Super-speed SSDs are getting ready to appear: 2400 MT/s NAND memory in mass production
YMTC has started shipping its Zhitai TiPlus7100 solid-state drives based on the latest 232-layer 3D NAND Xtacking 3.0 memory at 2400 MT/s. This fresh generation of 3D NAND memory is required for the production of PCIe 5.0 x4 solid-state drives. They will be able to fully utilize the bandwidth of this interface, achieving a sequential read speed of 12.4 GB/s.
YMTC’s Zhitai TiPlus7100 are M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 x4 drives designed to combine affordability with high performance. The SSDs will be available in 512GB, 1TB and 2TB versions with the fastest versions offering sequential read speeds of up to 7000MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 6000MB/s.
In terms of access operations, the 1TB and 2TB models offer up to 900K random read IOPS and up to 700K random write IOPS. TiPlus7100 drives do not contain an SDRAM buffer and use the host memory buffer. These drives can easily compete with the best SSDs available today.
YMTC does not disclose what controller it uses for its Zhitai TiPlus7100 SSDs, but the main point about these drives for us is that they use the company’s 1Tb X3-9070 chips — 232-layer six-plane 3D TLC NAND memory devices with a 2400 MT/s interface and the company’s proprietary Xtacking 3.0 architecture.
The 1Tb X3-9070 device not only boasts a bit density of 15.03 Gb/mm
2 (as revealed by TechInsights), which by far exceeds the bit density of 1Tb 3D TLC NAND memory ICs with less than 200 layers, but it also features an ultra-fast 2400 MT/s interface.
Earlier this week, Micron introduced its Micron 2550 drives based on its 232-layer six-plane 3D TLC NAND devices that is said to have a 14.6 Gb/mm
2 bit density, which outstrips YMTC’s 232-layer 3D TLC ICs in terms of bit density. Meanwhile, Micron’s ICs currently shipped have a 1600 MT/s interface, which is good enough for mainstream drives, but not good enough for ultra-high-performance SSDs with a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface.
YMTC hasn’t revealed which controller is used for the Zhitai TiPlus7100 SSDs, but the key is that they use the company’s 1TB X3-9070 chips. These are 232-layer 3D TLC NAND memory devices with six planes and 2400 MT/s and proprietary Xtacking 3.0 architecture.
The 1 TB X3-9070 memory not only boasts a bit density of 15.03 Gbit/mm
2. This is significantly higher than the bit density of 1TB 3D TLC NAND memory chips with less than 200 layers. The novelty also has an ultra-fast interface of 2400 MT/s.
Micron previously introduced the Micron 2550 drives based on its 232-layer six-plane 3D TLC NAND devices, which are said to have a bit density of 14.6 Gbit/mm
2. This surpasses YMTC’s 232-layer 3D TLC ICs in terms of data storage density. Meanwhile, the Micron chips currently shipping have an interface of 1600 MT/s, which is enough for mainstream drives, but not enough for ultra-high-performance PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs.
So while YMTC is not the only company to mass-produce 200+ layer 3D NAND, it is the first company to mass-produce memory with an I/O speed of 2,400 MT/s. However, this will not last long, as Micron plans to begin production of 232-layer 3D NAND with a 2400 MT/s interface in early 2023.
