Kingston KC3000 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
Kingston
85 Overall Score
vs
Samsung 950 PRO 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
Samsung
57 Overall Score
What Buyers Say
Kingston KC3000 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
No customer feedback yet
Samsung 950 PRO 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
78 out of 100 medium confidence 18 reviews
The Samsung 950 Pro SSD is praised for its blazing speed and performance, especially when properly configured with BIOS updates and NVMe drivers. Users report significant improvements over SATA SSDs, but some encountered issues with compatibility, thermal throttling, and Samsung's warranty support. Overall, it's a top-tier choice for enthusiasts, though setup can be tricky and requires careful motherboard compatibility checks.
Pros
- Blazing fast speeds
- Significant upgrade over SATA SSD
- Works well with proper BIOS settings
- Good for enthusiast builds
- Reliable after initial setup
Cons
- Compatibility issues with some motherboards
- Thermal throttling under load
- Samsung warranty support disappointing
- Requires BIOS updates and driver installation
- Not plug-and-play for all systems
Performance 7
Compatibility 6
Thermal throttling 3
Warranty support 2
Installation difficulty 4
Value for money 2
Scores
Budget
Workstation
Gaming
Console
Laptop
Portable
Specifications
| Kingston KC3000 | Samsung 950 PRO | |
|---|---|---|
| Drive | ||
| Capacity | ||
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 | PCIe 3.0 x4 |
| Protocol | NVMe | NVMe |
| PCIe Generation | 4★ | 3 |
| 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 | Samsung UBX controller |
| Reliability | ||
| Endurance (TBW) | ||
| MTBF (hours) | ||
| Warranty (years) | 5 | 5 |
| Features | ||
| Heatsink | ✓★ | — |
| Hardware Encryption | — | ✓★ |
Pros & Cons
Kingston KC3000 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong feature (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong random (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Strong endurance (93rd percentile)93rd %ile
- Strong social proof (87th percentile)87th %ile
Samsung 950 PRO 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280
- Strong feature (94th percentile)94th %ile
- Strong endurance (92nd percentile)92nd %ile
- Strong social proof (87th percentile)87th %ile
- Strong random (78th percentile)
- Below average capacity (17th percentile)17th %ile
Pricing
Kingston KC3000 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 22800.313score per dollar
vs
Samsung 950 PRO 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 22800.573score per dollar
Samsung 950 PRO 256GB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 2280 offers 1.8x better value for money
Verdict
Winner: Kingston KC3000
Scores 85 overall, wins 6 of 6 usage categories and 9 of 18 specs.
