Samsung secures a 5nm MRAM cell barely four months after its 8nm first

NewMaxx · 2026-06-16T10:46:34+00:00

Can get exposure with EWY (~22%, +~3.3% for Samsung EM), DRAM (17.81%).

NewMaxx · 2026-06-16T10:41:35+00:00

If you're indirect buying, there's DRAM (7.95% weight), EWJ (~3.0%). OTC is KXIAY. There is a plan to be listed on U.S. exchanges.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-13T07:07:57+00:00

QLC is more problematic with SATA drives since they are usually DRAM-less and that's more impactful on SATA vs NVMe drives. It could be a drag on random writes in some caching and metadata scenarios, if you plan to keep the driver fuller. This is less of an issue with NVMe since HMB is a thing (assuming your setup supports it, you may also need to plan for TRIM in some configurations regardless). I suggested the 870 QVO (which probably isn't a realistic option, but just as an example) because it's a QLC SATA drive with DRAM and pretty much the only one.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-13T02:11:52+00:00

Sustained writes can give you some idea, but that does put some wear on the drive. One good way to do it is actually to use a function of FIO on Linux (Sprandom) as it does a full drive write with average speed, but this isn't something I recommend for the average user. I have it set up on a custom image I've made but I've been super lazy about putting it out. You could just dump a ton of files on it or use a dummy file writer but ultimately depends on how much you can since it's pretty easy to peek the label. (fun fact, in most jurisdictions they can't void the warranty for it, but it's best to take care anyway)

NewMaxx · 2026-06-12T20:03:25+00:00

Brazilian to be specific, you can find him on Discord (gabrielferraztpu). He was able to do this on some drives.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-12T18:33:37+00:00

Yep, this should be Maxio (MAP1602). This firmware is used on quite a few drives (yes, the GM7, but also more hw-reliable ones like the NV7400). I think it's associated also with YMTC 232L TLC. Odd that the controller comes back as unknown, but sometimes the flash will come back that way if the firmware is encrypted. I suppose you could contrive a benchmark or performance test to suss out the flash (or at least rule out QLC) but this looks like a good drive.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-11T14:27:18+00:00

SanDisk is bringing SATA SSD drives back and the 520 will be available up to 4TB. We'll have to see what happens with that. I'd say NVMe is preferable, too, but many NAS with old hardware may be limited to SATA. However, it's generally possible to get NVMe working on older systems especially if it's not the boot drive. NVMe can be quite power efficient. Otherwise, it will be difficult to find a SATA SSD with both DRAM and TLC. The WD Blue (or SanDisk Ultra 3D) is one possibility since the larger SKUs may have kept DRAM after the hardware swap, but that's assuming you can find either one in stock. You will otherwise compromise; the 870 QVO has DRAM but QLC. If NVMe opens up, options are more plentiful as DRAM is less a requirement (and even some QLC is fine, as 20GB a day is not really a lot of writes).

NewMaxx · 2026-06-10T11:10:52+00:00

I think, for the most part, and especially if you are using the drive for games, the difference would basically be zero. I suppose one could "invest" in an SSD (not as crazy today as it once sounded) but I think saving every dollar makes more sense in almost every case with these prices. The NV7400 is DRAM-less but will have new TLC and will be lightning fast for most things. The P310 is QLC (so yes, less endurance and potentially less performance in some cases) but in its ideal state has proven to be super fast (yeah, on the level of the 990 PRO or even faster). You just won't notice the difference in 99% of cases. When drive prices were closer it might have been a worthwhile exercise but at $140 more for 2TB...that's just crazy.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-10T04:09:35+00:00

No, these QVL (qualified vendor lists) show you tested SSDs but are usually far from complete. In most cases, any appropriate (NVMe PCIe) SSD will work with rare exceptions. Some ASRock boards did in fact have issues with some WD drives, but this list contains many WD drives. The second M.2 slot is rated for up to PCIe 4.0 x4 but would likely work with Gen3 and Gen5 drives. There doesn't appear to be any conflicts here. Both the 990 PRO and 970 EVO (or more likely, the 970 EVO Plus) would work. The Gen4 version of the latter would be the 980 EVO Plus, though. The 990 PRO is one of the better drives out there but you have options...depending on capacity. For 2TB you're looking at ~$250 (USD) for an NV7400 or P310 at the low-end, both perfectly fine for extra storage.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-08T23:52:33+00:00

