Final Words & Conclusion

Final Words & Conclusion

The S90 Lite's high performance is achieved by combining the Phison E21 controller with Micron's latest 172-layer Micron NAND memory, which is written as TLC. This makes it a mid-range NVMe SSD in terms of performance and price point. While it is PCIe 4.0 compliant, this doesn't add much extra value in terms of performance in trace testing, which is average. However, when compared to enthusiast-level performance level SSDs from three years ago, the S90 Lite's performance is comparable, showcasing just how quickly technology is advancing. The price of 12 cents per GB is a great value, making this NVMe 1.4 SSD a very reasonable and cost-effective alternative for those looking for a balance of performance and affordability.

Performance

The S90 Lite is a solid-state drive (SSD) that performs well in most synthetic benchmarks, but it is not necessarily geared towards enthusiasts. It struggles with random writes under heavy workloads, and its performance in application and game traces is not as impressive. However, the S90 Lite excels in sequential performance with write rates exceeding 3 GB/s and reads of 5 GB/s. Once the SLC cache is depleted, the SSD falls back to a FIFO write performance of roughly 1700 MB/sec, which is still impressive. It's worth noting that real-world use benchmarks, such as trace tests, can be challenging to optimize for. This is why we use sophisticated trace tests to confirm our hypotheses. In this case, the S90 Lite performs decently at best, and it is not a standout feature of the device. Overall, while the S90 Lite may not be the best option for enthusiasts or those who prioritize real-world use performance, it does offer excellent sequential performance, which may be beneficial for other use cases.

Concluding

When considering this SSD, it's important to keep in mind that it is fast enough for most people's needs, but it may not be considered a "super-fast" SSD by today's standards. In particular, it is slower in application and game traces compared to other options on the market. However, it still offers a high level of performance, and even when the SLC write cache runs out, the SSD is still able to write linearly at 1700 MB/sec. One of the standout features of this SSD is its price point. The 1TB version costs 110 USD, or 11 cents per GB, making it one of the more affordable PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs available today. However, it's worth noting that this SSD is offering roughly PCIe 3.0 levels of performance, which is a notch lower than what is expected from a PCIe 4.0 product. Hopefully, in the future, larger 4TB versions of this product will be available as it offers a good value at around 10 cents per GB. Additionally, the warranty is guaranteed for five years.

In summary, if you don't require extremely demanding workloads and are looking for an affordable SSD option, this product will suffice. It offers decent performance at a reasonable price, and a five-year warranty.

Update: the values just have been relayed and look to be very decent:

• 512GB >300TB
• 1TB     > 600TB
• 2TB     > 1200TB

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