Crucial P310 2TB Handheld Gaming SSD Review - When QLC beats TLC

TweakTown's Rating: 99%

The Bottom Line

It's the highest-performing QLC SSD on the planet and certified TweakTown Elite.

Pros

• Gaming
• Single sided
• Low power
• Certified TT Elite

Cons

• None

Should you buy it?

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Introduction & Drive Details

Every now and then, a milestone SSD emerges on the scene. Typically, what brings a milestone in the consumer SSD universe is the progression of NAND technology. As we like to say, it's all about the flash. Today's milestone is QLC, or 4-bit flash, which is more powerful than most contemporary TLC or 3-bit flash. For some time now, Micron 232-Layer 3-bit or B58R TLC has been dominating due to its architectural superiority to that of its competitors, including Kioxia, Western Digital, Samsung, YMTC, and SK hynix.

Crucial's newly christened P310 SSD is the first of its kind in the consumer space to be arrayed with Micron's 232-Layer 4-bit or QLC flash, also known as N58R:

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This flash is as fast as we've seen in the wild at 2,400 MT/s. An I/O speed of 2,400 MT has already been shown to enable power-efficient 4-channel SSDs to max out the PCIe Gen4 x4 interface when reading sequential data as demonstrated by SSDs like Crucial's own supremely powerful T500.

Now, speed is one thing, but it's not necessarily what makes one brand of flash more powerful than another - just as sequential throughput on its own doesn't necessarily tell you what SSD is the most powerful. Advancements in architecture are what separates one from another when I/O speed is equivalent, and this is where Micron currently has the edge over everyone and is the reason why Crucial's current crop of SSDs are the most powerful in existence.

Including the subject of today's review, we've only encountered two QLC arrayed 7,000 MB/s class 4-channel DRAMless SSDs. The first being HP's FX700. The HP FX700 makes for an interesting comparison with today's test subject because it is also arrayed with 2,400 MT 4-bit or QLC flash. This means we can demonstrate, for the most part, which flash is more powerful or which is architecturally superior.

As stated, Crucial's P310 is what we consider a milestone SSD because it is the first of undoubtedly many more retail SSDs to be arrayed with Micron N58R flash. This tiny and somewhat performance-constrained 2230, QLC arrayed SSD turns out to be by far the most powerful DRAMless SSD we've ever encountered and is, in fact, more powerful than any TLC arrayed DRAMless SSD in circulation at this time. This is when QLC beats TLC.

As we will demonstrate, the P310 makes for an outstanding PC or PS5 storage upgrade, but that's not so much what this tiny 2230 SSD is intended for. The P310 2230 SSD is intended as storage expansion for popular handheld PC gaming devices such as the ASUS ROG Ally or Steam Deck, among others. As we see it, the P310 is the ultimate choice for handheld gaming, even though they are all limited to a PCIe Gen3 interface. Here, Crucial demonstrates why the P310 is the best choice:

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Again, when QLC beats TLC.

Drive Details

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As it is with most Crucial products, Crucial offers for free its excellent toolbox software - Crucial Storage Executive as well as Acronis True Image for Crucial for drive cloning, backup and imaging.

Jon's Test System Specifications

Intel Test System

• Motherboard: GIGABYTE AORUS Z790 Xtreme X
• CPU: Intel Core i9-14900KS - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Patriot Viper Xtreme 5 8000 48GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 12GB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

AMD Test System

• Motherboard: GIGABYTE X670E AORUS Master
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X - Buy from Amazon
• Cooler: Alphacool Eissturm Hurricane Copper 45 - Buy from Amazon
• RAM: Sabrent Rocket DDR5 32GB - Buy from Amazon
• Graphics Card: MSI SUPRIM X RTX 3080 12GB - Buy from Amazon
• Case: PrimoChill's Praxis Wetbench - Buy from Amazon
• Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 12 1200W - Buy from Amazon
• OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro 64-bit - Buy from Amazon

Because we at TweakTown like to be first at everything whenever we can, we will present our storage performance results for the test subject on both 14th Gen Intel and 7000 Series AMD platforms going forward for the foreseeable future. Because Intel still delivers the best real-world storage performance, (Look Here), our running chart will continue to be Intel-based until AMD can deliver better real-world storage performance than its rival.

Best Deals: Crucial T500 2TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 Gaming SSD

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	$148.95 USD	-	$168.55 USD	Buy
	$210.66 CAD	-	-	Buy
	$214.99 CAD	-	$209.99 CAD	Buy
	£131.33	-	-	Buy
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Sony PlayStation 5 - M.2 Storage Expansion

PS5 Read Performance

With Sony's wildly popular PlayStation 5 console now enabled for M.2 NVMe SSDs to be used as fast storage expansion, we include results for PS5 compatible SSDs we test as a part of our reviews going forward.

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For SSDs that don't have an adequately sized PS5 compatible heatsink or other SSDs where the heatsink provided doesn't fit right and can be removed, we both use and recommend Sabrent's unparalleled PS5 heatsink available HERE.

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We only chart SSDs that can deliver a minimum of 5,500 MB/s read, which is Sony's original recommendation.

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A result here of 6,235 MB/s shows our tiny contender as legit for PS5 storage expansion. Additionally, this thing runs cool, very cool, making it a great choice for this use.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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We employ CDM as our standard measurement for both sequential throughput and Q1T1 random read. In terms of sequential throughput, we find our test subject fully capable of exceeding quoted up to factory throughput specifications.

At 99 MB/s Q1T1 random read, our tiny contender is showing a good indication that it may indeed have excellent gaming and real-world abilities. Do keep in mind that because of its intended use, there are likely firmware constraints trading some performance for lower power draw and less heat.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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Here, the scoring is not impressive unless we take note of the fact that this is the best we've ever obtained from any 2230-constrained SSD.