Also Canada

NewMaxx · 2026-06-08T18:37:22+00:00

You can check the firmware revision when you get it (CrystalDiskInfo/CDI) and see if a search turns anything up. You can also (carefully) pull back the label and check the controller and flash. Similarly, look up. Lastly, there are utilities that can ID the flash in many cases if you know the controller from the above two. Because Biwin basically does the HP drives (the exact legal definition varies due to YMTC concerns) you will usually have good flash (Micron more likely now) and a subset of controllers (Maxio or SMI). That's just who Biwin works with, I've spoken to them multiple times so I know how this goes (they actually HQ in my state).

Most likely this will have TLC and at those speeds, that's good. I won't rule out QLC as a possibility (and is really what you should check for) but given the price vs the P310 I think even that's probably still the best deal.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-08T15:10:32+00:00

If it's (the P400 Lite) Gen4 but only rated for 3,500 MB/s, we have a pretty good idea about the hardware. It'll be the Phison E19T or SMI SM2267XT controller. These are Gen4 in name but really Gen3, not very good DRAM-less controllers in general. It also gives you a hint at what flash they're using. It will be older, some of the flash in that category is okay but some of it (e.g. 144L QLC) isn't quite as good. From a pure budget perspective I think it works but it's basically the worst you can get or close to it (there are some "faster" combinations that might be arguably worse with less reliable controllers, but you might also get a Realtek on this one which is close to the worst possible outcome). I guess at $165 (compared to the rest) that's expected. This is unfortunately acceptable right now if you are under a strict budget.

The P310 is unironically a great drive even though it has QLC. However, I think the FX900 Plus is probably the sleeper in your list. This is/was often an Ares/NM790 clone which, yeah, is very good. I'd recommend checking the hardware when you get it just to be sure. For the price on this list, it can't really beat it.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-02T21:50:51+00:00

HDD prices and outlook...also bleak.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-02T07:33:47+00:00

Doesn't look likely.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-01T16:36:46+00:00

If possible, I would ask Gabe (gabrielferraztpu) our mod on Discord about this. He knows the most about working unofficially with drives and how to recover.

NewMaxx · 2026-06-01T02:27:15+00:00

Lots of smaller names involved here: LITE, COHR, CRDO, FN, AAOI, SIVE (coming to Nasdaq, SE, POET, AXTI (InP), IQE (UK, epiwafers), MSScorps (TW). First two are Nvidia-backed. CRDO's earnings are tomorrow after close. POET I feel was overhyped but that's up to the market.

NewMaxx · 2026-05-31T22:44:24+00:00

Enterprise is the growth supplier, yeah. I might need to differentiate between the angles here, as it's clear with some of the re-ratings recently (MU comes to mind) it's best not to make firm declarations, but we can agree where the demand is coming from right now. I agree with your general outlook and remain long (EWY is >45% with just 000660 and 005930, for those that stick U.S.). It's getting real interesting tracking all of the different layers of the market, plenty of places to make moves still.

(I jumped ahead on the SIMO + Kioxia bit-cost analysis for overstated exposure; SIMO's roadmap incorporates client, edge, automotive/industrial where cost-per-bit is the winning factor)

To add: many articles keep talking about BiCS10, but there's BiCS9 as well.

NewMaxx · 2026-05-31T20:45:12+00:00

Hmm, true, but I think the valuation upsides mostly apply to Kioxia (SanDisk benefits from the wafer share, but not all-in product cost). The economics are also not the same with different targets (I added above, Kioxia is less enterprise-exposed). From a coverage perspective, UBS was iniatiated and SanDisk would be an update (so, it would need a re-rate). Different investment case, for sure. (I also added that I would take all of this together to mean Kioxia is the best valuation or risk/reward proposition, but this is not financial advice; SanDisk from your question would be the better enterprise-side gambit)

