Patriot's first PCIe Gen5 SSD hits 12.4 GB/s without a massive cooler

Regarding new PCIe Gen5 SSDs, we're in the middle of an arms race, where it's all about hitting speeds previously unheard of in the storage space. As with all things tech, going faster means generating more heat, and when it comes to new PCIe Gen5 storage - additional cooling is no longer an option.

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The new Viper PV553 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD, image credit: Patriot.

Heatsinks, pipes, and active fans for SSDs are here - and even liquid cooling. The first PCIe Gen5 products to hit the scene that pushed sequential read speeds up to 10GB/s required some serious cooling.

With Patriot debuting its first PCIe Gen5 drive at Computex 2023, the Viper PV553 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD, the company has managed to deliver impressive sequential read speeds of up to 12,400MB/s (12.4GB/s) and write speeds up to 11,800MB/s (11.8GB/s) using a low-profile cooler.

At first glance, it looks like the sort of heatsink you'd find on a PCIe Gen4 SSD designed for the PlayStation 5, except that it's not, and there's a tiny little fan making it an actively cooled PCIe Gen5 SSD. Or, as Patriot Memory and Viper Gaming put it, an 'Active Thermal Dissipation SSD.'

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The final Viper PV553 M.2 2280 PCIe Gen5 x4 SSD will feature a cable to suit its look, image credit: Patriot.

We've been told that release info for the Viper PV553 will be coming soon, but we know it will be available in capacities from 1TB up to 4TB. After seeing it in person at Computex, we can imagine that this will be high on the list for many looking for a high-speed PCIe Gen5 option that doesn't come attached to a massive cooling tower of pipe and other thermal bits and pieces.