PNY’s new LX SSD for Chia graphics provides durability of up to 54,000 TBW
PNY has launched a new LX series of SSDs designed for write-intensive workloads, such as Chia mapping and miningThe company’s LX series drives provide an unprecedented endurance rating of up to 54,000 TB write (TBW), thanks to Phison’s proprietary LifeXtension technology.
PNY’s LX series includes three models with M.2 2280 form factor: entry-level LX2030 2TB, mid-range LX3030 1TB and flagship LX3030 2TB. These drives have a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface and are rated for sequential read speeds of up to 3200 MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 2400 MB/s (LX3030) or 1000 MB/s (LX2030). These are not the performance champions here, but the drives are tailor-made for the maximum endurance in the drawing scene.
Jonmichael Hands, vice president of storage business development at Chia, said: “I am very pleased that PNY and Qunlian have provided the first SSD as Chia Graphics. “The LX3030 has been adjusted for Chia graphics workloads, which require a lot of continuous bandwidth. Users can rest assured because they will not wear the drive easily-LX3030 1TB can create 2PB of drawings before it wears out! ”
PNY LX series SSD specifications
| TBW | Sequential reading | Sequential write | |
| LX2030 2TB | 10,000 | 3200 MB/sec | 1000 MB/sec |
| LX3030 1TB | 27,000 | 3200 MB/sec | 2400 MB/sec |
| LX3030 2TB | 54,000 | 3200 MB/sec | 2400 MB/sec |
PNY LX SSD is based on a Phison controller (designed for Chia graphics) enhanced with LifeXtension technology, and may be combined with 3D TLC NAND memory. Neither PNY nor Phison revealed exactly how LifeXtension works, but it looks like we are dealing with a compression technique designed for Chia graphs that contain hashes. They also stated that it supports two XPlot modes: Xplot plain is designed to increase durability by about 3 times, and XPlot Pro is expected to increase durability by up to 18 times.
It is not clear whether Phison’s LifeXtension can be used for other write-intensive workloads to improve the durability of PNY LX series SSDs, but the company emphasizes that these drives are specifically designed for Chia graphics.
As early as May, TeamGroup released its T-Create Expert PCIe SSD, Is also tailored for Chia graphics and has a high endurance rating, but it seems that the drive has a lot of redundant 3D NAND memory for over-provisioning, and does not use any technology similar to Phison LifeXtension.
PNY stated that the LX series of SSDs will be available immediately, but did not disclose its recommended price. Although the ability to create nearly 500,000 k32 Chia graphs sounds impressive, storing these graphs will be a costly task. Since the current profitability of Chia’s agriculture with 1TB storage is about US$2 per month, even with pools, the long-term outlook does not look particularly promising.
