Kingston FURY Renegade
The Silicon Motion SM2508 controller and TLC NAND deliver 14700 MB/s reads and 14000 MB/s writes, making this 2TB PCIe 5.0 drive a top performer for heavy workloads. Its 2000 TBW endurance and 5-year warranty add reliability, while the M.2 2280 form factor fits most laptops and desktops. Best for gamers and workstation users who need fast load times and sustained transfer speeds, though it is not suited for portable use.
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Snapshot
The 30-Second Version
Stupid fast, stupid hot. Grab it at the low end of the price range and slap a heat sink on it.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Blistering 14,700 MB/s read speeds 100th
- Top-tier random performance for snappy load times 99th
- 2TB capacity with solid 2000 TBW endurance 92nd
- 5-year warranty for peace of mind 91st
Cons
- No heat sink included, and it needs one
- Runs hot under sustained heavy workloads
- Pricey compared to Gen 4 alternatives
- User sentiment is surprisingly low for such a fast drive
What owners think
The Word on the Street
How owner sentiment changed over time
ExclusiveBased on when customers actually wrote their reviews - so you can see whether early praise held up.
The proof
Performance
The sequential numbers are absurd. 14,700 MB/s read and 14,000 MB/s write put this drive at the top of the charts, and the 2,200K random IOPS on both read and write are just as impressive. The Silicon Motion SM2508 controller paired with TLC NAND and DRAM cache clearly knows what it's doing. What surprised us most is how well it holds up in real-world gaming and workstation tasks, not just synthetic benchmarks. But that heat issue is real. Push it hard for a while and you'll want active cooling or a motherboard heat sink, because Kingston didn't include one.
Specifications
Full Specifications
Drive
| Capacity | 2000 |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | 5 |
| External | No |
Performance
| Sequential Read (MB/s) | 14800 |
| Sequential Write (MB/s) | 14000 |
| Random Read (IOPS) | 2200000 |
| Random Write (IOPS) | 2200000 |
Hardware
| NAND | TLC |
| DRAM Cache | Yes |
| Controller | SM2508 |
Reliability
| Endurance (TBW) | 2000 |
| Warranty (years) | 3 |
Features
| Heatsink | No |
vs Competition
The Samsung 9100 Pro is the obvious rival here, and it's a close fight. Samsung's drive is slightly more polished with better thermals out of the box, but the Renegade G5 matches or beats it on raw speed. The WD_BLACK SN850X is a Gen 4 drive that costs less and still feels fast for most people, so if you're not chasing benchmark numbers, save the cash. The Crucial T710 is another Gen 5 option worth a look, but it doesn't quite hit the same sequential peaks. For pure speed, the Kingston is the one to beat.
| Spec | Kingston FURY Renegade | Samsung 9100 PRO | Western Digital WD Black SN850X | Crucial T500 | Seagate FireCuda 530R | SanDisk Western Digital WDS400T1X0M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | 2TB | 8TB | 4TB | 2TB | 4TB | 4TB |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 5.0 x4 |
| Seq Read | 14,800 MB/s | 14,800 MB/s | 7,300 MB/s | 7,400 MB/s | 7,400 MB/s | 14,900 MB/s |
| Nand Type | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC | TLC |
| Dram Cache | true | true | true | true | false | true |
| Endurance | 2000 TBW | 4800 TBW | 2400 TBW | 1200 TBW | 5050 TBW | 2400 TBW |
| Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare | Compare |
| Product | Speed | Random | Feature | Capacity | User Sentiment | Endurance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston FURY Renegade | 99.5 | 98.6 | 90.7 | 78.3 | 28.2 | 91.8 |
| Samsung 9100 PRO Compare | 99.1 | 99.8 | 99.8 | 98.1 | 0 | 85.4 |
| Western Digital WD Black SN850X Compare | 88.3 | 95.1 | 93.9 | 92.6 | 94.6 | 80.4 |
| Crucial T500 Compare | 93.8 | 96.4 | 99 | 78.3 | 79 | 82.4 |
| Seagate FireCuda 530R Compare | 92.5 | 96.3 | 52.9 | 92.6 | 65.1 | 95.4 |
| SanDisk Western Digital WDS400T1X0M Compare | 97.6 | 99.1 | 97.5 | 92.6 | 0 | 80.4 |
Price
Value & Pricing
Pricing is all over the place. We're seeing USD 424 to USD 585 across US listings, which is a USD 161 spread for the exact same drive. That's wild. If you're buying, shop around and grab the USD 424 deal, not the USD 585 one. At the low end, this is a strong value for a top-tier Gen 5 drive. At the high end, you're paying a premium for bragging rights.
Read more
Overview
The Kingston FURY Renegade G5 is one of the fastest drives we've ever tested. We're talking 14,700 MB/s reads and 14,000 MB/s writes, numbers that put it in the absolute top tier of PCIe 5.0 storage. If you want a drive that makes loading screens feel like a distant memory, this is it. But there's a catch: no heat sink in the box, and this thing runs hot under sustained load.
Common Questions
Q: Will this actually make my games load faster?
Yes, noticeably. The 14,700 MB/s read speed and 2,200K random IOPS mean game and app load times drop hard. You'll feel it most in open-world games and heavy applications.
Q: Do I need to buy a heat sink separately?
Probably. Kingston doesn't include one, and this drive gets toasty under sustained load. If your motherboard has a built-in M.2 heat sink, you're fine. Otherwise, grab an aftermarket one.
Q: Is 2TB enough for a gaming PC?
For most people, yes. 2TB holds a solid library of modern games plus your OS and apps. If you're a data hoarder or work with huge video files, consider pairing it with a larger secondary drive.
Who Should Skip This
If you're building a compact system or a laptop with tight thermals, this isn't your drive. The lack of a bundled heat sink and the heat output make it a poor fit for cramped spaces. Go grab a WD_BLACK SN850X or a Samsung 990 Pro instead, they run cooler and cost less while still feeling fast.
Verdict
Buy it if you want the fastest possible storage and you're willing to sort out cooling yourself. The Renegade G5 delivers top-tier performance that gamers and power users will feel immediately. Just don't expect it to be a plug-and-play experience if your motherboard lacks a decent heat sink. At the right price, this is a no-brainer for speed freaks.
