INTRODUCTION

   The unveiling of the upcoming Intel Z590 chipset motherboards by all the leading manufacturers might have put PCIe Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSD models under the spotlight but PCIe Gen 3 models are not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon. This of course makes sense since on one hand most consumers will not be moving to PCIe Gen 4 systems in the near future (primarily due to cost) and on the other well real world performance benefits still remain to be seen. Of course, I’m always looking to test/review any M.2 NVMe SSD model i can get my hands on but since PCIe Gen 3 models are clearly far more popular and also since some of you have been asking for a while now today with me i have the top of the line model by KIOXIA, the Exceria Plus 2TB.

   KIOXIA Europe GmbH (formerly known as Toshiba Memory Europe GmbH) is the European based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a worldwide leading supplier of Flash Memory and Solid State Drives (SSDs). Toshiba Memory is known as the Inventor of NAND flash memory in 1987 and was the first in the world to begin mass-producing it in 1991. Under its new name, KIOXIA remains a storage leader today with its BiCS FLASH 3D technology, focusing on innovation, quality and reliability. This technology is an important component in almost all electronic devices where data need to be stored. KIOXIA is leading a new era by providing advanced memory solutions to enrich people’s lives. By evolving "memory", KIOXIA creates uplifting experiences and changes the world.

   Unlike the mid-end Exceria SSD which i reviewed a while back (review here) the Exceria Plus (available in 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities) is largely based on the RD500 released back in 2019 so it too is based on an NVMe 1.3c compatible 8-channel NAND flash controller (Toshiba TC58NC1201GST-00-BB) which KIOXIA has paired with BiCS 96-Layer 3D TLC NAND by Toshiba and DDR4 DRAM by SK Hynix. The 2TB model which i have here with me today is equipped with 2GB DDR4-2666 (SK Hynix H5AN8G6NCJ) and as for the Toshiba 8-channel controller it fully supports TRIM, Idle Time Garbage Collection, SMART, Error Correction, Device Sleep, TLC caching, NCQ, thermal-throttling and of course AES-256bit hardware encryption. Because of this hardware combination the Exceria Plus 2TB can hit performance numbers of up to 3400-3200MB/s in reads and writes respectively and as for durability KIOXIA reports an MTBF of 1.5 million hours and a TBW of 200 for the 500GB model, 400 for the 1TB model and 800 for the 2TB model (KIOXIA also covers the entire line with a 5 year limited warranty).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The drive arrived inside a small black and blue box which has a product image at the front along with its capacity and the company logo.

A few words about the 5-year warranty are printed at the rear right beneath the BiCS logo and a sticker with the products serial and part numbers and barcodes.

Inside the box you will just find the Exceria Plus M.2 NVMe SSD, quick start guide and an paper showcasing how to properly remove the SSD from the box without damaging it.

THE EXCERIA PLUS 2TB

The Exceria Plus is yet another PCIe Gen 3x4 M.2 2280 NVMe SSD.

On the top side of the PCB, we find the 8-channel NAND flash controller together with 1GB of DDR4-2666 DRAM by SK Hynix and 4 Toshiba BiCS 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash modules.

This isn't a single side model so on the other side we find yet another 1GB DDR4-2666 DRAM module and 4 more BiCS 96-layer 3D TLC NAND flash modules.

SSD UTILITY

The KIOXIA SSD Utility allows you to check and monitor the status of the drive (i was slightly surprised to see that right after my tests drive health dropped to 96%).

It also offers a quick benchmark in case you wish to check the speed of the drive (via the SSD tuner you can adjust the over-provisioning of the drive to boost its performance).

Of course, you can also check for firmware updates and use the advanced formatting and secure erase features from the tools section (you can also set alerts and use the bootable version of SSD Utility on a USB flash drive).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   After over 12 years of testing solid state drives, i’ve concluded that it's almost impossible for any single benchmark suite to accurately measure their performance and that's why in certain benchmark suites we see amazing read/write performance numbers with some drives while in others things are quite different. The reason behind this is that some benchmarking suites are configured to read and write random chunks of data while others read and write constant (sequential) ones. So that's why i always use a very wide selection of benchmarking suites including AIDA64, HD Tach RW, HD Tune Pro, Crystal Disk Mark, Sisoftware Sandra Pro, AS SSD, IOmeter and ATTO. To get the most accurate results each test gets repeated a total of 6 times with the average performance numbers recorded into our charts*. Also, as of February 25th 2015 our results will also include the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) IOMeter tests. These tests include a 12 Hour write test used to “simulate” performance degradation over time and a mixed workload test which basically shows what you can expect when using an SSD continuously for roughly two hours. Unfortunately, due to the time required for these tests we repeat them a total of 3 times and not 6 as the above.

   Many people have made inquiries about our charts in the past so once again please do keep in mind that the Charts have the average performance numbers of each drive recorded and not the peak (highest) ones. Also, although every single one of these programs can help potential buyers choose the right drive for their needs you should also remember that from any kind of benchmark up to real world usage the gap is not small (and usually most differences will go unnoticed by most people). All tests were performed in a fresh Windows 10 Pro x64 installation complete with every update up to the date of this review.

* Since November 2018 the SSD comparison charts have been divided to 2.5” and M.2 models to reduce their growing size. ** Unless stated otherwise the Ryzen 9 3950x based Test Rig used for M.2 Gen 4 SSD reviews is not located in the lab. *** As of January 2021 for Gen 3x4 models I’ll be using the Core i9-7980XE test rig (after numerous tests the up to 6% difference in read & write performance compared to the i7-6700 system simply wasn’t enough to justify having an extra test rig around).

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK

TEST RESULTS - AS SSD / IOMETER

TEST RESULTS - IOMETER SNIA

CONCLUSION

   The “regular” Exceria M.2 NVMe SSD model by KIOXIA was a quite good mid-end solution but not nearly good enough to compete with some of the top PCIe Gen 3 models released by the competition. The Exceria Plus on the other hand may not be the fastest M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 3 SSD out there but it clearly has the upper hand when compared to many similar models and that should be more than enough for the majority of consumers out there. With a reported MTBF of 1.5 million hours and 800TBW the Exceria Plus 2TB is also a very durable drive, add the 5-year limited warranty and you should be covered for a long time by KIOXIA. Unfortunately, thermal throttling was detected during the SNIA tests but as you can easily tell from the charts the Exceria Plus 2TB did very well there also.

   Although current availability on the other side of the Atlantic is poor (to say the least) you can find the KIOXIA Exceria Plus 2TB M.2 NVMe over here for 292.92Euros (Amazon.de) a price tag which is somewhat reasonable (especially with prices going up this period). Bottom line the Exceria Plus 2TB by KIOXIA ticks all the boxes needed for a very good PCIe Gen 3x4 M.2 NVMe SSD and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Very Good Performance (Up To 3400MB/s Read & 3200MB/s Write)
- Sustained Performance Levels (SNIA Tests)
- SSD Utility
- 5 Years Warranty
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Thermal Throttling
- Current Availability