ROG Strix SQ7: Asus chooses fast E18 platform for SSD comeback

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Now the cat is out of the bag. Nine years after the first PCIe SSD, Asus is releasing an internal SSD again. The ROG Strix SQ7 moves with the times and uses one of the fastest platforms with Phison E18 and TLC-NAND in the common M.2 form factor. However, it is only available with 1 TB.

As Corsair, Gigabyte, Kingston, MSI and Seagate have shown (to name just a few), Asus also relies on the high-end platform with a Phison E18 controller and TLC-NAND. This combination is currently proving to be one of the fastest on the market and is making life difficult even for top dogs such as Samsung and Western Digital with their own complete solutions.

Phison is developing quasi-complete kits for third-party SSDs for consumer SSDs and contributes controllers and firmware. The SSDs from the various providers often only differ slightly in the last point, while the hardware under the company sticker is identical.

ROG Strix SQ7 in detail

Asus specifies the maximum sequential transfer rates as 7,000 MB/s for reading and 6,000 MB/s for writing. This roughly corresponds to the values ​​of a Corsair MP600 Pro XT (test). The 2 TB version from Corsair writes even faster, but Asus only offers the Strix SQ7 with 1 TB of storage volume and initially refrains from further models. Information on the total bytes written or the IOPS has not yet been provided.

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ROG Strix SQ7 SSD
ROG Strix SQ7 SSD
ROG Strix SQ7 SSD
ROG Strix SQ7 SSD

< p class="p text-width">The ROG SSD Dashboard can be used to monitor the drive status (SMART) and perform a Secure Erase to securely erase data. There is also the NTI Backup Now EZ software and 1 month for the Adobe Creative Cloud as an add-on. AES 256-bit data encryption is supported.

According to Asus, there is no information on price and availability yet. Similarly equipped SSDs with 1 TB cost between 150 and 200 euros.

Not the first SSD from Asus

Nine years ago, Asus introduced the PCIe SSD card ROG Raidr Express (test). However, the manufacturer no longer followed this market until the release of the external SSD Strix Arion S500 last year. That has now changed.

The manufacturer himself provided the first indication of the new Asus SSD on his Facebook page for Taiwan. The editors then contacted Asus and asked for more information, which is now available.