Silicon Motion SM2508 SSD controller features sequential read and write speeds of up to 14 GB/s

At the recent Flash Memory Summit 2023 held in Santa Clara, USA, Silicon Motion showcased its new PCIe 5.0 SSD controller chip, model SM2508, poised to compete with similar products from Phison Electronics in the future.

According to a report by Anandtech, based on the specifications revealed by Silicon Motion, the SM2508 is an 8-channel controller that supports the PCIe 5.0 x4 interface and NVMe 2.0 protocol. It offers maximum sequential read and write speeds of 14 GB/s each, and the highest random read and write speeds are 2.5M IOPS and 2.4M IOPS, respectively. Supporting 3D TLC/QLC NAND flash memory, it is said to be manufactured using TSMC’s 12nm FinFET process. Judging by the paper specifications, its performance appears to surpass the prevalent Phison Electronics’ E26 solution. The power consumption of the SM2508 controller chip is relatively low at 3.5W, comparable to most PCIe 4.0 SSD controller chips, implying that it should be rather ideal in terms of heat dissipation.

Earlier this year at CES 2023, ADATA exhibited the first PCIe 5.0 SSD adopting Silicon Motion’s controller solution, featuring the SM2508. However, the specifications disclosed at that time were somewhat lower. For instance, the speed supported per channel was 3200 MT/s, while the new statement claims an achievement of 3600 MT/s, indicating an enhancement in performance metrics.

Furthermore, Silicon Motion is also preparing another PCIe 5.0 SSD controller chip named SM2504XT. Unlike the high-performance-oriented SM2508, the SM2504XT targets mainstream SSDs and is manufactured using TSMC’s more advanced 7nm process, thus consuming even less power, making it more suitable for mobile devices such as laptops.