Last week, Gigabyte was among the first companies to introduce a client solid-state drive (SSD) featuring a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface. Gigabyte's Aorus Gen5 1000 SSD is currently among the highest performing storage devices that currently exist, but there are applications and users who demand even higher speeds. Specifically for those workloads and users, Gigabyte on Tuesday revealed its 4-way PCIe Gen5 SSD adapter that in theory can quadruple storage performance and capacity.
Gigabyte's Aorus Gen5 AIC Adapter with PCIe 5.0 support is a full-height full-length PCIe x16 card that carries four M.2-2280 SSDs with a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface that work in a RAID configuration. Depending on the RAID mode set by the owner, the Aorus Gen5 AIC Adapter can provide up to 16TB of storage (at least when used with four Aorus Gen5 1000 drives) and sequential read/write performance of up to 60 GB/s, which is significantly higher than even the best SSDs offer.
The Aorus Gen5 AIC Adapter is said to feature a separate PCIe 5.0 controller (or switch?) to ensure maximum performance. It also has a sophisticated cooling system with thermal sensors and a fan to ensure consistent performance under high loads.
The Aorus Gen5 AIC Adapter is meant to be installed into desktops featuring a PCIe 5.0 x16 slot, so you'll need at least an AMD's Ryzen 7000-series or Intel's 12th or 13th Generation Core CPU platform, but there's a catch. Modern processors for client desktop PCs only support 20 PCIe 5.0 lanes, 16 lanes for a graphics card and four lanes for an SSD. Some systems feature two PCIe x16 slots with each working in x8 mode, so they can install a graphics board and Gigabyte's 4-way SSD adapter, but this means that neither of the cards will get full PCIe 5.0 x16 bandwidth.
Truth to be told, few people need a storage device with a ~60 GB/s of bandwidth. Perhaps workstation users who process ultra-high-definition videos would benefit from such a high sequential read and write speed. For most people, high random read and write performance will be enough for comfortable work. Those who buy 4-way SSD adapters are indeed looking for extreme storage performance.
Gigabyte has not disclosed pricing for its Aorus Gen5 AIC Adapter, but considering the fact that it has its own switch and an advanced cooling system, not to mention the target market, it will likely be a rather expensive product.
