It is not a secret that Samsung Electronics has plans to manufacture triple-level-cell (TLC) 3D V-NAND flash memory and even build solid-state drives on its base. What is surprising is that such memory is not only already in production, but that the company is already preparing an SSD family based on three-bit 3D V-NAND.

At the IFA 2014 trade-show in Berlin, Germany, Samsung demonstrated a prototype of a solid-state drive based on the NAND flash memory that combines relatively low manufacturing cost with high performance and high endurance, according to Les Numeriques. No exact details about the upcoming Samsung 850 Evo SSDs are known, but it is clear that they will be available in 2.5” form-factor and with Serial ATA-6Gb/s interface.

Manufacturers of NAND flash are always looking for ways to increase bit density of their memory amid growing demand for solid-state storage and necessity to lower price of NAND flash. One of the ways to boost bit density is to increase the amount of bits stored by every NAND flash cell to three bits (up from two bits in case of MLC), which greatly decreases write endurance of memory. Another way is to make NAND flash using thinner manufacturing technology, which also lowers write endurance. When both methods are combined, write endurance of memory gets dramatically low.

Yet another way to boost bit density is to stack numerous layers of NAND flash vertically; this type of memory is called 3D V-NAND. Samsung uses 42nm process technology to make 3D V-NAND, which greatly increases its endurance compared to planar NAND flash made using 10nm- or 20nm-class process technologies. Moreover, performance of stacked NAND flash is pretty high too.

Given the fact that Samsung is already demonstrating its 850 Evo SSDs at a trade-show, it is highly likely that they will reach the market in the foreseeable future, a good news for those, who plan to get an affordable SSD for Christmas.

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KitGuru Says: Actual pricing of the Samsung 850 Evo SSDs remains to be seen, but given that the manufacturing costs of TLC NAND are pretty low, it is highly likely that the novelty will become another best-seller for Samsung…

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