As AMD’s latest Ryzen 3000/X570 platforms with PCIe 4.0 support become more widespread on the market, SSD vendors are continuing to ramp up the releaes of their matching PCIe 4.0-based SSDs. Joining the party, KINGMAX, a known maker of components for enthusiasts, has revealed its first PCIe 4.0 SSD family, the PX4480.

The KINGMAX Zeus PX4480 SSDs are based on the Phison PS5016-E16 controller paired with 3D TLC NAND memory, and are available in 500 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB configurations. A surprising thing about these drives is the fact that unlike most Phison PS5016-E16-based SSDs, KINGMAX’s PX4480 devices are not equipped with a heat sink, but come with a sticker made of a plastic-like material, which improves their phsyical compatibility, but might affect their performance under high loads.

Speaking of performance, KINGMAX says that the PX4480 drives are rated for up to 5000 MB/s sequential read speeds, up to 4400 MB/s sequential write speeds (when pSLC caching is enabled), and up to 600K/500K random read/write speeds, which is in-line with competing devices that use the same controller.

As far as endurance is concerned, KINGMAX rates its ‘4x4’ SSDs for up to 3600 terabytes to be written (TBW) depending on the exact model. Meanwhile, the drives are backed by a three-year warranty.

KINGMAX's PX4480 SSDs
Capacity 500 GB 1 TB 2 TB
Model Number ? ? ?
Controller Phison PS5016-E16 (PCIe 4.0 x4)
NAND Flash 3D TLC NAND
Form-Factor, Interface M.2-2280, PCIe 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3
Sequential Read 5000 MB/s
Sequential Write 2500 MB/s 4400 MB/s
Random Read IOPS 400K 600K IOPS
Random Write IOPS 500K 500K IOPS
Pseudo-SLC Caching   Supported
DRAM Buffer ? 1 GB 2 GB
TCG Opal Encryption No
Power Consumption 6.3 W 6.5 W 7 W
Warranty 3 years
MTBF 1.7 million hours
TBW 850 TB 1800 TB 3600 TB
MSRP $? $? $?

Considering that the PX4480 SSDs are powered by a widespread controller and the fact that KINGMAX already lists its PX4480 drives on its website, expect them on the market shortly. Prices should be comparable to similar products from competing suppliers.

Related Reading:

Source: KINGMAX

Comments Locked

7 Comments

View All Comments

  • p1esk - Wednesday, April 1, 2020 - link

    I want to buy a couple of 4.0 ssds - should I wait for Samsung 980 Pro, or are there any others out already that can compete?
  • Mikewind Dale - Wednesday, April 1, 2020 - link

    Every drive out now is based on this Phison PS5016-E16 controller. But this controller is basically a PCIe 3.0 controller with a PCIe 4.0 bridge chip. So its performance is not as good as a native PCIe 4.0 controller. If you can wait, I'd wait - not just for the Samsung 980 Pro, but for all the other native PCIe 4.0 controllers that will be released soon, including one from Phison.
  • romrunning - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    Agreed - wait if you want the latest gen with the highest performance.

    Granted, even the current batch of strong NVMe performers would work well, so you're not giving up too much if you have to get the drives now.
  • Siress - Thursday, May 14, 2020 - link

    Good info. Thank you
  • Makaveli - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    I using the Corsair MP 600 1TB drive based on this same controller and its good. The next revision of these will do 7000 MB/s coming out later this year.
  • croc - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    Gen 4 is SUPPOSED to be almost double the speed of Gen 3. Since I have only seen Phison controllers benchmarked, they all appear to be Gen 3.5 drives... High prices, but no delivery. I will wait. Meantime I might build a Gen 3 Raid card (using a Gen 4 card populated with Gen 3 drives,,, Say Samsung 970 EVO + 2TB drives, (Un)fortunately this puts me in the position of having to buy a 3960x or better CPU as only the sTRX40 chipsets support enough PCIE 4 lanes for when the GOOD PCIE Gen 4 cards finally arrive.The Samsung Gen 4 980 PRO 1TB gets 6.5 GBS rating, but its launch seems more like a paper launch as the drives are not for sale anywhere I can find. I wish the 3900x CPUs clocked better....
  • romrunning - Thursday, April 2, 2020 - link

    "KINGMAX, a known maker of components for enthusiasts," - if they are so well known, then why do you have to provide an introduction? ;)

Log in

Don't have an account? Sign up now