Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB SSD Unboxing Review

The Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB solid state drive utilizes PCIE Gen4 x4 transfer bandwidth, and its SiliconMotion (SMI) SM2268XT controllers paired with Toshiba's 218L 3D QLC cells enable sequential read/write performance of up to 6000/5000 MB/s. The SSD itself utilizes a thin single-sided cell configuration and a shorter 2230 (22x30mm) form factor. The SSD body utilizes a thin, single-sided cell configuration and a shorter 2230 (22x30mm) form factor to expand storage capacity for smaller systems such as laptops and handheld gaming devices with limited mounting space! Available in 500GB / 1TB / 2TB capacities and backed by a five-year warranty and Acronis clone software.

Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB SSD Specs:

Interface: PCI-Express 4.0 x4
NVMe: 1.4
Interface size: M.2 2230
Continuous read speed: 6000 MB/s
Continuous Write Speed: 5000 MB/s
Optional Storage Capacity: 500GB / 1TB / 2TB
Controller: SiliconMotion(SMI) SM2268XT
NAND Flash: Toshiba 218L 3D QLC cells
DRAM Cache: Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology
Size: 30 x 22 x 2.2 mm
Warranty: 5-year limited warranty
TBW Endurance: 640 TB (2 TB capacity version)

Expand your capacity with ease! Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB SSD Unboxing

Following last year's unboxing of the M.2 2280-sizedKingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD 2TB Solid State DriveThis year Kingston announced the expansion of its NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD series to include the new M.2 2230 model “NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD”. The shorter M.2 2230 size will be sold alongside the original M.2 2280 size to create a more complete product line. The new Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD will satisfy the storage space needs of users of thin laptops and handheld game consoles. The new Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSDs will fulfill the needs of thin laptop and handheld gaming console users who require upgraded storage space, providing a flexible and efficient storage solution for mobile devices.

Although the NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD is smaller in size, its sequential read and write speeds are still the same as those of the 2280, and it is available in 500GB/1TB/2TB capacities, with the largest 2TB capacity delivering sequential read/write speeds of up to 6,000 and 5,000 MB/s, and it also utilizes the SiliconMotion (SMI) SM2268XT host control solution. SMI SM2268XT host controller is also used, and the warranty is a 5-year limited product warranty and 640TB TBW (TBW varies according to the capacity version).

∆ The smaller Kingston NV3 2230 SSD is expandable in 500GB / 1TB / 2TB capacities.

 

The Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD has a smaller length of only 30 mm, so it is more suitable for expansion in laptops, handhelds, mini system hosts, external SSD enclosures, etc. For handhelds such as the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and MSI Claw, etc., you can upgrade your handheld's storage space by expanding the M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD. M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD can be used to upgrade the storage space of handhelds. The performance and durability of M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD is better than MicroSD memory card, but the disadvantage is that it needs to be disassembled and expanded manually, which is troublesome for those who do not have confidence in their manual ability.

The SSD body is only 22 mm wide and 30 mm long, providing a storage expansion solution for space-constrained equipment systems. The body uses a single-sided particle layout with a simple black and white label on the surface of the master controller chip.

The 2TB version has a 5-year limited warranty, and the 2TB version has a TBW (Tera Bytes Written) of 640 TB, which translates to 2048 GB (2 TB), and the DWPD_Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD_Drive Writes Per Day) would have to be 350.6 GB per day for 5 years to exceed the nominal TBW value. TBW value.

The ∆ NV3 2230 has only a label sticker on the front.

∆ Single-sided particle layout.

 

After removing the sticker, you can see that the NV3 2230 also uses the SiliconMotion (SMI) SM2268XT2 controller, which is a dual-core ARM Cortex R8 CPU that supports four NAND channels up to 3,200 MT/s each.

Equipped with Huilon's new 8th generation NANDXtend ECC technology, it combines the 4K+ LDPC ECC engine and RAID function to provide better error correction capability, while the cache function is provided by the system DRAM through the 64MB Host Memory Buffer (HMB), and there is no DRAM cache on the body itself. There is no DRAM cache, which is the so-called DRAM less program.

The 3D NAND Flash die has Kingston FP01T08UCT1-89 printed on it, and when viewed through the SSD utils software, you can see that it is a Toshiba Toshiba 218L QLC BiCS8 die.

∆ Using SiliconMotion(SMI) 慧榮 SM2268XT2 主控晶片.

Kingston FP01T08UCT1-89 is printed on the ∆ NAND Flash die.

∆ The Kingston NV3 2230 I have is using Toshiba 218L QLC chips with 64 MB HMB capacity.

 

Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB SSD Performance Test

Testing Platform Usage AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Processor with GIGABYTE X870 AORUS TACHYON ICE The motherboard and the Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB is installed in the first slot of the motherboard where the M2A_CPU is installed. The slot is provided with full PCIE Gen5 x4 bandwidth by the processor direct connect channel for the performance test, however, since the test hard drive is running on a PCIE Gen4 x4, the bandwidth of the slot will be lowered automatically, in addition, the performance is only for reference. Please note that performance may vary depending on the firmware version of the SSD, system hardware configuration, and other factors, so these results are for reference only.

