SK hynix Develops Its Very Own “AI PC” PCB01 SSD, Boasting Up To 14 GB/s Speeds & Much More

SK hynix aims to mass-produce "AI PC" PCB01 SSDs, which are expected to boast cutting-edge speeds on the latest PCIe Gen5 standard.

It looks like SK hynix is ready to join the AI PC bandwagon after making huge strides in the HBM markets. The firm has recently announced the development of "PCB01", which they call an SSD for on-device AI PCs, and according to the company, the storage will be the fastest one in the industry, beating competitors by a gigantic margin. Although details regarding the PB01 are slim, SK hynix has revealed certain elements that justify the capabilities these new drives will hold. Here's how the company describes their venture:

The product marks the first case where the industry adopts the fifth generation of the 8-channel PCIe technology and brings innovation to performance including the data processing speed.

With a validation process with a global PC customer underway, SK hynix plans to mass produce and start shipping the products to both corporate customers and general consumers within this year.

PCB01 comes with the capabilities of sequential read and write speeds of 14GB and 12GB per second, respectively, bringing the performance of an SSD to the level unseen before. The speeds allow the operation of a large language model, or LLM, for AI training and inference, in a second.

The product also comes with an improvement in power efficiency of more than 30% compared with the previous generation, enhancing the stability of the large-scale AI computing tasks.

The reported sequential read and write speeds of SK hynix's PCB01 are at 14,000 MB/s and 12,000 MB/s, respectively, definitely putting it at the top tier list of SSD speeds, although not at the very top, since competitors like the Crucial T705 are rated to run at higher speeds.

The SK hynix PCB01 SSD utilizes the fifth generation of the 8-channel PCIe technology for cutting-edge processing. Apart from that, the PCB01 supports LLM models and AI training and inferencing as well with the power it has onboard and to top everything off, the SSD is said to be 30% more efficient than the previous generation, which is another bonus to contribute to its mass-adoption.

Another interesting fact is that the PCB01 employs the SLC (Single-Level Cell) caching technology, which also allows for more efficient use of NAND cells, ultimately ensuring higher transfer speeds and greater durability. The SSD also includes embedded security features such as the ROT (Root Of Trust) to prevent external attacks and data manipulation., making it vital for an AI environment where a ton of data processing is involved.

Regarding the market debut, SK Hynix says that they are currently in the certification phase with global PC clients and expect the PCB01 SSDs to enter mass production by this year, with launch anticipated for both the consumer and the clientele segment. SK hynix says that the PCB01 will be available in 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB capacities, and pricing hasn't been disclosed yet.