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PC Gamer
PC Gamer
Nick Evanson

SK Hynix's 'world first' 321-layer QLC flash memory chips, boasting 100% faster transfer speeds and up to 56% greater write performance, will be in gaming PCs next year

SK Hynix Hynix Memory
A promotional image by SK Hynix, showing two 321-layer QLC NAND flash modules with a flash memory wafer in the background.

For SSD enthusiasts, there are three letters to look out for, so they can avoid them at all costs: QLC. While this type of flash memory has been great for reducing the cost of large-capacity drives, it's not ideal for performance or longevity. However, a new type of QLC chip announced by SK Hynix is so much better than previous offerings that those three letters could well be exactly what you look for.

The press announcement from SK Hynix is predictably a bit light on details, but all of the important numbers are there, and they look genuinely good. The number of layers of NAND flash used in each chip is a heady 321. If you scan through our recommendations for the best gaming SSDs on the market right now, you'll see that most are around the 200-mark, and even the largest is 'only' 276.

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