Micron begins mass production of 28 GB/s PCIe 6.0 SSD for AI datacenters

Micron begins mass production of PCIe 6.0 SSDs

Micron started mass production of the 9650 SSD, the first drive to utilize the PCIe 6.0 interface for data transfer speeds up to 28 GB/s. This hardware targets AI datacenters rather than consumer PCs or gaming rigs. The drive doubles the sequential read performance of previous PCIe 5.0 models while maintaining a strict power limit.

The 9650 arrives ahead of compatible server processors from Intel, AMD, and Nvidia. These companies expect to release PCIe 6.0-capable CPUs and GPUs later in 2024. Current server architectures lack the physical lanes to support these speeds, meaning the drives will sit in warehouses until the next generation of motherboards arrives.

Micron designed the 9650 for specific AI training and inference tasks. The drive handles the massive data throughput required for Large Language Models (LLMs) and high-frequency trading. It uses NVMe 2.0 protocols to manage the increased bandwidth and reduce latency in multi-tenant environments.

High speeds solve AI memory bottlenecks

AI datacenters use high-speed storage to manage key-value (KV) caches, which function as the short-term memory for an AI model. When a model processes a long conversation, it stores previous tokens in this cache. Slow storage speeds cause the GPU to idle while waiting for these tokens, wasting expensive compute cycles.

The 9650 reaches 28 GB/s in sequential reads, allowing it to feed data to Nvidia H100 or Blackwell GPUs faster than any previous flash storage. Sequential write speeds reach 14 GB/s, which is a significant jump over the 10 GB/s limit found on most PCIe 5.0 enterprise drives. These speeds ensure that data checkpoints occur quickly during long training sessions.

Random access performance also sees a major boost in this generation. Micron claims 5.5 million IOPS for random reads and 900,000 IOPS for random writes. This represents a 67 percent improvement in read responsiveness compared to the older 9400 series drives.

• Sequential Reads: 28 GB/s
• Sequential Writes: 14 GB/s
• Random Reads: 5.5 million IOPS
• Random Writes: 900,000 IOPS
• Interface: PCIe 6.0 x4
• Protocol: NVMe 2.0

Efficient power use in the datacenter

The 9650 operates within an 18-watt power envelope. Micron states the drive delivers twice the performance of PCIe 5.0 drives while consuming the same amount of electricity. This efficiency is critical for massive server farms where cooling costs equal the cost of the hardware itself.

Write efficiency is slightly lower than read efficiency. Micron reports a 20 to 40 percent improvement in bits per watt for write operations. Engineers achieved these gains by refining the NAND controller and moving to a 232-layer TLC flash architecture.

The drive comes in several enterprise-grade form factors including E1.S and E3.S. These designs allow for better airflow and heat dissipation than the M.2 slots found in consumer laptops. Micron plans to offer capacities ranging from 7.68 TB to 30.72 TB per drive.

PCIe 6.0 technology uses PAM4 signaling

The jump to PCIe 6.0 requires a fundamental change in how the drive sends data. Previous generations used NRZ (Non-Return-to-Zero) signaling, which sends one bit per clock cycle. PCIe 6.0 uses PAM4 (Pulse Amplitude Modulation 4-level) signaling to send two bits per cycle.

This change allows the 9650 to double its bandwidth without doubling its physical frequency. Operating at lower frequencies helps keep signal integrity high over the copper traces of a motherboard. However, PAM4 is more susceptible to noise, requiring the 9650 to use Forward Error Correction (FEC) to ensure data accuracy.

The drive also implements FLIT (Flow Control Unit) based encoding. This fixed-size packet system simplifies how the controller manages data and reduces the overhead associated with PCIe packets. These technical shifts are necessary to hit the 256 GB/s total bidirectional bandwidth that a full x16 PCIe 6.0 slot provides.

Consumers will wait years for PCIe 6.0

Desktop users will not see PCIe 6.0 support in the immediate future. Intel’s upcoming Nova Lake consumer processors are not expected to support the standard. AMD has not announced PCIe 6.0 for its Ryzen lineup, as PCIe 5.0 has yet to reach full market saturation.

Current consumer GPUs do not benefit from the extra bandwidth. Most modern graphics cards, like the RTX 4090, do not fully saturate a PCIe 4.0 x16 slot. Moving to PCIe 6.0 would provide no performance gain for gaming or standard video editing tasks.

Manufacturing costs remain a barrier for the home market. A 30 TB PCIe 6.0 drive would likely cost more than an entire high-end gaming PC. Micron and its competitors focus on the enterprise market because companies like Meta and Google will pay a premium for any speed advantage in the AI race.

Storage arrays and hardware compatibility

Datacenters rarely use these drives in isolation. They are typically installed in JBOF (Just a Bunch of Flash) arrays or NVMe-over-Fabrics configurations. These systems aggregate dozens of 9650 drives to provide petabytes of storage with aggregate speeds exceeding 1 TB/s.

The 9650 is backward compatible with PCIe 5.0 and PCIe 4.0 slots. If plugged into an older system, the drive will automatically throttle its speed to match the maximum bandwidth of the slot. An 18-watt drive in a PCIe 4.0 slot will still function, but it will only reach 7 GB/s.

Micron is currently shipping samples to major server manufacturers for validation. Full-scale deployment in AI clusters is expected to begin in early 2025. By that time, the next generation of Xeon and EPYC processors will be available to handle the 28 GB/s throughput.

• Target Market: Hyperscale datacenters and AI clouds
• Competitors: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Western Digital
• Cooling Requirements: Air-cooled or liquid-cooled enterprise chassis
• Max Capacity: 30.72 TB
• Release Window: Mass production active; deployment 2024-2025