Kingston NV3 500GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
Western Digital WD_BLACK SN8100 1TB PCIe 5.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
What Buyers Say
Kingston NV3 500GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
The Kingston NV3 SSD generally receives positive feedback for its ease of installation, speed, and reliability in everyday use. However, several users note that the price has increased significantly, making it less of a value than before. Some Q&A responses highlight that it lacks DRAM and may slow down during sustained writes, but it's considered adequate for typical desktop and gaming use.
Pros
- Easy installation
- Fast performance
- Reliable in daily use
- Good value at normal price
- Works well for OS storage
Cons
- Price increased significantly
- No DRAM (uses HMB)
- Slows down during sustained writes
- 500GB capacity may be limiting
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 2280 | 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★ |
| DRAM Cache | ✗ | ✓★ |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 3 | 3 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | ✗ | ✓★ |
| Hardware Encryption | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
Kingston NV3 500GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong social proof (87th percentile)87th %ile
- Strong affordability (76th percentile)
- Strong speed (70th percentile)
- Strong endurance (70th percentile)
- Below average feature (15th percentile)15th %ile
- Below average capacity (27th 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 6 of 6 usage categories and 11 of 17 specs.