Crucial P310

4TB of PCIe 4.0 speed for less than most 2TB drives. The QLC endurance is a compromise, but for the price, this thing is a steal.

The sequential numbers are legit. We clocked it hitting the advertised 7,100 MB/s read and 6,000 MB/s write in our database, which puts it in the top tier for PCIe 4.0 drives. Random performance is even more impressive, landing in the 93rd percentile overall. That's the kind of snappy responsiveness you feel when loading games or scrubbing through large files. The catch is the QLC NAND and lack of DRAM. Sustained writes will dip once the SLC cache fills up, and if you're hammering this thing with massive file transfers all day, you'll notice it. For typical gaming and everyday use, though, it's hard to tell the difference between this and drives costing twice as much.

The obvious rival is the WD_BLACK SN850X, which has DRAM and TLC NAND, making it the better pick if you're doing heavy sustained writes or want maximum endurance. But you'll pay more for it, and for most people the P310 is fast enough that the difference is academic. The Samsung 9100 PRO is in a different league entirely, PCIe 5.0 speeds and a price tag to match, but if you're on PCIe 4.0, you won't see the benefit. The Kingston Fury Renegade is another solid alternative with DRAM, but again, it costs more. For pure gigabytes per dollar at PCIe 4.0 speeds, the P310 is the value play.

This is where the P310 gets interesting. Prices bounce around between USD 519 and USD 795 depending on the vendor, which is a huge spread for the same drive. At the low end, you're getting 4TB of fast NVMe storage for around USD 130 per terabyte, which is excellent. At the high end, you're overpaying. Shop around and don't just grab the first listing you see. The Newegg listings tend to sit at the lower end of that range, so start there.

The Crucial P310 4TB is a big, fast, affordable slab of storage that punches way above its price class. You're getting 7,100 MB/s reads and 6,000 MB/s writes in a DRAM-less QLC drive, which sounds like a recipe for disappointment, but Crucial somehow makes it work. The headline here is simple: this is one of the cheapest ways to get 4TB of PCIe 4.0 speed without buying something that falls apart under load.

If you're a content creator who regularly moves hundreds of gigabytes of footage around, this isn't your drive. The QLC NAND and lack of DRAM will show their limits under sustained writes, and you'll be happier with something like the WD_BLACK SN850X or a TLC drive with a proper cache. Same goes if you're still on PCIe 3.0, you're leaving half the performance on the table, so save your money and get a cheaper Gen3 drive instead.

The Crucial P310 4TB is the drive to buy if you want maximum capacity without spending a fortune. It's fast, reliable enough for everyday use, and backed by a proper 5-year warranty. The QLC endurance is the only real compromise, and for most people, 800 TBW is more than enough. If you're a gamer or just need a big, fast drive for your library, this is an easy recommendation.