Kingston Brings Next-Gen Performance with NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD

[TheLostSwede]

Kingston Digital, Inc., the flash memory affiliate of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., a world leader in memory products and technology solutions, today announced it is shipping the NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD for users looking for high capacity 4x4 NVMe PCIe performance in a compact form factor.

The Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD is a robust next-gen storage solution powered by a Gen 4x4 NVMe controller. The Kingston NV3 delivers read/write speeds of up to 6,000/5,000 MB/s, ensuring a faster system capable of handling a variety of workloads, from editing to gaming. The drive optimizes system performance and delivers value without compromise. Its compact single-sided M.2 2280 (22x80mm) design allows for storage expansion up to 4TB2,5 while saving space for other components. As a cost-effective storage solution, the NV3 is ideal for creators and gamers looking to enhance their PC performance.



[Editor's note: Our in-depth review of the Kingston NV3 is now live]


"We are excited to elevate the user experience with the next-gen successor, NV3," said Keith Schimmenti, SSD business manager, Kingston. "Whether upgrading to meet the evolving demands of working from home or building a new gaming PC, the NV3 is designed to deliver speed and dependability at an attractive price point."

Available in capacities from 500 GB - 4 TB, NV3 will give users storage space they need for applications, documents, photos, videos, games and more. NV3 will also include 1-year free Acronis True Image for Kingston software, alongside the Kingston SSD Manager application, enabling users to monitor drive health and disk usage, update drive firmware, and securely erase data.

NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Features and Specifications:

• Form factor: M.2 2280
• Interface: PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe
• Capacities: 500 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, 4TB5
• Sequential read/write:
  • 500 GB - 5,000/3,000 MB/s
  • 1 TB - 6,000/4,000 MB/s
  • 2 TB - 6,000/5,000 MB/s
  • 4 TB - 6,000/5,000 MB/s
• NAND: 3D
• Endurance (total bytes written)3:
  • 500 GB - 160 TB
  • 1 TB - 320 TB
  • 2 TB - 640 TB
  • 4 TB - 1280 TB
• Storage temperature: -40°C~85°C
• Operating temperature: 0°C~70°C
• Dimensions: 22 mm x 80 mm x 2.3 mm
• Weight: 7 g (All capacities)
• Vibration Non-operating: 20G (20-1000 Hz)
• MTBF: 2,000,000 hours
• Warranty/support: Limited 3-year warranty with free technical support

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Assimilator]

"4TB capacity launching in Q4 2024" according to the product page.

 

[ymdhis]

DRAM-less QLC, according to the TPU review. Once the cache is exhausted it drops down to 200MB/s. This has no business being a m.2 drive, and it's not cheap enough for how poor it is.

 

[Assimilator]

DRAM-less QLC, according to the TPU review.

@TheLostSwede might want to link to said review for extra clicks? https://www.techpowerup.com/review/kingston-nv3/

This has no business being a m.2 drive, and it's not cheap enough for how poor it is.

Did you totally ignore the conclusion about real-world performance?

The drive outperforms older QLC drives like the Crucial P1 and Corsair MP400 by a big margin, and is even faster than the Samsung 980 and WD SN570. Performance is roughly identical to drives like Samsung 970 EVO Plus, Kioxia Exceria Plus G3, Lexar NM710 and Samsung 980 Pro—pretty good.

 

[Onasi]

Did you totally ignore the conclusion about real-world performance?

I think people are being maximalist and it’s silly. Realistically, you aren’t going to see any real difference in day to day tasks with any decent modern drive, be they TLC or QLC. Of course, if your workflow consists of moving large files often, then sure - get a TLC one with DRAM. Otherwise it’s barely relevant.
The one thing Kingston can be knocked for is the price - depending on ones location, there are “better” drives for similar or less money. But the drive itself is fine.

 

[Assimilator]

I think people are being maximalist and it’s silly. Realistically, you aren’t going to see any real difference in day to day tasks with any decent modern drive, be they TLC or QLC. Of course, if your workflow consists of moving large files often, then sure - get a TLC one with DRAM. Otherwise it’s barely relevant.
The one thing Kingston can be knocked for is the price - depending on ones location, there are “better” drives for similar or less money. But the drive itself is fine.

Thank god, a sane person!

Yes, this is a good product for the masses at a bad price. Likely Kingston is waiting for NV2 stocks to burn down to acceptable levels at the current prices, after which point NV3 will drop to match those prices.

 

[bonehead123]

Next-Gen Performance

On which planet and in which pharma-hazed dream was this line created ?

Even at those specs, are they gonna be the same once they pull their infamous switcheroo bullshit and start pushing out drives with random mix & match bottom-barrel components for the same excessive prices ?

n.O.p.E...
notta..
no way, 'jose

 

[Chrispy_]

I think people are being maximalist and it’s silly. Realistically, you aren’t going to see any real difference in day to day tasks with any decent modern drive, be they TLC or QLC. Of course, if your workflow consists of moving large files often, then sure - get a TLC one with DRAM. Otherwise it’s barely relevant.
The one thing Kingston can be knocked for is the price - depending on ones location, there are “better” drives for similar or less money. But the drive itself is fine.

Yeah, a lot of people just need decent pSLC cache performance and won't ever write enough to the drive in one go to expose the QLC.

For lightweight consumer use that's mostly idle time, it almost doesn't matter what the SSD is - warranty length, reliability, well-behaved power consumption, and cost/TB are the more important factors.

