The Kingston NV3 is Kingston’s latest addition to its value-oriented SSD lineup, offering a balance of price and performance for budget-conscious users. As a successor to the popular NV2, the NV3 brings notable improvements in speed and efficiency while maintaining its position as a cost-effective storage solution. Available in capacities ranging from 500GB to 4TB, the NV3 is designed for users looking to upgrade their systems with a high-capacity SSD without paying premium prices.
In this review, we’ll dive into the key features, market positioning, and real-world performance of the Kingston NV3 SSD to help you decide whether it’s the right storage option for you.
Features and Specifications
The Kingston NV3 stands out for its use of the Silicon Motion SM2268XT2 controller, an improvement over the controller used in the NV2. This new controller supports PCIe Gen 4 x4 interface, providing a significant speed boost over previous-generation drives. Paired with 3D QLC NAND flash, the drive leverages newer storage technology that enables higher densities at lower costs. However, like many budget SSDs, the NV3 does not include DRAM. Instead, it uses Host Memory Buffer (HMB) to borrow a small portion of the system’s RAM to cache frequently accessed data, which helps maintain decent performance
The NV3 is available in four capacities:
- 500GB: 5,000 MB/s read, 3,000 MB/s write, endurance of 160 TBW.
- 1TB: 6,000 MB/s read, 4,000 MB/s write, endurance of 320 TBW.
- 2TB: 6,000 MB/s read, 5,000 MB/s write, endurance of 640 TBW.
- 4TB: Same performance as 2TB, with an endurance of 1280 TBW
Despite being a DRAM-less SSD, the NV3 still delivers solid sequential read and write speeds, making it a reliable choice for users who prioritize affordability over the highest possible performance. Its M.2 2280 form factor makes it compatible with most modern desktops and laptops, while its low power consumption makes it ideal for mobile devices like laptops
Market Positioning
The Kingston NV3 is firmly positioned as a budget SSD, designed to offer respectable performance at an affordable price. This positions it as a direct competitor to other DRAM-less drives such as the Crucial P3 and WD Blue SN570, which also target the same market of users looking for a cost-effective upgrade. For users who need faster performance but don’t want to spend on premium Gen 4 drives, the NV3 strikes a good balance between speed and price
The NV3 is particularly well-suited for general-purpose use cases, such as booting an operating system, launching applications, and storing large files like videos, games, and documents. It is not, however, targeted at enthusiasts or professional users who demand high sustained write speeds and top-tier performance for tasks like 4K video editing or real-time 3D rendering
For casual gamers, content creators, or those building a PC on a budget, the NV3 offers more than enough performance to meet everyday needs. Additionally, it could be an excellent choice for laptop users due to its low power draw, which extends battery life when compared to more power-hungry drives
Performance
Synthetic Benchmarks
In synthetic benchmarks, the Kingston NV3 lives up to its advertised speeds in sequential read and write operations. Testing with CrystalDiskMark shows that the NV3 achieves near its maximum sequential speeds of 6,000 MB/s for reads and 5,000 MB/s for writes (on the 2TB and 4TB models). For smaller file transfers and random read/write operations, performance drops off, but this is typical for DRAM-less SSDs. The drive also performed admirably in tests like AS SSD and ATTO Disk Benchmark, especially considering its budget status. However, where the NV3 does show its limitations is in sustained workloads. Due to the absence of DRAM, the SSD can struggle with large, continuous transfers. Without DRAM, the mapping of data is handled by the NAND itself, which is slower than if the drive had a dedicated cache. This makes it less suitable for high-intensity tasks like video editing, which demand consistent high-speed performance
Atto Disk Benchmark
Anvil’s Storage utilities Benchmark
AJA System Test
AS SSD benchmark Suite
Real-World Usage
In real-world tests, the NV3 performs well for typical consumer tasks. Booting Windows 11 took around 20 seconds, and transferring a 100GB file between two NVMe drives was completed in roughly 125 seconds. Gaming performance is also respectable, with loading times for modern games showing improvements over traditional SATA SSDs, although not as fast as premium Gen 4 SSDs like the Samsung 990 Pro
The NV3’s performance in day-to-day tasks like web browsing, document editing, and video playback is smooth and snappy. For users upgrading from a SATA SSD or an older NVMe drive, the difference will be noticeable. However, power users running multiple virtual machines or transferring massive files may find the NV3’s performance starts to throttle under heavy loads
Durability and Warranty
Kingston rates the NV3 with a respectable endurance rating, ranging from 160 TBW for the 500GB model to 1280 TBW for the 4TB version. While these endurance numbers are not as high as some more premium drives, they are more than sufficient for average users who are not writing terabytes of data daily. For instance, the 640 TBW endurance of the 2TB version should last for several years under typical usage conditions
Additionally, Kingston offers a three-year warranty with the NV3, which includes access to Acronis True Image for easy data cloning. This adds value, particularly for users who are upgrading from an older drive and want a simple way to transfer their data
Conclusion: Is the Kingston NV3 Worth It?
The Kingston NV3 offers a compelling value proposition for users looking for an affordable yet capable SSD. Its competitive pricing, combined with solid sequential performance, makes it a strong contender in the budget SSD market. For users upgrading from older SATA drives or even slower NVMe SSDs, the NV3 provides a noticeable improvement in boot times, application loading, and file transfer speeds.
That said, the NV3 is not without its limitations. The absence of DRAM means that it won’t deliver the sustained performance of more expensive drives, and power users looking for a workhorse SSD for demanding tasks may want to consider alternatives with dedicated DRAM caches. Still, for the majority of users—especially casual gamers, office workers, and those looking for a storage upgrade for laptops—the Kingston NV3 is a great choice that balances speed and affordability
In conclusion, if you’re in the market for a reliable, cost-effective SSD to boost your PC’s performance, the Kingston NV3 is a solid option that won’t disappoint.
