SanDisk WD_BLACK SN8100
Kingston KC3000
What Buyers Say
SanDisk WD_BLACK SN8100
The WD Black SN8100 is overwhelmingly praised for its blazing Gen5 speeds, with users reporting double the performance of previous Gen4 drives and boot times of just a few seconds. Reviewers highlight excellent heat management, easy installation, and reliability, though many note the high price as a significant drawback. Overall, it's seen as a top-tier upgrade for those with compatible hardware and budget.
Pros
- Blazing Gen5 speeds
- Excellent heat management
- Easy installation
- Reliable performance
- Great for gaming
Cons
- High price
- Requires Gen5 motherboard
- Pricey for many
Kingston KC3000
Users are overwhelmingly positive about this Kingston KC3000 SSD, praising its blazing-fast speeds, especially for gaming and as a boot drive. Many note it outperforms or matches competitors like the Samsung 990 Pro and WD SN850X, often at a better price. A few mention minor setup quirks, like needing to download drivers on new Windows builds or dealing with sector size differences, but these are easily resolved and don't detract from overall satisfaction.
Pros
- Blazing fast speeds
- Great value for money
- Outperforms competitors
- Excellent for gaming
- Reliable performance
Cons
- Driver download needed on new Windows
- Sector size mismatch for cloning
- 4TB version pricey
Scores
Specifications
| SanDisk WD_BLACK SN8100 | Kingston KC3000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | 5★ | 4 |
| External | ✗ | ✗ |
| Performance | ||
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | ||
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | ||
| Random Read (IOPS) | ||
| Random Write (IOPS) | ||
| Hardware | ||
| NAND | TLC | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | — | ✓★ |
| Controller | — | Phison E18 |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | No data | |
| Warranty (years) | 5 | 5 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
SanDisk WD_BLACK SN8100
- Strong speed (100th percentile)100th %ile
- Strong random (99th percentile)99th %ile
- Strong social proof (96th percentile)96th %ile
- Strong endurance (95th percentile)95th %ile
Kingston KC3000
- Strong feature (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong random (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Strong endurance (90th percentile)90th %ile
- Strong speed (87th percentile)87th %ile
Verdict
Scores 90 overall, wins 2 of 6 usage categories and 7 of 17 specs.