My only real gripe with the NV2, and by inference - the NV3, is that what's reviewed can be so very very different to what you get. There are enough people moaning about godawful performance, molasses-slow writes, and 100% disk activity from NV2 drives using new controller and NAND variants that don't have any reviews out in the wild. We *know* the NV2 and NV3 are going to be bait-and-switch drives, and at the expected low price these things will eventually settle at, that's actually not a huge problem as long as the performance is in the same rough ballpark. The comments of HDD-like performance, massive disk queues, and 100% disk usage in light-use cases implies that some of them are so bad that they whole series should be given a wide berth no matter the cost.

I can't comment on that without any real conviction though because I've never experienced any really bad NV2s myself and stopped buying NV2 SSDs after the second batch when the SN580 undercut it on price here in the UK.

 

[John_Mat82]

I think people are being maximalist and it’s silly. Realistically, you aren’t going to see any real difference in day to day tasks with any decent modern drive, be they TLC or QLC. Of course, if your workflow consists of moving large files often, then sure - get a TLC one with DRAM. Otherwise it’s barely relevant.
The one thing Kingston can be knocked for is the price - depending on ones location, there are “better” drives for similar or less money. But the drive itself is fine.

Then I find posts like "why do I have gigabit internet but my Steam dowloads are limited to 200mb/s"?
Or even less than the 200mb/s sustained this NV3 does; then you ask which NVME they have and they answer "I have a crucial P3" "I have a NV2" or name any other QLC dramless drive you can think of.

That's because of the QLC Nand. Steam (or Epic) absolutely battering the hell out of the SLC cache, even more so if Windows is acting in the background while the drive is handling not only that download.

QLC drives are good for data drives, to be used as secondary drives, I do that myself (and I dont' download anything there ofc xD).

But if I have a single NVME in my system for OS+Data, it has to be TLC/Dram or TLC/HMB; for the launch price of this thing a WD SN 580 or SN 770 (or a Lexar NM710 or other maxiontech MP1602A/TLC combo) are infinitely much better propositions. Hopefully the price will go down as the NV2, but then who know what praline flavour do the buyer gets..

 

[starfals]

The lexer 790 or whatever it's called is cheaper here, and also 4TB. The stats are pretty much amazing on that drive too. Why get the drive from Kingston then? Seems like a bad value. In my country, these are the prices.

 

[TumbleGeorge]

Then I find posts like "why do I have gigabit internet but my Steam dowloads are limited to 200mb/s"?
Or even less than the 200mb/s sustained this NV3 does; then you ask which NVME they have and

200mb/s≠200MB/s
200mb/s=25MB/s
Gigabit internet 1000mb/s is just 125MB/s. That is around average speed of rusty HDD model from 2014. Problem for speed of your internet not found in performance of your hardware.

 

[ymdhis]

Did you totally ignore the conclusion about real-world performance?

It's a QLC drive, so yeah, I automatically ignore it. I don't support the enshittification of products.

 

[Chrispy_]

It's a QLC drive, so yeah, I automatically ignore it. I don't support the enshittification of products.

QLC is fine if it 100% meets your requirements and it's cheaper that TLC that exceeds your requirements.

My beef with QLC is that manufacturers give you 25% fewer NAND cells than the equivalent TLC drive and even if you ignore the reduced performance and endurance, I'm only willing to pay 75% as much if I'm only getting 75% of the NAND.

Give me a QLC drive that is genuinely 25% cheaper than the very cheapest TLC drive and maybe I won't consider it a total scam loaded with additional disadvantages.

 

[Onasi]

Give me a QLC drive that is genuinely 25% cheaper than the very cheapest TLC drive and maybe I won't consider it a total scam loaded with additional disadvantages.

That IS a good point - whole promose of QLC (and potentially PLC, though that seems to have stalled) is finally bringing cost per GB closer to HDD levels. Well, it WAS the promise. What, more than half a decade has passed and we are still waiting? Wake me up when I can buy, say, a 4 terabyte SSD for 150 bucks or less - then I will say that advancement has been made. But for now the tech is basically stalled for most practical real world consumer usage - Gen 3 TLC SSDs from years ago are still perfectly fine and even the newest cutting edge Gen 5 furnaces drives with most up to date NAND are barely perceptibly faster, if at all. Whoop de doo, I can load into Windows 0.5 seconds faster, that sure makes me want to shell out my money.

Now sure, there are specific tasks which ARE benefitting from faster drives. But the average PC user is unlikely to engage in them. But the vendors seem adamant on holding on to the status quo instead of focusing on providing more storage for less instead of mostly pointless performance increases in synthetic benches.

 

[chrcoluk]

I think people are being maximalist and it’s silly. Realistically, you aren’t going to see any real difference in day to day tasks with any decent modern drive, be they TLC or QLC. Of course, if your workflow consists of moving large files often, then sure - get a TLC one with DRAM. Otherwise it’s barely relevant.
The one thing Kingston can be knocked for is the price - depending on ones location, there are “better” drives for similar or less money. But the drive itself is fine.

Well thats the issue really, the price of QLC drives. The drives may well work ok, but its stupid to buy a QLC when you can buy a TLC for a comparable price or even cheaper which is pretty common on the market right now.

 

[Chrispy_]

Well thats the issue really, the price of QLC drives. The drives may well work ok, but its stupid to buy a QLC when you can buy a TLC for a comparable price or even cheaper which is pretty common on the market right now.

Exactly.

Manufacturers said "Here's QLC, it's worse, but it's also cheaper"

The reality is that it's not cheaper, it's just worse.

 

[LabRat 891]

Ah, another Solidign P41 Plus competitor.

Surprised I didn't see the P41+ in the review.
AFAIK, it was the fastest DRAMleas QLC drive.