KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4 SSD 2TB, M.2 2280 / M-Key / PCIe 5.0 x4

Die KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4 2TB präsentiert sich als durchdachte PCIe-5.0-SSD mit einem Fokus auf praxisnahe Performance, Effizienz und Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis. Die Kombination aus Phison PS5031-E31T Controller, BiCS8-NAND und dynamischem pSLC-Cache erlaubt hohe sequenzielle Transferraten, die in synthetischen Tests beeindruckende Werte von bis zu 10 GB/s beim Lesen und rund 8,2 GB/s beim Schreiben ermöglichen. Auch die zufällige Zugriffsgeschwindigkeit liegt mit über einer Million IOPS auf einem konkurrenzfähigen Niveau. Dabei setzt KIOXIA bewusst auf ein DRAM-loses Design, das über HMB kompensiert wird, und ergänzt dieses um ein kupferverstärktes Label.

Die KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G4 bietet eine solide Lese- und Schreibleistung, die für alle alltäglichen PC-Aktivitäten ausreicht. Der verbaute PHISON-Controller verfügt zwar über keinen zusätzlichen DRAM-Cache, kann aber trotzdem bei der Schreibleistung und Geschwindigkeit überzeugen.

Im Test schlägt die Exceria Plus G4 ihren Vorgänger um Längen und ist dabei noch vergleichsweise sparsam. Die hohe Effizienz hat aber auch einen hohen Preis. Letztlich sitzt die SSD damit zwischen den Stühlen High-End und Mainstream.

The EXCERIA PLUS G4 is currently available in two capacities (1/2TB) and is based on the DRAM-less PS5031-E31 (E31T) NAND flash controller by Phison which KIOXIA has paired with their very own BiCS8 218-layer 3D TLC NAND flash. The PS5031-E31 (E31T) is a single core, quad-channel PCIe Gen5x4 NVMe 2.0 NAND controller (16 CEs) based on TSMC’s 7nm process technology and packs several features including Phison's 7th generation LDPC ECC & RAID ECC engine with end-to-end data path protection, thermal monitoring, L1.2 low power state and host memory buffer (HMB) architecture support (uses a fraction of your PC's system memory to cache mapping tables). It also fully supports the ASPM/APST low-power consumption mechanisms, real time AES 256-bit encryption, hardware SHA384512 and RSA4096, TCG OPAL 2.01, Pyrite 2.01, Toggle 5.1 and ONFi 5.1. As for warranty KIOXIA covers both EXCERIA PLUS G4 models with a 5-year limited warranty and for endurance they report an MTTF of 1.5 million hours and a TBW of 600 for the 1TB capacity and 1200 for the 2TB capacity.

KIOXIA has created some pretty fantastic drives over the years, and while their new EXCERIA PLUS G4 isn’t the most extreme in their roster, it does seem very well equipped to meet the growing demands of high-end system builds. With games being larger than ever, and video editing in high resolutions being incredibly demanding on read and write speeds, the EXCERIA PLUS G4 is designed to deliver swift loading times, faster file transfers, and exceptional response times. Of course, this is also backed up with a focus on efficiency, around 80% more power efficient than the G3 series, and reliable cooling to ensure long-term stability and around-the-clock high-performance metrics.

Kioxia’s latest series of NVMe Gen 5 SSDs employs the Phison E31 controller, which is manufactured using a 7-nanometer process. This design approach minimizes voltage requirements and reduces heat generation during operation, allowing the controller to sustain temperatures near 80°C. The reduction in thermal output not only contributes to the stability and reliability of the SSDs but also enhances energy efficiency. The controller’s design eliminates the need for an integrated DRAM module by utilizing a host memory buffer (HMB) instead. This DRAM-less architecture helps lower production costs, making the drives more affordable while still providing competent performance. Although the performance figures are satisfactory, they do not reach the peak speeds offered by the alternative E26-based products that can achieve speeds of up to 14 GB/s. The engineering trade-offs made with the E31 controller include a balance between energy consumption, thermal management, and overall system cost, which positions these SSDs as a practical option for mainstream applications.