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We employ Anvil's random read test as our standard for measuring max random read IOPS. This test is very accurate as it at its core is Iometer skinned over. We test at QD128. At 865K IOPS, we are falling short of the 2TB drives quoted up to 1,000K IOPS. However, no worries, as high queue depths are rarely, if ever, encountered in the consumer space. Additionally, we are testing under far more demanding conditions.

ATTO

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ATTO gives us a clear picture of what transfer sizes a particular SSD favors in terms of QD4 sequential throughput. We chart 128K transfers. At a queue depth of four, the P310 2TB favors sequential transfers of 64KB or larger when serving data to the host (reading) and 64KB or larger when programming (writing) data. This is outstanding small file performance, which is exactly what we are looking for from any SSD.

Real-World Testing: Transfers, 3DMark SSD Gaming Test, PCM10 Storage

Transfer Rates

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Our 100GB data transfer test is not your ordinary 100GB of data. Ours is a crushing mix composed of more than 62K files. Write performance, random or sequential, is an infrequent operation, and as such, we do not consider it to be an important performance metric in the consumer space. An example is how many times a game is installed vs. how many times it's played. A transfer rate of 1,838 MB/s is exceptional for a QLC SSD, far better than expected and better than the FX700, even with its size-induced performance constraints.

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Unlike programming (writing) data, serving data to the host (reading) is typically an important performance metric as it relates to the consumer space. Again, it is better than expected, considering its size-induced performance constraints. Again, better than the full-size FX700. Impressive.

3DMark SSD Gaming Test

UL's newest 3DMark SSD Gaming Test is the most comprehensive SSD gaming test ever devised. We consider it superior to testing against games themselves because, as a trace, it is much more consistent than variations that will occur between runs on the actual game itself. This test is the same as running the actual game, just without the inconsistencies inherent to application testing. In short, we believe that this is the world's best way to test an SSDs gaming prowess and accurately compare it against competing SSDs. The 3DMark SSD Gaming Test measures and scores the following:

• Loading Battlefield V from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Call of Duty Black Ops 4 from launch to the main menu.
• Loading Overwatch from launch to the main menu.
• Recording a 1080p gameplay video at 60 FPS with OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) while playing Overwatch.
• Installing The Outer Worlds from the Epic Games Launcher.
• Saving game progress in The Outer Worlds.
• Copying the Steam folder for Counter-Strike Global Offensive from an external SSD to the system drive.

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Gaming is a performance metric that matters to most DIY consumers, especially for the enthusiast crowd that TweakTown caters to. Now, we've reached the point where results start to matter as they are a direct reflection of user experience.

Here, we find our contender delivering the second most ever for a flash-based DRAMless SSD, and this is again despite its size-induced performance constraints. Yet again, our tiny QLC-arrayed juggernaut is punching above its weight.

PCM10 Storage Tests

PCMark 10 Storage Test is the most advanced and most accurate real-world consumer storage test ever made. There are four different tests you can choose from; we run two of them. The Full System Drive Benchmark and the Quick System Drive Benchmark. The Full System Drive Benchmark writes 204 GB of data over the duration of the test. These tests directly correlate with mainstream user experience.

PCMark 10 Full System Drive Benchmark

This test writes 204GB of data and covers a broad range of common consumer tasks, including booting Windows 10, file transfers, Adobe and Office applications, and startup times for games such as Battlefield V, COD Black Ops 4, and Overwatch. Unlike synthetic numbers, this is comprehensive real-world data, which is why we use it to rank SSDs in terms of user experience.

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If there's one test that traditionally brings QLC arrayed SSDs to their knees, it's this test. However, our tiny contender must not have gotten the memo because it just cranked out not only by far the best-ever for any flash-based DRAMless SSD, but it's also delivering the third-best all-time for any PCIe Gen4 SSD. Incredible.

PCMark 10 Quick System Drive Benchmark

The Quick System Drive Benchmark writes 23 GB of data over the duration of the test.

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Of all the benchmarks we run, it can be argued that this one offers the best reflection of a typical consumer use case scenario. More than any other benchmark, here is where we want to see excellent numbers, and that's exactly what we are getting from our micro-sized contender.

It is by far the best we've ever recorded for a QLC SSD. Just compare where the FX700 lands with that of our test subject. This is the second-best of all time for any flash-based DRAMless SSD and yet another clear demonstration of when QLC beats TLC. Impressive.

Final Thoughts

We must keep reminding ourselves that not only is the Crucial P310 a tiny 2230 SSD, but even more incredibly, it's arrayed with QLC flash. As we see it, the performance that this tiny contender delivers where performance matters most, is the single most impressive of its kind in the history of SSDs. It has quite unexpectedly become our new favorite PCIe Gen4 SSD, eclipsing all others because of its balance of size, versatility, low power draw, and, of course, its stunning performance.

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We rank SSDs in terms of overall user experience (performance where it matters most) as expressed by PCMark 10 storage and 3DMark gaming storage tests. Currently, we consider a user experience score of 15K or more to verify an SSD as a TweakTown Elite performer. Who would have thought our very first certified 15K TweakTown Elite flash-based DRAMless SSD would be a 2230 QLC SSD? Never in a million years, but here we are. Incredible.

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Overall, it's the fifth most powerful PCIe Gen4 SSD currently in circulation. It's by far the most powerful QLC SSD we've tested to date. It's a PS5 legit masterpiece, a handheld storage juggernaut, and eminently worthy of our highest award. Editor's Choice.