Samsung will launch a 176-layer V-NAND and PCIe 5.0 SSD this year

Samsung has said it will showcase a new solid-state drive (SSD) in the second half of 2021 that will be based on its 7th gen 176-layer V-NAND memory.

The company shared its intention in a post penned by Samsung’s executive vice president and head of Flash Memory Product & Technology, Song Jai-hyuk.

Jai-hyuk says that this new SSD will meet the performance requirements of not just the current PCIe 4 interface, but also the next PCIe 5.0 interface “thanks to its maximum input-output (I/O) of 2.0 gigabits per second (Gbps).”

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He added that the SSD will be optimized for “multitasking huge workloads”, such as simultaneous 3D modeling and video editing. Tom’s Hardware interprets this to suggest that the drives will use an all-new controller and expects the upcoming successor to the 980 Pro to work well for workstation applications.

200 layers V-NAND

Besides the news of the upcoming SSD, Jai-hyuk also shared that Samsung has managed to reduce the cell volume by up to 35%, which is why the 176-layer 7th-generation V-NAND is similar in height as the previous generation.

He also wrote that the company will soon expand the 176-layer V-NAND SSD into the data center where he argues they’ll help reduce power consumption, thanks to a 16% reduction in power requirements over the previous generation of SSDs.

Business Korea further reports that Samsung is currently testing a production line for the 7th-generation 176-layer V-NAND flashes at its new Pyeongtaek fabrication unit.

Not resting on its laurels, the company has already begun work developing the next generation of V-NAND flash with more than 200 layers, wrote Jai-hyuk.