Gigabyte has announced a new addition to its line of Aorus SSDs. The aptly if unexcitedly named ‘Aorus Gen5 14000’ is a match for the fastest solid-state storage around. With read speeds up to 14,500MB/s (14.5GB/s), this drive boasts plenty of speed and capacity.
Aorus Gen5 14000 comes in 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB flavours. However, each SKU has the same 3D TLC NAND flash and M.2 2280 form factor. In addition to its 14,500MB/s sequential read speed, it also boasts a sequential write speed of 12,700MB/s (12.7GB/s). These specs place it among the best SSDs on the market, competing with the likes of Crucial T705. This should come as no surprise though, as it uses the same Phison PS5026-E26 controller.
| Model | Capacity | Max. sequential read | Max. sequential write |
|---|---|---|---|
| AG514K1TB | 1TB | 13,600MB/s (13.6GB/s) | 10,200MB/s (10.2GB/s) |
| AG514K2TB | 2TB | 14,500MB/s (14.5GB/s) | 12,700MB/s (12.7GB/s) |
| AG514K4TB | 4TB | 14,100MB/s (14.1GB/s) | 12,600MB/s (12.6GB/s) |
Naturally, these speeds are in part thanks to the PCIe 5.0 x4 interface on Aorus Gen5 14000. While 14,500MB/s appears to be the current ceiling, the standard is theoretically capable of 15,800MB/s (15.8GB/s) of throughput. Like other SSDs, it is backwards compatible with motherboards sporting older standards. However, the drive would only run at around half its speed via PCIe 4.0, halved again on PCIe 3.0.
Unlike previous SSDs from Gigabyte, Aorus Gen5 14000 doesn’t appear to ship with an included heatsink. As such, you’ll need to pair with a heatsink either from your motherboard or a bespoke M.2 cooler. Thankfully, practically all boards with PCIe 5.0 support arrive with such solutions. Still, the drive’s thermal performance remains to be seen as its speed could make it particularly unruly.
Gigabyte will offer Aorus Gen5 14000 SSDs with a five-year warranty. Don’t forget though, that this is subject to drive durability too, which ranges from 700-1,400TBW. Sadly, the brand hasn’t indicated when it plans to release these drives nor how much they’ll cost. We can’t imagine they’ll be cheap, mind, particularly given its 1TB predecessor goes for £170.
If you’ve a need for speed now, give our MSI Spatium M580 Frozr review a read.