Tag Archives: SMI

I wanted to bring this information to the forefront because it’s hard to imagine just how dramatically our world will change once PCIe 6.0 (Gen6) becomes mainstream. Today, we’re already achieving data transfer speeds of up to 14 GB/s, and Gen6 will double that to an astonishing 28 GB/s. What’s remarkable is how easily we overlook the advancements that faster …

It is funny how things work out sometimes.  While at Computex in Taipei a few weeks back, we were introduced to Frank Chen, CEO of Exascend, through our contacts at SMI.  Frank laid out their company values and explained key reasoning for their success which is their ability to customize and cater to their customers needs in a shorter time …

This week at Computex Taipei, Silicon Motion displayed their newest SM2524XT Gen5 SSD controller which held a surprising first.  This SSD controller is built on the TSMC 6nm process and is a DRAMless controller which relies on your systems HMB, better known as the host memory buffer.  The HMB is an SSD feature that allows a drive without its own …

If we look back several years, one couldn’t get an enterprise level SSD without direct company contact, and putting a face to business…maybe even with a firm handshake.  Things have changed and, as much as many might think easy access may be good or bad, we are seeing ‘off the shelf design’ far more often these days.  Right now, one …

Yesterday we posted our first ever report on the ADATA Premier Extreme 256GB microSDXC Express Card and it provided us with data transfer speeds over 800MB/s in a card smaller than a dime.  This report followed a report we did on the Silicon Motion SM2708 SDXC Express controller some time ago, the same controller found within that microSD Express card.  …

A few years back we did a preview article on a new controller card by Silicon Motion named the SM2708.  This controller was originally tested with an engineering sample  SDXC ‘Express’ card and returned speeds just below 900MB/s which was in line with the newest SD Association SD7.x standard.  To clarify, SD 7.0 pertains to SDXC cards while SD 7.1 …

This all started through my curiosity as to whether I could gain a better battery life from my new laptop.  Things took on a new life from there.  After all,  we do have just about every main stream SSD available, to include client and even a few not released yet.  In this report, you will see the world’s top consumer …

I am somewhat of a laptop nut.  Part and parcel to extensive travel for The SSD Review, my laptop has to be two things; high performing and it must have an amazing battery life.  Add to that the fact that I want a big OLED screen that I can flip, USB4 ports in something around 3 lbs and there was …

SMI had the SM2504XT Gen 5 SSD controller on display at Flash Memory Summit 2025 this week and this controller is a 4-channel NVMe 2.0 SSD controller that can run at up to 3,600MT/s.  When utilizing MSDirect Storage, this controller can operate at an unbelievable 2.4W in active power mode and 1mW in PS4 state. Performance for the SM2504XT is …

It is funny how some things come around.  A few years ago Silicon Motion requested our review of their newest SM2708 SD Express Controller and we posted such, displaying the worlds first SD card achieving speeds of 900MB/s.  That was back in 2021.  That controller recently appeared in a Google Alert and it appears the latest Nintendo Switch 2 Gaming …