The GTC 2015 show floor was home to several technology demonstrations, ranging from gaming graphics / consumer tech to self-navigating vehicle AI. GTC is a more enterprise-driven show than most that we attend, evidenced by ASRock's server rack presence and a heavy saturation of Quadro FX cards, but it's still important to gamers.
Aside from the obvious -- which would be the Titan X unveil -- GTC showcases technology that inevitably works its way down to the consumer market. We visited PNY at the show to look at the upcoming CL4111 Client SSD, the existing CS2111 XLR8 gaming SSD, and a host of graphics adapters.
CL4111 Client SSD Specs
| Capacity | 240, 480, 960GB |
| Interface | SATA III |
| Controller | SF2281 (240/480) SMI2246 (960) |
| Sequential Performance | 540MB/s read (SF2281) 500MB/s write (SF2281) 560MB/s read (SMI2246) 455MB/s write (SMI2246) |
| 4K Random IOPS | 40K read (SF2281) 85K write (SF2281) 71K read (SMI2246) 75K write (SMI2246) |
| Warranty | 5 Years |
The "Client" SSD is marketed in a similar segment to Samsung's 850 Pro, both of which offer advanced security and encryption options and longer warranties than their gaming counterparts. PNY's new drive uses both the SandForce SF2281 controller and Silicon Motion (SMI) 2246EN controller, depending on capacity; 240GB and 480GB capacities will be driven by SandForce, the 960GB capacity will be driven by SMI. This is the primary differentiator between the two devices.
In terms of performance, as rated by PNY, the difference is massive when measuring read IOPS: SandForce pushes about 40K IOPS read vs. SMI's 71K IOPS, but boasts 85K write IOPS against 75K from SMI. Sequential speeds brush up against the SATA bus on both controllers and are less noticeable in their deltas.
PNY rates the CL4111 at 1.5 million hours MTBF and provides a 5-year warranty for the SSD. The company's gaming SSD, the CS2111 XLR8, offers a 2-year warranty that can be extended to 4 years upon registration of the hardware. Pricing was not available at the show.
Other devices at the show included the Quadro lineup of high-performance computing cards, displayed alongside a lone GTX 980. We'll have more GPU-related information from PNY in the near future.
- Steve "Lelldorianx" Burke.