Silicon Power P34A60 1000GB

The Silicon Power P34A60 is an entry-level NVMe drive using a DRAM-less architecture over a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface. It typically uses the Silicon Motion SM2263XT controller with Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to compensate for the lack of onboard DRAM, paired with 3D TLC NAND and a dynamic pseudo-SLC caching algorithm for burst throughput. Production revisions have shown component variation (including alternative controllers like the Phison E13T and different NAND suppliers), which can affect thermal behavior and sustained write speeds after cache saturation. The drive is generally single-sided and compatible with thin ultrabooks.

Key Specifications

• Interface: PCIe Gen 3.0 x4, NVMe 1.3
• Controller: Silicon Motion SM2263XT (Common) / Phison E13T (Variant)
• NAND Type: 3D TLC
• Sequential Read/Write: 2200 MB/s / 1600 MB/s
• DRAM Cache: No (HMB Supported)
• Endurance (TBW): Rated 600 TBW (for 1TB model)
• Physical Trait: Single-sided PCB layout

Hardware Alternatives

• HP EX900 / Lexar NM610: These drives often share the Silicon Motion SM2263XT reference design, offering nearly identical theoretical performance profiles and HMB implementations.
• WD Blue SN550: A direct functional competitor in the DRAM-less PCIe 3.0 segment; it uses a proprietary SanDisk controller and a static SLC cache, providing a different approach to sustained write consistency compared to the P34A60's dynamic caching.
• Crucial P2: Often cited as a comparable alternative, though the P2 has historically shown greater variance between TLC and QLC NAND in later revisions, whereas the P34A60 has largely remained on TLC.