GeIL Launches Back Into the SSD Business With First NVMe: Shuttle Series

GeIL was one of the early memory companies that brought us low-cost consumer SSDs. From time to time, the company releases a new product, but only when conditions are favorable to do so. The worst ever recorded NAND shortage, which is happening now, isn't one of those times, so GeIL preparing a new consumer SSD (and other signs) signal that a recovery is imminent.

The new NVMe SSD, the company's first, utilizes a Silicon Motion, Inc. SM2260 controller like the one used in the Intel 600p (review here). To improve performance over first generation products with the controller, GeIL will take advantage of the latest 64-layer 3D TLC from Micron with 256Gbit die. The smaller die capacity will increase parallelization in similar capacity sizes and will thus allow more die to read and write at one time.

The SMI SM2260 isn't known for extreme temperatures, but it's possible to push the controller to thermal throttle with extended workloads or poor system cooling. To fight against this condition, GeIL used a well-designed cooler for use in desktops. The cooler is small enough to still use the drive under a video card in the infamous M.2 slots between two PCIe connectors.

GeIL was randomly vague on performance details, but we know the Shuttle Series M.2 SSD will reach up to 2,000 MB/s sequential read and 1,000 MB/s sequential write speeds. We may see this series enter the Asian SSD market later this year. At this time, GeIL doesn't plan to bring the drive to North America where competition is fierce.

Coming out of the NAND recession should spur a tidal wave of new SSDs from companies that haven't had access to flash in volume for the last year. To stay busy, product managers have been preparing exciting new product names and features to help the next generation stand out from the crowd. Expect to see a number of SSDs with heat sinks, LED lighting, and the inevitable gimmicky whiz-bang stuff memory companies are known for.