PNY 1TB SSD PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2

The CS2241 hits 5,100 MB/s reads and carries a 4.7-star average from 358 owners, with a budget score of 87.8 out of 100 that makes it one of the best value Gen4 drives we've tracked. It's not the fastest thing on the market, but it's fast enough to make SATA feel ancient. Buy it for the price, keep it for the reliability.

Sequential reads top out at 5,100 MB/s and writes at 3,200 MB/s. That read speed is solidly above average for Gen4 drives, though the write speed is more middle of the pack. The random performance sits at the 62nd percentile, so day-to-day tasks like booting Windows, launching apps, and loading game levels will feel snappy but not mind-blowing. PNY claims up to 8x faster than SATA, and while we can't verify that exact multiplier, the jump from ~550 MB/s SATA speeds to 5,100 MB/s reads is genuinely transformative.

The TLC NAND is a good sign for endurance and sustained performance. It's not the exotic stuff you'd find in a flagship drive, but it's reliable and proven. The 3-year warranty is a bit thin compared to the 5-year coverage some competitors offer, and the endurance ranking at the 42nd percentile reflects that. For a budget-minded system drive or game library, the performance profile is right where it needs to be.

Stacked against the Samsung 990 PRO or Western Digital BLACK SN850X, the CS2241 gives up a lot of raw speed. Those drives push past 7,000 MB/s reads and dominate the top of our speed charts. But they also cost significantly more, and for most people loading games or booting Windows, the difference between 5,100 MB/s and 7,000 MB/s is hard to feel. The Crucial T500 sits closer to the CS2241 in price and beats it on writes, so if you move large files regularly, that's worth a look. The Lexar NM1090 PRO and MK1UA T700 are faster still but aimed at enthusiasts who actually need that throughput. The CS2241's lane is clear: it's the sensible pick when you want Gen4 responsiveness without paying flagship money.

This is where the CS2241 earns its keep. The budget score of 87.8 out of 100 is the best number on the entire spec sheet, and owners agree, with value for money showing up as a top recurring theme. US pricing swings from USD 137 to USD 250 across two listings, which is a USD 113 spread. That's a huge gap for the same drive. If you're shopping in the US, hunt for the lower end of that range and you're getting Gen4 speeds for near-SATA money. European buyers see a tighter EUR 173 to EUR 193 spread across four listings, so the deal hunting is less dramatic there. Either way, this drive undercuts most flagship Gen4 options by a wide margin while delivering most of the real-world benefit.

The PNY CS2241 1TB hits 5,100 MB/s sequential reads and 3,200 MB/s writes, which puts it in the 71st percentile for speed in our database. That's not going to set any records, but it's a massive leap over any SATA drive and more than enough for most people. The 4.7-star average across 358 reviews tells you owners are happy with what they got. Our social proof ranking lands at the 87th percentile, so this drive has earned real trust from real buyers.

Where it shines is value. The budget score of 87.8 out of 100 is the strongest number on the sheet, and users keep saying the same thing: fast enough, cheap enough, and it just works. The weakest area is portability at 16.9, which makes sense for an internal M.2 stick. You're not tossing this in a backpack. It goes in your PC and stays there.

If you're moving massive files around all day, video editing 4K footage, or running workloads that hammer sustained writes, the 3,200 MB/s write speed and 42nd percentile endurance ranking will hold you back. The Samsung 990 PRO or Crucial T500 are better fits for that kind of work. Also skip this if you want firmware updates, since PNY doesn't offer them for this drive. And if you're building a portable external setup, the 16.9 out of 100 portability score should tell you everything you need to know. This is a drive that lives inside a desktop or laptop and stays there.

The PNY CS2241 1TB is a textbook example of buying the performance you need instead of the performance that looks good on a spec sheet. A 4.7-star average from 358 owners and a budget score of 87.8 out of 100 tell the real story. It's fast enough to transform an older system, cheap enough to recommend without hesitation, and reliable enough that owners keep coming back to PNY for their M.2 slots. The 3-year warranty and lack of firmware support are the main dings, but neither is a dealbreaker at this price. If you're still on SATA or an older Gen3 drive, this is an easy upgrade.