Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

SILICON SILIC CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher/Editor Nicholas Vinen Technical Editor John Clarke – B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Bao Smith – B.Sc. Tim Blythman – B.E., B.Sc. Advertising Enquiries (02) 9939 3295 adverts<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Allan Linton-Smith Dave Thompson David Maddison – B.App.Sc. (Hons 1), PhD, Grad.Dip.Entr.Innov. Geoff Graham Associate Professor Graham Parslow Dr Hugo Holden – B.H.B, MB.ChB., FRANZCO Ian Batty – M.Ed. Phil Prosser – B.Sc., B.E.(Elec.) Cartoonist Louis Decrevel loueee.com Founding Editor (retired) Leo Simpson – B.Bus., FAICD Silicon Chip is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 626 922 870. ABN 20 880 526 923. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Subscription rates (Australia only) 6 issues (6 months): $72.50 12 issues (1 year): $135 24 issues (2 years): $255 Online subscription (Worldwide) 6 issues (6 months): $52.50 12 issues (1 year): $100 24 issues (2 years): $190 For overseas rates, see our website or email silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au * recommended & maximum price only Postal address: PO Box 194, Matraville, NSW 2036. Phone: (02) 9939 3295. ISSN: 1030-2662 Printing and Distribution: 1 Huntingwood Dr, Huntingwood NSW 2148 54 Park St, Sydney NSW 2000 2 Silicon Chip Editorial Viewpoint Expect more Chinese-brand computer parts Thanks to the current AI boom (bubble, in my opinion) consuming vast quantities of DRAM and flash memory, computer memory and solid-state storage prices have been climbing sharply. At the same time, China has been pushing hard to become more globally competitive in higher-end semiconductors, including flash memory, DRAM and eventually CPUs and GPUs. Seeing how the price of DRAM has risen dramatically over the past year (in some cases several-fold) and with rumours that storage prices were set to follow suit, which they now appear to be doing, I decided to buy a bigger SSD to add to my computer. Adding a 2TB drive to my existing 1TB drive would have been enough for now, but I suspected I might regret that decision if I needed more space later and had to pay significantly more to upgrade. So I decided to go with a 4TB NVMe drive, at the upper end of what’s currently available at prices that could still be described as reasonable. Shopping around, I wasn’t particularly impressed. Even budget “mainstream” brand SSDs were around $550 for a 4TB model that wasn’t especially fast. Better-known brands clustered in the $650–700 range; for example, a Samsung 990 EVO Plus at around $640, or a Lexar NM790 coming in at about $695. Then I came across a brand I’d never heard of: Fanxiang. They were offering drives with apparently better performance, a five-year warranty, and a price just over $400. I ended up paying $424 including delivery for their 4TB S880E PCIe 4.0 model. It uses TLC flash (generally preferable to QLC), promises around 7.3GB/s read and 6.6GB/s write speeds, and has a quoted endurance of about 3000TB written – more than adequate for my needs. Online reviews and benchmarks suggest it’s a solid and reliable performer, although, as always, time will tell. What struck me was that this may be part of a broader trend. Fanxiang is a brand of Shenzhen IDCEMS Technology Co Ltd, and it appears their drives use flash memory from Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (YMTC), China’s first large-scale commercial 3D NAND flash memory manufacturer. YMTC was established as part of China’s strategic push to build indigenous semiconductor capability. They are positioning themselves as a competitor to established flash manufacturers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, Kioxia, Micron and Western Digital, with technology that is increasingly competitive in the global marketplace. As with any SSD, overall reliability depends not just on the flash itself, but also on the controller, firmware and validation. I suspect we’ll start seeing something similar with Chinese-made DDR5 DIMMs as Western brands price themselves out of reach for many home users. It wouldn’t surprise me if we eventually see Chinese motherboards too. It will probably be some time before Chinese CPUs and GPUs are genuinely competitive with offerings from Intel, AMD and NVIDIA, but I wouldn’t rule it out. We’re already seeing many Chinese cars on our roads, and Chinese brand appliances in our stores. I don’t think computers will be any different. That means more competition and more affordable hardware, so it may not be a bad thing. Finally, if you need a new SSD, I suggest you get one sooner rather than later. by Nicholas Vinen Cover background: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-blurry-image-of-a-blue-sky-with-clouds-oKfcrzCM9og Cover solar panel: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-solar-panel-on-the-ground-HEu4G6tJ0Nw Australia's electronics magazine siliconchip.com.au