Silicon Power has unveiled the XPower XS90, which competes in the high-end PCIe Gen 5 storage space. The drive offers sequential read speeds reaching 14,300 MB/s and write speeds hitting 13,400 MB/s, targeting users who need serious performance without necessarily paying flagship premiums.
Silicon Power has engineered the XS90 around a TSMC-manufactured 6nm controller paired with LPDDR4 DRAM cache. Unfortunately, the exact controller used is not disclosed. The drive ships without an integrated heatsink, which gives users flexibility in choosing cooling solutions while ensuring compatibility with a wide range of motherboards and laptops.
Specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Model | Silicon Power XPower XS90 |
| Interface | PCIe Gen 5.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe 2.0 |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Controller | TSMC 6nm (specific model not disclosed) |
| DRAM Cache | LPDDR4 |
| NAND Type | 3D TLC (specific details not disclosed) |
| Capacities | 1TB, 2TB, 4TB |
| Sequential Read (All Capacities) | Up to 14,300 MB/s |
| Sequential Write (2TB, 4TB) | Up to 13,400 MB/s |
| Sequential Write (1TB) | Up to 10,500 MB/s |
| Random IOPS | Not disclosed |
| Endurance (TBW) | Not disclosed |
| Power Consumption | Optimized for efficiency (specific values not disclosed) |
| Operating Temperature | Not disclosed |
| Heatsink | No (bare drive design) |
| Warranty | 5-year limited warranty |
| Pricing | Not announced |
| Availability | Now available through authorized distributors and retailers |
The PCIe Gen 5.0 x4 interface theoretically supports bandwidth up to approximately 15,750 MB/s before accounting for protocol overhead, meaning that Silicon Power’s claimed performance figures place the drive within striking distance of this ceiling, though they fall measurably behind recent flagship launches from competitors. The Corsair MP700 Pro XT pushes to 14,900 MB/s for reads, while TeamGroup’s T-Force Z54E matches that figure with its Phison E28-based design.
While the 2TB and 4TB models maintain write speeds of 13,400 MB/s, the entry-level capacity drops to 10,500 MB/s for sequential writes. This performance delta isn’t unusual, as lower-capacity SSDs typically can’t sustain the same parallelism across NAND packages as their larger siblings.
The implementation of LPDDR4 DRAM cache distinguishes this drive from DRAM-less designs increasingly common in the budget segment. Cache enables more efficient handling of write operations and helps maintain consistent performance during sustained workloads. For applications involving large file transfers, 4K video editing, or AI model training, having that buffer layer prevents the kind of performance cliffs that can occur when drives rely solely on pseudo-SLC cache.
Notably, the PCIe Gen 5 SSD market has evolved a great deal throughout 2025, with manufacturers converging around two primary controller platforms: Phison’s E28 and Silicon Motion’s SM2508. While Silicon Power hasn’t explicitly confirmed which controller powers the XS90, the timing of this launch and the 6nm manufacturing process could align with either of these options. Both PNY’s CS3250 and the Corsair MP700 Pro XT utilize the Phison E28, paired with BiCS8 218-layer TLC NAND from either SanDisk or Kioxia.
The drive also enters a market where budget-conscious options like the Crucial P510 have begun pulling PCIe 5.0 pricing down toward PCIe 4.0 territory. Crucial’s drive sacrifices some peak performance (topping out at 11,000 MB/s reads) but sells for roughly $80 per terabyte.
Silicon Power’s historical market position suggests the XS90 will slot somewhere in the middle of this range. The company has traditionally competed on value rather than outright performance leadership, and the specification sheet reinforces that positioning. Whether this translates to compelling pricing remains to be seen, particularly given current market dynamics.
The decision to ship without a factory heatsink is reasonable considering that most modern motherboards now feature substantial cooling solutions for M.2 drives, complete with thermal pads. For these platforms, a bare drive makes more sense than one with a pre-attached heatsink that might not make proper contact with the motherboard’s cooling hardware.
That said, running a PCIe Gen 5 drive at full throttle without adequate cooling invites thermal throttling. The physics of moving data at 14+ GB/s generates substantial heat, and most Gen 5 controllers will reduce performance when temperatures climb beyond their comfort zones.
Backing the drive is a five-year limited warranty, which has become standard across the PCIe Gen 5 segment. Silicon Power hasn’t published specific endurance ratings (measured in TBW, or terabytes written), but contemporary drives in this class typically range from 600-700 TBW for 1TB models, scaling proportionally with capacity.
A key unknown is pricing. Silicon Power has yet to announce retail prices for the XS90, and given current NAND market conditions, there’s real uncertainty about where this drive (and other new launches) will land. If the company can position it noticeably below today’s flagships while maintaining most of the performance, it could find a compelling niche.