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With SSD prices continuing to rise, a large percentage of us are struggling to afford even multiple-year-old Gen 4 drives. With that in mind, newer Gen 5 drives are likely the last thing on many of our minds, but that hasn't stopped TeamGroup from unveiling the new T-Create Classic H514 M.2 PCIe 5.0 SSD.
This is not a drive designed to be the best SSD for gaming and the bastion of our affordable drive prayers. however. Instead, Teamgroup states this new SSD is designed to "meet the growing demand for high-performance data storage in the generative AI era." While disappointing to read, it does make sense, as Teamgroup boasts this drive that's built on the PCIe Gen5 x4 interface can deliver blisteringly fast 14,200 MB/s read and 13,300 MB/S write speeds. Speeds that the average gaming rig doesn't even need to run some of the most recent and graphically demanding AAA releases.
The Crucial T700 SSD is our top pick for the best Gen 5 drive, and is actually designed to improve the load times of your favorite games with its on-the-box 11,700MB/s read and 9,500MB/s write speeds.
Crucial T700 SSD: $189.99 at Amazon
The never-ending slop factor that I like to call generative AI requires a bit more power than your average solid-state drive. That's likely why TeamGroup states that the T-Create Classic H514 can "significantly enhance the efficiency of accessing large creative assets" and that it can enable "smooth and stable workflows for local AI model inference and training."
The brand, which is typically known for launching budget-friendly gaming SSDs and RAM like T-Force Delta RGB DDR5, states this SSD can also "empower professional creative output," though it feels like it's using the word "creative" liberally. Especially given generative AI's intellectual property rights risks. Releasing a new SSD specifically to target AI tech like this isn't exactly new, as the brand Kioxia just unveiled a new SSD designed specifically to support Nvidia AI workloads just days before TeamGroup's SSD unveiling, but it doesn't make this announcement any less disappointing.
As a storage reviewer and someone desperate to build their own gaming rig from the ground up, any new SSD release typically fills me with excitement. While I don't keep my hopes high that any new releases will be priced well from the get-go, it's just nice to see new storage solutions enter the market in the wake of brands like Crucial exiting the consumer market.
The disappointment continues from there. Especially when you consider the fact that it's the AI data centers hoarding up RAM and storage that have caused the prices of SSDS to rise exponentially, and caused brands to focus on the enterprise market rather than consumers. It's AI that's put this extra pressure on finding hope in new SSD releases, and yet new releases like this are designed for using AI.
However, while this SSD is tailored towards those running generative AI programs, there's nothing to say you can't add this to your rig. There's no release date or pricing information just yet, and even if its quoted, ultra-low read and write latencies of just 0.5ms and 0.015ms are going to be a bit overkill; it could still be an excellent gaming drive.
The product listing on the official TeamGroup website includes two versions, so you'll have one integrated with an ultra-thin patented graphene heatsink or a version made with a new matte-black aluminum heatsink to choose from. Both will be available in models from 1TB up to 4TB.
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