SIX 12 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280

The SIX SSD 12 hits 14,356 MB/s reads, putting it in the top 2% of all drives we've tested. It's fast as hell and runs cool with the included heatsink. But the brand is unknown and the price is steep, so most people are better off with a proven Gen4 drive.

Sequential speeds are the headline here. 14,356 MB/s read and 13,662 MB/s write put this drive in the 98th percentile for speed, right up there with the best PCIe 5.0 drives on the market. Random performance is equally strong at 2,000K IOPS for both read and write, also 98th percentile. The 6nm controller and passive heatsink keep things at 73°C under load, which is respectable for a Gen5 drive. Endurance is more middle of the pack at the 57th percentile, and capacity is just average for a 1TB drive. The real-world takeaway: this thing loads games and moves large files stupid fast, but it's not going to outlast a high-endurance workstation drive.

Against the Samsung 990 PRO and WD Black SN850X, the SIX SSD 12 wins on raw sequential speed but loses on brand trust and software support. Samsung and WD both have mature SSD management tools, firmware update pipelines, and years of reliability data. The Crucial T500 is another strong Gen4 alternative that's often cheaper and nearly as fast in real-world use. The Lexar NM1090 PRO is the closest Gen5 competitor, and it comes from a more established memory brand. The SIX drive's speed is legit, but the competition has everything else going for it.

At $210 USD, this drive sits in a weird spot. It's cheaper than some Gen5 drives but more expensive than most Gen4 options that offer 90% of the real-world performance. The Samsung 990 PRO and WD Black SN850X are both proven drives that often sell for less. You're paying a premium for the Gen5 label and the sequential speed bragging rights. If you actually move massive files daily, maybe it's worth it. For most people, a good Gen4 drive is the smarter buy.

The SIX SSD 12 is a 1TB PCIe 5.0 drive that absolutely rips. We're talking 14,356 MB/s sequential reads and 13,662 MB/s writes. That puts it in the top 2% of every drive in our database for raw speed. It ships with a heatsink, runs on TLC NAND, and carries a 5-year warranty.

But here's the thing. The marketing copy is a mess of typos and mixed model names, and the brand is basically unknown. The hardware itself looks solid on paper, but you're buying from a company with almost no track record in the consumer SSD space. The 4.8-star rating from 47 reviews helps, but that's a tiny sample size.

Skip this if you're building a laptop or small form factor PC where heatsink clearance is tight. Also skip it if you value brand reliability and software support, because this drive has neither. And if you're just gaming, a $120 Gen4 drive will feel nearly identical in practice. The only people who should seriously consider this are content creators moving massive files daily or benchmark chasers who want the highest sequential numbers possible.

This drive is for someone who wants maximum sequential throughput and is willing to gamble on an unknown brand to get it. The specs are real, the heatsink works, and the early reviews are positive. But you're essentially beta testing a product from a company with no consumer SSD reputation. If you're building a high-end rig and want the fastest possible storage, this delivers. If you want peace of mind, buy a Samsung or WD and sleep better.