Solidigm P44 Pro (1TB/2TB) M.2 NVMe SSD Review - Introduction

Solidigm P44 PRO 1TB/2TB M.2 NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen 4.0)
Hovering at 7 GB/sec with TLC

We review the P44 Pro Plus M.2 NVMe SSD series, a PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD, especially regarding access times and throughput with a Hynix ACNS075 controller paired with Hynix 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash over PCIe Gen 4.0; this device delivers super-fast performance levels and all-time low access times.

The Solidigm P44 Pro is based on 176-layer 3D NAND and is widely available in M.2 2280 sizes of TB and 2 TB versions. The Hynix ACNS075 controller and Hynix 176-layer 3D TLC NAND flash form the foundation of the Solidigm P44 Pro. Including a DRAM cache chip is consistent with the product's premium positioning. If you are wondering, that's pretty much the same spec as the SK Hynix Platinum P41 we reviewed a while ago. This product is based on that SSD; however, with a  custom NVMe driver and further optimized firmware, this SSD will become among the fastest SSDs we've ever tested. Prices for the Solidigm P44 Pro range from $80 for a 512 GB model to $130 for a 1 TB model and $235 for a 2 TB model. These versions have been configured with 500 TBW, 750 TBW, and 1200 TBW of endurance, respectively. The P44 Pro SSD from Solidigm has a five-year prolonged warranty. So for 2 TB at $235 that's $115 per TB versus the 1 TB model at $130. Solidigm cites sensible transfer rates for the P44 Pro Plus, on par with other TLC-based drives. Sequential read and write speeds are 7,000MB/s (1TB and 2TB models) and on writes 6500 MB/s (2TB model only).  For the high-capacity model, the Solidigm P44 Pro has an MTBF of 1.6 million hours and an endurance rating of 1,200TBW. It also supports AES 256-bit encryption and TCC Pyrite.

Available Capacities	512GB	1TB	2TB
PerformanceSpecifications
SequentialBandwidth ? 100% Read(up to)	7,000MB/s	7,000MB/s	7,000MB/s
SequentialBandwidth ? 100% Write (up to)	4,700MB/s	6,500MB/s	6,500MB/s
Power Active Sequential Write	7.5 W
Endurance Rating (Lifetime Writes)	500 TBW	750 TBW	1200 TBW
Mean time between failures(MTBF)	1.6 million hours
UncorrectableBit Error Rate (UBER)
warranty period	5 years
Package Specifications
form factor	M.2 22 x 80mm
Interface	PCIe 4.0 x4 | NVMe 1.4
AdvancedSpecifications
hardware encryption	AES 256-bit Encryption, TCC Pyrite Supported
End-to-End Data Protection	Supported
NSIT Secure Erase	Supported

SK Hynix ACNS075 controller

The main controller of the Solidigm P44 Pro is SK Hynix's ACNS075, codenamed Aries Aries, and manufactured on TSMC's 12nm technology. It is a quad-core Cortex-R5 controller that supports eight-channel flash memory, with a maximum transmission rate of 1600MT/s for each channel flash memory. The DRAM cache is a 1GB LPDDR4 SK Hynix H54G36AYRBX257. The flash memory is a charge-trapping 176-layer stacked 3D TLC flash memory from SK Hynix. It uses the ONFI 4.2 protocol and has a transmission rate of 1600MT/s. Two chips together form a capacity of 1TB.