Introduction

Neo Forza is a relatively young manufacturer of DRAM memory modules and flash memory products. The Taiwanese company was founded in 2018 as the enthusiast-focused brand of Goldkey, a well-established producer of computer hardware focusing on OEM manufacturing until recently.



Today's review covers the Neo Forza eSports M.2 NVMe SSD in the 2 TB version. We reviewed the 1 TB model back in April. The drive is also known as the NFP075. "eSports" is not a range of products, but the name of this specific drive. A future Gen 4 drive would be called "Esports4x4," according to Neo Forza. Under the hood, the NFP075 is powered by a Phison PS5012-E12S controller paired with 96-layer 3D TLC NAND from Toshiba. This is a noteworthy difference vs. the 1 TB version which uses YMTC flash. A DRAM chip from UnilC is included, too, providing 512 MB of DRAM cache for the mapping tables of the SSD. PCI-Express 3.0 x4 is used as the host interface.

The Neo Forza eSports is available in capacities of 256 GB, 512 GB, 1 TB, and 2 TB. Endurance for these models is set at 420 TBW, 890 TBW, 1350 TBW, and 1550 TBW respectively. Neo Forza provides a three-year warranty for the eSports SSD.

Packaging

The Drive

The drive uses the M.2 2280 form factor, which makes it 22 mm wide and 80 mm long.


Like most M.2 NVMe SSDs, the Neo Forza NFP075 connects to the host system over a PCI-Express 3.0 x4 interface.


On the PCB, you'll find the controller, four flash chips, and one DRAM chip.

Chip Component Analysis

The flash controller is made by Phison. The PS5012-E12S supports TLC, QLC and PCI-Express 3.0 x4. It uses eight flash channels and is produced on a 28 nm process at TSMC Taiwan. The main difference to the E12 without the "S" is that the E12S is physically smaller, works with half the DRAM capacity of the E12, and uses a metal case, which helps with thermals.


The four TLC flash chips are made by Toshiba, built using 96 layers.


One Xi'an UnilC Semiconductor DDR3-1866L chip provides 512 MB of fast DRAM storage for the controller to store the mapping tables in. This is the second time we encounter DDR memory made by UnilC, a Chinese memory manufacturer who inherited its original DRAM IP from Infineon and Qimonda, but is now actively developing their own technologies.

Test Setup