The TINY 1TB SSD

The video examines the Kioxia BG4, a remarkably compact 1TB NVMe SSD designed for small form factor systems. It starts by placing the device in context, comparing its tiny footprint to the traditional 2.5 inch drives and highlighting its potential use in notebook PCs. The host explains the BG4’s lineage, tracing its roots back to OCZ and Toshiba Memory, and clarifies that this is a current generation business-to-business SSD rather than a consumer retail product. He then disassembles the external packaging only to reveal a bare M.2 style PCB, noting that the drive operates without a conventional DRAM cache, which is unusual for NVMe devices. The discussion shifts to architecture, detailing how NAND is organized, the absence of a DRAM cache, and the implications for performance and endurance in light of common caching strategies. The video moves into practical testing, showing the BG4 installed in a compact test setup and running a suite of benchmarks to measure sequential read and write speeds, as well as latency under various workloads. Results show respectable throughput, with reads around 2 GB/s and writes over 1 GB/s, while latency remains under a millisecond in many cases. The host notes the drive’s cooling limitations and how heavy multi-file workloads can degrade performance closer to HDD territory, though peak speeds remain competitive for its size. He concludes that for light daily use, the BG4 is a compelling option when small form factor and power efficiency are prioritized, but it may not be the best fit for mainstream consumers given the lack of a retail path and the niche use case. The video ends with a quick aside to sponsors and a final reminder that this tiny drive represents a notable milestone in storage density that will excite enthusiasts who crave ultra-compact hardware, all while hinting at related high-end performance comparisons.

Topics · hardware analysis · storage devices · technology hardware · consumer electronics