Kingston NV3 2TB SSD Review - A Powerful Bargain

TweakTown's Rating: 93%

The Bottom Line

Kingston's newest SSD, the NV3 2TB, is a powerful bargain worthy of a close look.

Pros

• + Single-sided design
• + Low power usage
• + User experience performance
• + Price

Cons

• - None

Should you buy it?

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Buy at Amazon

Buy at Newegg

Introduction & Drive Details

Today, Kingston is expanding its mainstream portfolio with the launch of its QLC arrayed NV3 series. This new series brings Kingston's mainstream SSD portfolio into 6GB/s throughput territory, perfect for everyday client workloads. The NV3 is a preferred single-sided design, making it an excellent choice for desktops, small form factor PCs, laptops, and even PlayStation 5 fast storage expansion.

For its NV3 series, Kingston is stating up front that they are employing a multi-BOM (Bill of Materials) strategy for the new series. This means that there will, over time, be varying components from which the NV3 is built. Meaning some will come with different controllers than others or different flash or both flash and controller can vary. However, all BOMs will meet or exceed their stated datasheet specifications.

Some may not like this variable BOM strategy, but it's just the nature of the business these days. We have no problem with the variable BOM strategy as it typically results in a better product at a lower price over its lifespan. Especially for a mainstream offering like the NV3, we don't see it as a drawback. This potentially becomes an enhancement due to the rapid pace of controllers and NAND getting faster and cheaper over time.

On the test bench today, we have the 2TB model. Ours is controlled by Silicon Motion's new SM2268XT2 4-channel DRAMless controller. This will be our first experience with this variant of the SM2268XT controller, and based on our previous experience with the original, we expect to see good things. Our NV3 is arrayed with BiCS 6 QLC flash, which has already proven to be some of the best flash currently in circulation - comparable in performance with much of the TLC flash currently in circulation.

Okay, let's get into the review to see exactly what this high-capacity single-sided SSD can do for you by the numbers.

Drive Details

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As it is with most Kingston Storage products, Kingston offers its excellent toolbox software - Kingston SSD Manager, along with Acronis for Kingston cloning software free with its NV3 SSDs Click HERE to get both.

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.

Kingston NV3 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD (SNV3S2000G)

	Today	Yesterday	7 days ago	30 days ago
	$129.99	$129.99	$129.99	-	Buy
	$124.99	$124.99	$129.99	-	Buy
* Prices last scanned on 9/10/2024 at 1:47 am CDT - prices may not be accurate, click links above for the latest price. We may earn an affiliate commission from any sales.

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 in 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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We're not sure why Kingston did not mention its NV3 SSD as a great choice for PlayStation 5 storage expansion, but with a result of over 6,000 MB/s, it is indeed legit for this use. Additionally, being 4-channel controlled, heat is a non-issue, which is also a plus.

Synthetic Benchmarks: CDM, Anvil, ATTO

CrystalDiskMark

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We employ CDM as our standard measurement for sequential throughput and Q1T1 random read. In terms of sequential throughput, our test subject is fully capable of exceeding quoted up to factory throughput specifications. As Kingston guarantees, any changes in BOM will not change these results.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

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With an overall read score of 10,800, the 2TB NV3 outscores much of its contemporary DRAMless competition. Excellent.

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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. 942K IOPS running in our test configuration is indeed a head-turner. That is the second-highest result we've received from any flash-based DRAMless SSD. It is also a testament to the power of BiCS 6 QLC. Impressive.

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 NV3 2TB favors sequential transfers of 512KB or larger when serving data to the host (reading) and 2MB or larger when programming (writing) data.

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 1,400 MB/s again puts our NV3 2TB in front of much of its current DRAMless competition.

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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, our NV3 2TB is running in front of much of its current DRAMless competition.

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 2TB contender bring up the rear of this chart. However, we still consider it to be well within an acceptable range where we consider it to be a competent choice for gaming duties.

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 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 including 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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We find its performance exceptional for a QLC arrayed SSD. It's far better than any E18-controlled SSD can muster and right up there with its TLC-arrayed Chinese counterparts. Excellent.

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 good numbers, and that's exactly what we are getting from our 2TB contender. In fact, it's by far the best we've extracted from any Kingston SSD we've tested to date. Look at how much better the NV3 handles typical consumer workloads than Kingston's own PCIe Gen4 performance flagship SSD, the KC3000 2TB.

Final Thoughts

As we see it, Kingston's NV3 is a powerful bargain to be sure. Surprisingly, we find the QLC arrayed DRAMless NV3 2TB capable of delivering a better overall user experience than Kingston's current flagship Gen4 SSD, the KC3000. But it does make sense considering the age of the KC3000 and how good newer generation DRAMless controllers and flash are.

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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. With a user experience score of 13,000, our NV3 doesn't make for Elite status, but it does make for a highly desirable bargain that's overall more powerful than any SSD Kingston has brought forth to date.

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It's one of the most powerful QLC SSDs we've tested to date. It's legit for PS5 storage expansion and well worthy of a Must-Have rating.