CONCLUSION

   What makes the P3 PCIe 3.0 Gen3 line of M.2 NVMe SSDs by Crucial stand out from most similar models is of course the use of PHISON’s PS5021-E21 NAND flash controller which I’ve seen used only on PCIe 4.0 Gen4 drives. Yes, by using this NAND flash controller Crucial is not actually hoping to reach new heights in terms of Gen3 performance but rather offer the latest set of features to previous generation systems. That being said performance is also good, not the best I’ve ever seen from an PCIe 3.0 Gen3 drive (as evident from the charts – this is still a DRAMless drive after all) but it does come close. Relatively low durability/endurance numbers is the sole “issue” I’ve always had with QLC NAND based drives as opposed to TLC based ones. True, this is probably not something that will ever affect casual users but it’s still an area where TLC drives do better and so for heavy workloads, they are clearly the way to go.

   I always say that price is what usually makes or breaks a product and with a current price tag set at USD199.99 inside the USA (Crucial.com) and 281.33Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the P3 4TB is priced extremely well, especially in the US of A. Bottom line if you own a PCIe 3.0 Gen3 system or if you own a more modern system and you’re after a secondary SSD the Crucial P3 4TB M.2 NVMe model is a very good choice and for that it gets the Golden Award.

PROS

- Overall Performance (For a DRAM-Less Drive)
- PHISON PS5021 NAND Controller (Up To Date Features)
- Up To 4TB Capacity
- Storage Executive Software
- Cloning Software Included
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (USA)

CONS

- Thermal Throttling (During SNIA Tests)
- Durability / Endurance (Compared To TLC NAND Drives)