technology.”
OEMs will be able to offer the XG6 either with or without TCG Opal encryption, and all of the SSDs will support user-selectable over provisioning.
Toshiba says that it is currently sampling the XG6 to “select” OEM customers, and we should expect to see systems shipping with the SSDs later this year.
