Micron's pioneering PCI 6.0 SSD boasts sequential read speeds of up to 28,000 MB/s, with a massive 245 TB variant for users prioritizing capacity over breakneck speed.
Micron, a leading manufacturer of memory and storage solutions, has announced the launch of two new Solid-State Drive (SSD) families: the 9650 and the 6600 ION. These SSDs are designed to cater to the growing demands of datacenters and AI applications, offering improved performance, capacity, and energy efficiency.
The Micron 9650 SSD
The Micron 9650 SSD is the world's first PCIe 6.0 x4 SSD, tailored for datacenter and AI server workloads. It boasts impressive specifications:
- Sequential read speed: Up to 28 GB/s
- Sequential write speed: Up to 14 GB/s
- Random read IOPS: Up to 5.5 million
- Random write IOPS: Up to 900,000
- Storage capacity: Up to 30.72 TB per unit
- Form factors: EDSFF E1.S (9.5mm and 15mm) and E3.S 1T, including liquid-cooled versions for consistent high performance
- Endurance: Up to 282,600 TBW (terabytes written)
- Energy efficiency: Up to 67% better in random reads and 25% in random writes compared to PCIe 5.0 SSDs
- Additional features: FIPS 140-3 Level 2 security options and Trade Agreement Act compliance for U.S. government use
- Use targeting: AI inference and training workloads requiring ultra-low latency and extreme throughput
The 9650 SSD is based on Micron’s proprietary controller and 9th Gen 276-layer 3D TLC NAND.
The 6600 ION SSD Family
The 6600 ION SSD family focuses on massive capacity and energy efficiency using QLC NAND on a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface:
- Capacities: Starting at 30.72 TB, scaling to 245 TB (expected in H1 2026)
- Target applications: Storage-dense environments where capacity and power savings matter more than cutting-edge speed
- Energy efficiency: 4.9 TB per watt, with claimed 37% better energy efficiency than equivalent HDD arrays
- Usage: Designed for datacenter storage density at lower costs compared to TLC NAND drives
Comparison with the Best PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs
The Micron 9650's sequential read speed of 28 GB/s and random read IOPS of 5.5M substantially exceed PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs, which typically max near 14 GB/s sequential read and significantly fewer random IOPS.
PCIe 6.0 doubles the maximum throughput over PCIe 5.0, enabling these leaps in speed. The 9650 also delivers better energy efficiency (~25-67% improvement) compared to PCIe 5.0 drives.
The 6600 ION family trades speed for ultra-high capacity and power efficiency on PCIe 5.0, unmatched by typical PCIe 5.0 SSDs that focus on performance rather than scale.
Summary Table
| Feature | Micron 9650 PCIe 6.0 SSD | Micron 6600 ION PCIe 5.0 SSD | Typical PCIe 5.0 x4 SSDs | |---------------------------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------|-----------------------------------| | Interface | PCIe 6.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 | | Sequential read speed | Up to 28 GB/s | Varies, lower than 9650 (not specified, focus on capacity) | Up to ~14 GB/s | | Sequential write speed | Up to 14 GB/s | Lower (not specified) | Lower than 9650 | | Random read IOPS | Up to 5.5 million | Lower but good for capacity-centric| Under 5 million typically | | Random write IOPS | Up to 900,000 | Lower | Variable, often higher than 9650 random writes | | Max capacity | 30.72 TB | Up to 245 TB (expected 2026) | Usually under 100 TB | | NAND type | 9th Gen 276-layer 3D TLC NAND | QLC NAND | TLC NAND typical | | Target use | AI, datacenter high-performance workloads | Capacity/density-oriented datacenter storage | High-performance consumer/datacenter SSDs | | Energy efficiency | Up to 67% better than PCIe 5.0 SSDs | 37% better than comparable HDD arrays | Baseline |
In essence, Micron's 9650 pushes the limits of storage speed and performance leveraging PCIe 6.0 for AI and high-throughput datacenter applications, while the 6600 ION family offers massive capacity and efficient storage on a PCIe 5.0 platform. Both represent significant advancements beyond typical PCIe 5.0 SSDs available today.
Notable developments include the upcoming release of a 245TB version of the 6600 ION in H1 2026 and the 9650 SSD's compatibility with Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs in peer-to-peer PCIe 6.0 mode. Additionally, Dell Technologies' senior vice president of Compute and Networking, Infrastructure Solutions Group, has stated that the Micron 9650 SSD is purpose-built for AI pipelines' high-throughput, low-latency demands.
[1] Micron Press Release: Micron Unveils the World's First PCIe 6.0 x4 SSD
[2] Micron Press Release: Micron Announces 6600 ION SSD Family for High-Density, Power-Efficient Storage
[3] Astera Labs and Micron Demonstrate PCIe 6.0 x4 SSD at Computex
[4] Broadcom and Micron Showcase PCIe 6.0 x4 SSD at Computex
[5] Micron's 9650 SSD is Purpose-Built for AI Pipelines' High-Throughput, Low-Latency Demands
- The data-and-cloud-computing landscape is revolutionized with Micron's newSolid-State Drive (SSD) families, particularly the 9650, which employs data-center-centric technology as the world's first PCIe 6.0 x4 SSD.
- Micron's 6600 ION SSD family, another product in their data-and-cloud-computing solutions, capitalizes on technology advancements, focusing on high capacity and energy efficiency through the use of QLC NAND on a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface.
