Silicon Motion Unveils Next-Generation SSD Controllers at Computex 2026
At Computex 2026, Silicon Motion Inc. (SMI) introduced its latest lineup of SSD controllers, highlighting significant advancements for both consumer and enterprise storage solutions. The showcase included new controllers designed to push the boundaries of PCIe Gen 5 and Gen 6 SSD performance, with a focus on efficiency, speed, and support for the latest NAND flash technologies.
SM2524XT: High-Performance DRAMless PCIe Gen 5 SSD Controller for Consumers
The SM2524XT stands out as SMI’s newest DRAMless PCIe Gen 5 SSD controller, engineered for the mid-range consumer market. Built on TSMC’s advanced 6 nm process, the SM2524XT supports the NVMe 2.1 protocol and features four flash channels with 16 chip enables (CEs), each channel delivering up to 4800 MT/s. This architecture enables sequential read speeds of up to 14 GB/s and sequential write speeds reaching 12 GB/s, alongside random access performance of up to 2.2 million IOPS.
Power efficiency is a key highlight, with the controller’s thermal design power (TDP) rated at just 2.5 W during active operation and dropping to as low as 1 mW in PS4 standby mode. The SM2524XT is compatible with all mainstream 3D TLC and QLC NAND flash memory, ensuring broad support for current and future SSD designs.
SM8466: PCIe Gen 6 SSD Controller for Enterprise and AI Workloads
For enterprise applications, SMI introduced the SM8466, its first PCIe Gen 6 SSD controller. Designed to deliver storage performance approaching that of GPUs, the SM8466 is tailored for data centers, AI, and large language model (LLM) workloads that demand high throughput and low latency. The controller utilizes a PCIe 6.0 x4 host interface, offering up to 256 Gbps per direction—equivalent to the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 x16.
The SM8466 features 16 flash channels with 8 CEs per channel, each running at 4800 MT/s. While official support for NVMe 2.3 is not confirmed, the controller is expected to enable advanced computational storage features. It supports enterprise-grade 3D TLC and QLC NAND flash, and can power SSDs with capacities up to 512 TB. Performance targets include sequential transfer rates up to 28 GB/s and random access speeds of up to 7 million IOPS, making it ideal for next-generation enterprise storage solutions.
SM8388: Enhanced PCIe Gen 5 Controller for High-Capacity NVMe SSDs
SMI also demonstrated a U.2 NVMe SSD powered by the updated SM8388 PCIe Gen 5 controller, now supporting NVMe 2.1 and the MonTitan programmable SSD platform. The SM8388 offers dual PCIe uplinks—PCIe Gen 5 x4 and PCIe Gen 5 x2—and supports 16 flash channels operating at 2400 MT/s. This configuration enables storage capacities of up to 128 TB.
Performance metrics from the demonstration included sequential write speeds of 9,329 MB/s, sequential read speeds of 14,602 MB/s, random write performance of 450,000 IOPS, and random read speeds of 3,585 MB/s. These figures underscore the controller’s capability to meet the demands of high-capacity, high-performance enterprise SSDs.
Silicon Motion’s latest SSD controllers reflect the company’s commitment to advancing storage technology, delivering solutions that address the evolving needs of both consumer and enterprise markets. With support for the latest PCIe and NVMe standards, as well as compatibility with leading NAND flash technologies, SMI continues to set new benchmarks in SSD controller innovation.
