Intel has demonstrated how its Core i9-12900K Alder Lake processor can work with Samsung’s recently announced PM1743 PCIe 5.0 x4 SSD. The result is as astonishing as it is predictable: the platform demonstrated approximately 13.8 GBps throughput in the IOMeter benchmark.
Intel planned to show the demo at CES, however, the company is no longer going in person. So, Ryan Shrout, Intel’s chief performance strategist, decided to share the demo publicly via Twitter.
The system used for the demonstration included a Core i9-12900K processor, an Asus Z690 motherboard and an EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics board. Intel hooked up Samsung’s PM1743 SSD using a special PCIe 5.0 interposer card and the drive certainly did not disappoint. From a practical standpoint, 13.8 GBps may be overkill for regular desktop users, but for those who need to load huge games, work with large 8K video files or ultra-high-resolution images will appreciate the added performance. However, there is a small catch with this demo.
Apparently, Samsung will be among the first to ship its PM1743 PCIe 5.0 drives, which is why Intel decided to use this SSD for the demonstration. But Samsung’s PM1743-series is aimed at enterprises, so it will be available in a 2.5-inch/15mm with dual-port support and new-generation E3.S (76 × 112.75 × 7.5mm) form-factors, so it is not aimed at desktops (and Intel admits that).
Meanwhile, there are several companies preparing PCIe 5.0 SSDs and SSD controllers for client PCs (Adata,Phison, Silicon Motion), so we are probably going to learn details about their hardware or even see it in action next week. Eventually, these drives will join our ranks of the best SSDs, though we are not sure when.
One of the main selling points of Intel’s 12th Alder Lake processors is undoubtedly PCIe 5.0 support. Unfortunately, Intel could not demonstrate any benefits of the next-generation interface back in November during the platform’s launch since there were no PCIe 5.0-capable graphics cards and SSDs on the market at the time.
