If you happen to have been feeling smugly content material after upgrading to a 2TB gaming SSD, then put together to really feel humiliated, as SK Hynix has simply introduced a brand new PCIe 5.0 SSD with a whopping 61TB capability. Not solely that, however the agency intends to double that area to 122TB subsequent 12 months, with an enormous 244TB model additionally within the works. To place that determine in context, 61TB is sufficient area to retailer an enormous 160GB sport, reminiscent of Stalker 2, over 380 instances.
In fact, these huge drives aren’t supposed to rival one of the best gaming SSD choices you should buy proper now however are as an alternative designed for information facilities. Nevertheless, what begins within the information heart usually filters right down to PC gaming {hardware}, and the newest tech clearly makes it attainable to fabricate SSDs with an astronomical quantity of cupboard space.
The brand new SK Hynix PS1012 is quick as nicely, making use of the newest PCIe 5.0 interface to realize a claimed sequential learn velocity of as much as 13GB/s. That’s not as fast because the speeds we noticed in our Essential T705 evaluation, however it’s quicker than most SSDs, together with a number of PCIe 5.0 fashions.
This isn’t an M.2 drive, although, and as an alternative makes use of the U.2 interface, which you’ll be happy to know doesn’t contain Bono, however merely permits an NVMe drive in a 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch case (like an previous SATA SSD) to be hooked as much as a motherboard utilizing a cable. This drive has some critical casing too, with its steel fins presumably serving to to shift warmth away from the hot-running parts inside it.
SK Hynix says it plans to pattern the brand new drive to server makers “inside this 12 months,” with plans to introduce a 122TB drive within the third quarter of 2025. Then, the corporate says it additionally “goals to guide the SSD marketplace for ultra-high capability information facilities by growing 244 TB merchandise based mostly on the world’s highest 321-high 4D NAND.”
Within the meantime, we’re just about caught at 8TB in the case of gaming SSDs. If you happen to’re seeking to purchase a speedy SSD on your gaming rig, take a look at our Corsair MP700 Professional evaluation, the place we check this high-speed PCIe 5.0 drive, which even comes with its personal cooling fan.