Kingston NV3 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2230
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
What Buyers Say
Kingston NV3 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2230
Users are overwhelmingly positive about this Kingston NV3 2230 SSD, praising its speed, compact size, and value for money. It works well in various setups including gaming laptops, external enclosures, and Raspberry Pi 5, with several noting it outperforms original drives. A few caveats exist regarding sustained write speeds under heavy loads, but overall satisfaction is high.
Pros
- Fast read/write speeds
- Compact 2230 size
- Great value for money
- Works well in various devices
- Outperforms original drives
Cons
- Sustained write speeds drop under heavy load
- Not as good as real CFExpress cards
- May drop frames in high-bitrate recording
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
All seven verified reviews are overwhelmingly positive, praising the WD_BLACK SN8100 as the fastest Gen5 NVMe SSD with no issues. Users highlight its sustained speeds, strong performance on PCIe 5.0 motherboards, and good value at the time of purchase. One reviewer notes it outlasts other drives in cache performance, and Q&A confirms M.2 2280 form factor with up to 14,900 MBps read speed.
Pros
- Fastest Gen5 NVMe SSD
- No issues of any kind
- Super fast on PCIe 5.0
- Strong sustained speeds
- Good price at time of purchase
Cons
- Expensive (implied by 'if you can afford it')
Scores
Specifications
| Kingston NV3 | Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | M.2 2230 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | 4 | 5★ |
| External | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance | ||
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | ||
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | ||
| Random Read (IOPS) | No data | |
| Random Write (IOPS) | No data | |
| Hardware | ||
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | — | ✓★ |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 3 | 3 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | ✗ | ✓★ |
| Hardware Encryption | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
Kingston NV3 2TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2230
- Strong social proof (87th percentile)87th %ile
- Strong capacity (79th percentile)
- Strong user sentiment (78th percentile)
- Strong speed (78th percentile)
- Below average affordability (23rd percentile)
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong feature (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong user sentiment (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong random (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Strong speed (98th percentile)98th %ile
Verdict
Scores 95 overall, wins 5 of 6 usage categories and 8 of 17 specs.