In Japan, you can already purchase the first consumer-oriented PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD, manufactured by CFD Gaming, with the launch of its CSSD-M2M2TPG5NFZ. As expected, it has an active fan, and it is noisy.

The drive is based on Phison's E26 controller and Micron's B58R 3D TLC NAND, making it a reference design from Phison. The SSD is available in 1, 2, and 4 TB sizes. @momomo_us stumbled into results of the 2 TB version. The received criticism for producing a high-pitched noise during use, caused by its tiny 17x17 mm, 21,000 rpm fan from Sunon. The noise can be heard in a video linked on @momomo_us' Twitter account. This could potentially turn off many consumers from purchasing the drive.

Performance-wise, the drive's sequential write speeds are slightly faster than claimed by CFD Gaming, as @momomo_us tested it using CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4. On the other hand, random performance is not as impressive, as the drive only performs slightly better than the best PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives. The results of the testing show that the drive's sequential write speeds were accurate to CFD Gaming's claims, but its random performance was not as strong as expected.

While the new PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD from CFD Gaming offers fast sequential write speeds, its high-pitched noise during use may discourage consumers from purchasing the drive. Additionally, its random performance, although better than the best PCIe 4.0 NVMe drives, still leaves room for improvement.

First Consumer PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD Tested, Makes A Lot Of Fan Noise