INTRODUCTION

    With Gen5 M.2 NVMe SSDs still not having established themselves in the global market due to certain issues (namely high temperatures and limited motherboard compatibility) it's no surprise that most manufacturers are still focusing on the development of Gen4 M.2 NVMe models. On top of that because of the countless consumers looking to equip their desktop and laptop systems with cost-effective models manufacturers are doing their best in order to add DRAM-models in their lines which combine good overall performance numbers at affordable prices. The brand new NV3 line by Kingston is just that and today with me I have the 2TB variant.

   Kingston Technology Europe Co LLP and Kingston Technology Company, Inc., are part of the same corporate group (“Kingston”). Kingston is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. From big data, to laptops and PCs, to IoT-based devices like smart and wearable technology, to design-in and contract manufacturing, Kingston helps deliver the solutions used to live, work and play. The world’s largest PC makers and cloud-hosting companies depend on Kingston for their manufacturing needs, and our passion fuels the technology the world uses every day. We strive beyond our products to see the bigger picture, to meet the needs of our customers and offer solutions that make a difference. To learn more about how Kingston Is With You, visit Kingston.com.

   The brand new NV3 line of Μ.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 Gen4 SSDs currently includes 3 different capacities (500GB/1TB/2TB - 4TB launching in Q4) all of which are based on the latest 12nm SM2268XT2 DRAM-less NAND flash controller by Silicon Motion. The SM2268XT2 is an NVMe 2.0 NAND controller that sports a dual-core ARM Cortex R8 CPU (4  channels up to 3,200 MT/s / 16 CE) and features their latest 4K+ LDPC engine together with HMB data path protection,  programmable RAID, global wear-levelling, real time AES 128/256-bit encryption, hardware SHA 384 and TRNG, secure boot for FW authentication and support for ONFI 5.0 and Toggle 3.0. Kingston has paired the Silicon Motion controller with BiCS6 162-layer 3D QLC NAND flash by KIOXIA allowing the 2TB variant to achieve speeds up to 6000MB/s in reads and 5000MB/s in writes. In terms of warranty the entire NV3 line is covered by 3-year limited one and as for durability numbers Kingston reports an MTBF (meantime between failures) of 2 million hours and a TBW (terabytes written) of  160 for the 500GB model, 320 for the 1TB model, 640 for the 2TB model and 1280 for the upcoming 4TB model. Worth pointing out is that the NV3 is a Multi-BOM (bill of materials) SSD meaning there might be more variants in the market as time goes by, both in terms of the NAND controller and the flash (so do keep this in mind). So, let's see just how the brand new NV3 Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD by Kingston does.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE NV3 2TB

Once again Kingston uses a blister package which allows you to see the drive itself from the front.

Warranty information along with several certifications and of course the drive serial number and barcode are all printed at the rear.

The NV3 follows the typical M.2 2280 factor and as expected has a long sticker at the top with the company and model names, capacity, electrical requirements, country of manufacture and several certifications.

Removing the sticker reveals the Silicon Motion SM2268XT2 NAND controller and two KIOXIA BiCS6 162-layer 3D QLC NAND flash modules.

The opposite side of the PCB is empty and is probably going to be populated in the 4TB version (with two extra NAND flash modules).

Unfortunately, even the latest version of the Kingston SSD Manager doesn't recognize the NV3 (still you can use it to download the latest Acronis True Image Software for Kingston drives).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Not long after I first started testing SSDs back in 2008, I 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 the 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 they get repeated 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.
** 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).
*** Since February 2022 M.2 NVMe Gen3 and Gen4 SSD drives are placed in different charts.

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 brand new NV3 Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD by Kingston may not be the fastest Gen4 SSD out there currently but the fact that in some of my tests it managed to surpass its advertised performance numbers is a very good thing. SNIA test performance is also very good although there was some thermal throttling during the 12 hour test (as expected really). Unfortunately, even though performance is actually very good (especially for a DRAM-less drive) 3D QLC NAND flash as always lacks the endurance/durability offered by TLC/MLC NAND flash and well, this could be a game breaker for some consumers. That being said the truth of the matter is that vast majority will simply not care and that’s because this isn’t a drive aimed at heavy workloads (the exact opposite really). Finally this being a multi-BOM (bill of materials) SSD is both good and bad. Good because the NV3 might see an upgrade further down the line (better controller of flash) and bad because this review may not represent your version 100% (this means you may be getting something slightly faster or slightly slower). This of course has been happening for many years in the PC hardware market (many times without even being mentioned at all) so again, it's not something I expect to have a serious impact on sales.

    Currently retailing for USD129.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 123.89Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) the latest NV3 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD (SNV3S/2000) by Kingston is priced just right. Again, the NV3 2TB is aimed towards consumers who either don’t care about having the best performance and durability or who are just looking for a secondary drive and well, since it does deliver as advertised it does deserve the Golden Award.

PROS

- Good Overall Performance
- Single Side SSD
- 2.000.000 Hours MTBF
- Available Capacities (500GB/1TB/2TB/4TB Soon)
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Endurance (640TBW)