Adata talks about NeonStorm PCIe 5.0 SSD
Adata presented the NeonStorm PCI 5.0 solid state drive with a self-contained liquid cooling system at Computex. The manufacturer had already announced this new product, but gave more details about it at the show.
It has been revealed that NeonStorm is based on an advanced controller from Silicon Motion. But perhaps the most interesting feature of the novelty is its self-contained liquid cooling system. While it doesn’t quite look like a typical unattended LSS.
Image Credit: Tom’s Hardware
As heat is generated by the storage device, it is dissipated and conducted through a thermal pad and metal heatsink to maximize the dissipation area. The heat is then transferred to the vessel where it is absorbed by a special high performance coolant which in turn is cooled by an aluminum alloy tube inside the vessel. The tube itself is cooled by two compact fans mounted on either side of the SSD. According to Adata, their coolant efficiency is up to 20% higher than traditional SSD cooling systems, including active SSD cooling systems with fans.
The Adata NeonStorm drive is based on the Silicon Motion SM2508 controller. Compliant with NVMe 2.0 specifications, it is capable of up to 14 GB/s sequential read, 12 GB/s sequential write and random read/write performance of up to 2M IOPS, which is comparable to an SSD of the Enterprise class is comparable. The SM2508 controller itself supports up to 8TB of flash memory.
The main advantage of the LSS of the Adata NeonStorm drives is that the system is completely autonomous and there is no need to connect an external heatsink. Additionally, there are virtually no parts that can fail, other than the fans, which can likely be replaced if necessary. However, as in any other case, there is additional noise inside the PC when using compact fans. In addition, fans require an additional power supply – NeonStorm is equipped with a cable for this. Adata expressed hope that Silicon Motion can optimize the controller’s power consumption, allowing the cooling fans to be powered directly from the M.2 connector rather than from an external source.
Adata NeonStorm drives will soon no longer be available for sale. The manufacturer is still thinking about making the fans quieter, while Silicon Motion solves the energy efficiency problem of its controller.
