Wot, no RGB, Kenneth?
I dread to think how much an 8TB SSD will cost…
Can we please just have an 8 TB SATA SSD?
that probably about 2k USD
I guess if you have a high end Threadripper rig to have the spare PCIe lanes, the cost isn't so bad.
Do the higher end “rippers” have more lanes than smaller parts ?
I would get if GEN 2 have more than GEN 1 like my 1920X, and the next GEN probably have even more lanes to do good with.
With a lotto win i would snag something like this up for my Killer computer build.
I've noticed at some IT websites that newer chipsets are now reporting auto-detection of “4x4” bifurcation, instead of manual setting in the motherboard BIOS. For example, Patrick Kennedy's latest newsletter asks a good question: how does this AIC present itself to an Operating System? A natural evolution of such devices should include native support of all modern RAID modes, in addition to “JBOD” mode. In the latter JBOD mode, then, the OS should see four independent drives, or 3 if only 3 x M.2 are installed, etc. Another logical question is this: can multiples of this AIC be installed in the same motherboard, and can a RAID array span 2 or more of these AICs? For example, the Gen3 ASRock Ultra Quad M.2 AIC does support more than 1 installed in the same motherboard.
p.s. I also suspect that the limiting factor in stated performance
is due to the on-board controller. x16 lanes of PCIe 4.0
do have a much higher max raw bandwidth of ~31,500 MB/second:
16G / 8.125 x 4 lanes x 4 M.2 = 31,507 MB/second
(The 128b/130b “jumbo frame” has 130 bits / 16 bytes = 8.125 bits per byte
i.e. 1 start bit + 16 bytes @ 8 bits + 1 stop bit = 130 bits total per jumbo frame)
Gentle Viking;4146701
Do the higher end “rippers” have more lanes than smaller parts ?
I would get if GEN 2 have more than GEN 1 like my 1920X, and the next GEN probably have even more lanes to do good with.
Sorry I meant threadripper as higher end than the standard AM4 socket Ryzen chips. With AM4 one of these soaks up most of your PCIe lanes, with Threadripper you get twice the lanes so more likely to have enough spare.
Based on stated raw bandwidths, x4 @ Gen4 should perform very close to x8 @ Gen3:
x16 for this AIC + x4 for the chipset + x4 for the GPU = 24 PCIe lanes total
Threadripper is probably a better choice, because of its extra lanes.
MRFS
16G / 8.125 x 4 lanes x 4 M.2 = 31,507 MB/second
The stated 15GB/s performance across 4 NVMe drives gives you 3.75GB/s out of each drive which is right for a current top of the range M.2 SSD. Your calculations show that when faster SSDs come out this adaptor should have a bit of bandwidth in reserve to make use of them. It doesn't usually take long for technology to give us a doubling in storage performance though, so I expect in a few years this thing will be maxxed out. Not that I can feel any difference from one SSD to the next in real life usage.
You are right that more people could get away with x4 PCIe4 on their GPU allowing this to work in an AM4 socket, but I suspect from the resistance people have to using a GPU in a x8 slot dropping to a x4 will be met with revulsion by many and just won't happen. Besides, if you can afford an SSD like this then you can afford a Threadripper :)
This will most likely be aimed at content creators using HEDT systems, that's the only way you'll get the full benefits of all your components, could be a bit of a game changer for video editors.
Pricing = if you have to ask you can't afford it ;)