The three major pieces of master control, flash memory, and DRAM cache are all self-produced, which is one of the advantages of the original SSD. After entering the PCIe 4.0 era, Invisal launched the P5 Plus series, offering 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacity models, and the storage geek tested the commonly used 1TB version this time.
Going from P5 to P5 Plus is not as simple as upgrading from PCIe 3.0 to PCIe 4.0 interface. For the first time, the YCR P5 Plus also replaces the FG floating-gate architecture flash memory on the P5 with Micron's new RG architecture NAND flash memory.
The RG NAND uses a charge trap unit with a silicon nitride (SiN) storage layer, and the word line is replaced by tungsten metal instead of the original stacked SiN film. Compared with the FG architecture, the capacitive coupling problem between flash memory cells can be reduced and the reliability of flash memory can be improved.
The RG architecture's control gate is changed from polysilicon to metal, which can make the programming pulse rise rapidly, support the single-pass programming write algorithm, and greatly improve the flash memory write speed.
As one of the most affordable models in the original PCIe 4.0 flagship, the Indydia P5 Plus cannot be said to be completely flawless: the sequential read speed of 6600MB/s is about 6% lower than the mass level of 7000MB/s. Micron's 176-layer 3D TLC flash memory is used in many PCIe 4.0 SSDs, and as Micron's "pro-son", the P5 Plus is not weak but has a different focus.
Micron acquired the enterprise-level master control research and development company Tidal Systems in 2015, and from P5 onwards, Invisal consumer SSDs also began to use Micron's own master control chips. The P5 Plus uses micron DM02A1 master control with PCIe 4.0 support, and features an enterprise-class advanced data protection technology: RAIN (redundant array of independent NAND) independent NAND redundant arrays, which can greatly improve SSD reliability, but at the expense of a small amount of performance. Is the performance for stable value not worth it? Let's start with the principle.
For ordinary SSDs, the ECC data used for error correction is stored in the spare area of the flash page, and cannot handle the failure of the entire page, the entire block, or even the entire die. Although such failures are rare, they are catastrophic in the first place, and there is little hope of saving the data.
The principle of RAIN is similar to that of RAID arrays, except that the array is not composed of a single hard disk, but a flash die (small dies removed from the wafer, a flash memory particle can encapsulate multiple NAND dies).
Micron's RAIN is built for enterprise-grade SSD security. Since home SSDs generally use SLC caches and are not suitable for building RAID arrays, the need for RAID redundancy protection in SSD monomers is even higher. RAIN can have 7+1, 15+1, 127+1 and other combinations, Andreida did not announce the specifications used by the P5 Plus, but it is not difficult for us to calculate that the 1TB capacity SSD has 16 512Gb capacity NAND flash die.
If a 15+1 RAID group is used, RAIN protection can be achieved within the standard 7% OP over-provisioning space. Since 1/16 of the data read by the SSD from flash memory is redundant data for data protection, sequential read and write performance is degraded proportionally. P5 Plus has exchanged about 6% sequential read speed for several times the security improvement, which I think is still worth it.
Specific to the actual use of the link, the performance loss will be smaller. Storage Geek compared and tested the Inronta P5 Plus and Kingston KC3000, which also use Micron's 176-layer 3D TLC flash memory, the latter using the group PS5018-E18 master, sequential reading speed of 7400MB/s, and I specifically found a top 4TB model to compare, and the result was still Thatertek P5 Plus 1TB in the PCMark 10 full system disk benchmark test won:
Compare the system launch and game loading items that best reflect the way the home SSD is used: the KC3000's faster sequential read speeds have not translated into practical performance benefits, but the Yredia P5 Plus has led the way in most projects.
In summary, the Invisal P5 Plus doesn't excel at intuitive sequential read speeds, but the advanced 176-layer stacked RG architecture flash memory combined with Micron's exclusive RAIN independent NAND redundant array technology provides players with an ideal choice for both gaming performance and data security.