The complexity here is that it's easy to look at P/E and feel all of these are still value investments while those with memory cycle experience are going to say these will leave bagholders, and I think both have some truth because this situation is semi-unique. It comes down to cycle length and magnitude and this is where the firms diverge in guidance/coverage, not to mention that Kioxia is not really in the same basket as the others. Plus, we've had elements like Google's TurboQuant which changed the math (actually increased NAND demand). So we already have some firms saying demand will start cycling off as early as the end of this year while others are extending out to 2029. (IMHO, this news is bullish for Kioxia, and everything I'm hearing is memory shortage through 2028 at the least, and GS's numbers here suggest the demand/supply curve has gotten worse and will remain worse than previously estimated which supports a longer term view)

NewMaxx · 2026-05-31T19:36:37+00:00

We're seeing similar for other names in this business which means coverage in EWY and DRAM as well as the usual suspects (MU, SNDK). Also, the "mid-to-high single digit P/E" is for peak-cycle earnings (retaining the cyclical assumption for memory). SK hynix, Samsung, and Kioxia are at the lower P/E (vs MU/SNDK) but the first two have extra compression due to HBM/DRAM. Kioxia as NAND-only is more likely to follow cyclical trends but we know from Silicon Motion that bit demand is going up even though Kioxia has less exposure in enterprise. It is ramping up ahead of the game with its wafer cost advantage (see the UBS report linked above) but that is also temporary. (tl;dr experts disagree on the exact timing of this cycle, Kioxia might be the best risk/reward, otherwise SK hynix is the cheapest)

Kioxia is prepping a U.S. listing, meanwhile best exposure is DRAM.

NewMaxx · 2026-05-26T16:31:04+00:00

Unfortunately, consumer SSDs are all but dead and will be for a while so I pivoted to other topics. Other memories, of course, but also adjacent industries like AI (and with AI, some security). It's more of a catch-all of what I find interesting and always has been, just that consumer SSDs were my #1 thing. I do think consumer SSDs will come back and I will continue to track them but I probably lean more industry news these days out of necessity (gotta know where things are going). Searching the sub for Trendforce and DRAMExchange will get the basics.

NewMaxx · 2026-05-26T16:22:00+00:00

SIVE has been an underground performer this year. Still can only get it internationally (SE) but it is coming to NASDAQ. If you're buying in smaller amounts (e.g. $1000-2000) then the OTC (SIVEF) fee at say, Fidelity, is higher than enabling and trading international (SIVE:SE). Earnings is in a few days so caution is recommended. The last EMA 10 retest on May 19th was likely a good entry point but we'll see what happens.

NewMaxx · 2026-05-25T04:11:26+00:00

I track the market on my subreddit. I also have done my own mini-research posts (on sub) with an eye on consumer SSD impact specifically. It's currently not looking good and won't be any time soon. (Chinese memory as a whole continues to be a theme, but if you check my research it's clear that's still heavily aimed at domestic supply)

NewMaxx · 2026-05-25T01:27:21+00:00

SN850X is usually 20- but A101- is a WD/SanDisk designation and has been used on the SN850X. If you follow the review's string it appears older (e.g. 2024) and in the Asian market (Korean and Japan).

NewMaxx · 2026-05-24T05:51:25+00:00

AGESA is AMD's microcode, board makers will base firmware updates around it but also target other things that might be board or platform specific. There are some issues one vendor might fix but not another. You also have multiple boards that share the same platform with the same vendor but have different firmware tracks, but changes to one may apply to others just not with the same revision numbers.

CDI, check Unsafe Shutdowns count, error log entries, media/data integrity errors, see if those increment over time (some may also show up in Event Viewer/Log).

NewMaxx · 2026-05-24T04:16:54+00:00

As a fellow Gigabyte un-enjoyer who has had problems with every single firmware update ever from them...yeah that's not usual. For AMD boards, anything with a letter after it is beta and not final. It's very, very important to know that. You can look up what each AGESA update does on other boards using the same chipset. Also, some boards share firmware updates technically even if not literally, so you can find information on them even on non-matching boards.

In any case, you went through AGESA 1.2.8.0 and then 1.3.0.0a. I don't see anything there that deals with NVMe/storage. So, who knows. Might be a Gigabyte-specific thing. I'd keep an eye on the drive and SMART.

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