Kingston NV3 2TB NVMe Gen4 SSD Review

Kingston’s NV series has been successful especially the NV2 with its superb price-to-performance in the market. The NV2 has been the top SSD of choice for first-time rig builders, those looking to get value second-hand storage, and those looking to upgrade their PS5s. Two years have passed and Kingston now has a successor, the NV3. The Kingston NV3 Gen4 SSD has a lot to fill if it wants to replace the popular NV2, so let’s take a closer look at its performance.

NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD Specifications:

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

Kingston NV3 2TB Unboxing and Overview

Kingston has been consistent with the packaging of its products, you have almost no difference compared to the previous NV2 SSD except for the updated NV3 markings and relevant specs.

Being a budget Gen 4 NVMe SSD, the Kingston NV2 2TB(and the rest of the SSD variants) has no built-in or pre-attached heatsink. This makes the NV2 SSD compatible with any device as you won’t have clearance issues with a pre-attached heatsink. The back side of the NV2 doesn’t have any IC or chips.

The Kingston NV2 NVMe SSD uses the Gen 4 protocol but doesn’t maximize the PCIe Gen 4×4 bandwidth as the NV2 is rated at 3000MB/s to 3,500MB/s read and 1,300MB/s to 2,800MB/s write depending on the capacity. Our specific NV2 2TB model has a rated speed of 3,500MB/s read and 2,800MB/s write.

Benchmark Setup and Test Methodology

Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible so that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the tested component or device.

We use CapFrameX 1.7.2 as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 11 Pro and WHQL-certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and other relevant software for cross-checking.

For more info, read our Review and Benchmark methodology article.

Kingston NV3 2TB Benchmarks

THROUGHPUT Performance

Developed by Noriyuki Miyazaki, CrytalDiskMark is a free benchmark tool that is being used by thousands of experts. This tool measures SSD’s sequential read and write speeds. That means how fast files can be read from and written to the drive, usually measured in MB/s.

IOPS Performance

IOPS or Input/Output Operations Per Second is a measure of how many inputs or outputs an SSD can perform in a short period. IOPS is a useful parameter to measure how fast it can process small amounts of workload that are similar to real-world usages, such as loading a webpage and launching apps.

ACCESS TIME

Access time or latency is just as crucial as sequential, random, and IOPS for an SSD. It wraps up all the values from the previous performance and shows the SSD’s responsiveness, whether it be small or heavy workloads.

AS SSD’s Copy benchmark simulates copying various file types namely, ISOs, Games, and applications. Different file types result in different transfer speeds.

Kingston NV3 2TB SSD Temperatures

PCIe Gen 4 SSDs are notorious for their ridiculously high temperatures but the Kingston NV2 is impressive as it doesn’t have a built-in heatsink like most Gen 4 SSDs. The 70°C peak temperature is well below the concerning temperature for a Gen 4 SSD. A 51°C idle temp is to be expected given that it’s a Gen 4 SSD without a heatsink.

Conclusion

Kingston made a tried and trusted formula with its previous NV1 and NV2 SSDs which made them one of the best-value SSDs during their time. Previous Kingston Value SSDs were only half the speed of its PCIe generation, effectively making them just the max speeds of the previous PCie x4 slot. This time around, Kingston tried to be more aggressive with its NV3 SSD by still doubling the speeds of the prior model but has retained the same interface to be affordable to consumers.

Better specs and faster speeds mean higher costs but surprisingly, Kingston has managed to minimize the price difference over the NV2 with only a Php 500 premium for the 1TB model and Php 1,000 for the 2TB variant. The Kingston NV3 completes Kingston’s SSD lineup as it’s perfectly positioned between the NV2 and KC3000 SSDs.

The NV3 was made for those aiming for much faster speeds than the NV2 while still managing to stay in the budget segment thanks to the competitive pricing. That said, it does come with the typical QLC drawbacks so we don’t recommend it for write heavy use case scenarios. So, if your SSD usage is more into reads rather than writes, then the Kingston NV3 is a compelling option for your next SSD purchase, especially for the small premium over its predecessor.

Grant Soriano

PC Review Lead and Sales Officer at Gadget Pilipinas | Website

Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.