Testing Platform

Processor:AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (PBO activated)
Cooler: LIAN LI GA II Trinity SL-INF 360 (full speed)
Water cooling fan: 3x XPG VENTO PRO 120 PWM (full speed)
Motherboard:GIGABYTE X870 AORUS TACHYON ICE (BIOS version: F4b)
Memory: G.SKILL Trident Z5 Royal Neo DDR5-8000 CL40-48-48-128 1.40V 48GB (2x24GB)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti Founders Edition 8GB
Operating System: Windows 11 Professional 24H2
System hard disk:Kingston FURY Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD 2TB
Test Drive: Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB (formatted empty)
Power supply:MONTECH TITAN PLA 1000W
Case: STREACOM BC1 Benchtable V2

 

First of all, through CrystalDiskInfo The software examines the basics of M.2 SSDs, using PCIe 4.0 x4 transfer mode and the NVM Express 1.4 standard, with support for S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), TRIM, and VolatileWriteCache, and the firmware version tested by the author was: SDX01100.

The ∆ storage brand usually uses a decimal system for labeling capacity, but systems such as Win11 use a binary capacity display, so after formatting and converting to a different bit system, and after subtracting the space required for the firmware inside the hard drive, the actual capacity that can be used in the computer is 1.81 TB.

∆ CrystalDiskInfo software view information.

 

Use with empty disk CrystalDiskMark The software was used to test the read/write performance of the M.2 SSD. The test file size was set to 1GiB in NVMe SSD configuration mode, and the sequential read/write speeds measured in the default profile were 6342 MB/s and 5803 MB/s. The software was also used to test the performance of the M.2 SSD.

The Q8T1 test result in the first column represents a thread with eight queue depths, which means that there are eight 1MB-sized accesses in the worklist waiting to be accessed. This corresponds to a real situation, such as reading or writing eight 1MB files from or to a hard disk at the same time, which is generally less likely to be done in general.

The random read/write performance of the RND4K Q32T16 item is 3633 MB/s and 1261 MB/s, respectively.

The RND4K Q32T16 operates with 16 queue depths out of 32 threads, and the file types are random access 4 KB size files written or read into the SSD.

∆ CrystalDiskMark Settings:NVMe SSD / Profile:Default, Sequential Read/Write and Random Read/Write test scores.

 

For daily use or for gamers, the QD1 to QD4 range is a good reference. If we switch the CrystalDiskMark profile to real-world performance, the first column will be Q1T1. Although the result will be a bit lower than the Q8T1, it will be more in line with the actual performance of the daily use experience.

The reason for this is that most of the daily operating systems use Q1T1, which is a queue-depth mode with one thread, so Q1T1 is more suitable for daily use than Q8T1. The read and write speeds of Q1T1 are 3758 MB/s and 5209 MB/s with the capacity of the test file set to 1GiB.

∆ CrystalDiskMark Settings:NVMe SSD / Profile:Real World Mode 1GiB profile test results.

 

follow ATTO Disk Benchmark To test the continuous read/write performance and stability of different file sizes, the maximum value is 5.42 GB/s for writing and 5.96 GB/s for reading.

∆ ATTO Disk Benchmark.

 

Professional video multimedia file write and read performance testing using the AJA System Test To simulate the scenario test, the test was set to 5120×2700 5K RED format for 64GB and 1GB files, and the Codec Type was 10bit YUV by default, the final results were 5122 MB/s write and 5459 MB/s read for 1GB mode, and 5162 MB/s write and 5400 MB/s read for 64GB mode.

∆ AJA System Test 1GB.

∆ AJA System Test 64GB.

 

Next, through TxBENCH The test was conducted in the default test file 512MB mode, and obtained a read of 6154 MB/s and a write of 5986 MB/s.

∆ TxBENCH Default test file 512MB mode results.

 

3DMark Storage BenchmarkingTested with game startup loading, copying game files, game archiving, installing games, and OBS game recording, the scenario mainly uses a number of games for actual testing, so that gamers can clearly refer to the performance of the hard disk in the use of the game, the above test process is recorded in units of time, but the final results are calculated using the bandwidth and the average access time, and the higher the final storage benchmark test score, the better.

∆ 3DMark Storage Benchmark Test.

 

3DMark DirectStorage Feature TestIt can help gamers understand the performance enhancement of PC game loading with Microsoft's DirectStorage technology, a technology introduced by Microsoft for Windows PCs equipped with PCIe SSDs, which reduces the amount of resources consumed when loading game data.

DirectStorage can bring more benefits through BypassIO, which reduces the CPU utilization of the game by minimizing the CPU load when transferring data. When DirectStorage is used in conjunction with GDeflate data compression technology, it can further reduce the game loading time, and GDeflate eventually decompresses game data to VRAM through the GPU, resulting in more transfer bandwidth for better game data transfer efficiency. GDeflate ultimately decompresses game data to VRAM through the GPU, bringing more bandwidth for better game data transfer efficiency.

At the end of the test, three scores are generated. The first is the performance difference between DirectStorage on and off, which is expressed as a percentage. Next is the average bandwidth of game data transfer from SSD to GPU memory (VRAM) with DirectStorage enabled, and finally the average bandwidth of game data transfer from SSD to GPU memory (VRAM) with DirectStorage disabled. The Disabled item score also represents the average bandwidth of standard Windows APIs in transferring game data. The deactivation score also represents the average bandwidth of the standard Windows API for transferring game data.

∆ 3DMark DirectStorage feature test on and off scores improved.

 

以 PCMARK 10 To test the performance of all three types of storage, the Full System Drive Benchmark tests hard drive performance in real-world usage scenarios using a range of everyday applications and software, including Windows 10, Adobe's suite of software, game launcher, Microsoft's clerical software and related applications.

∆ PCMARK 10 Full System Drive Benchmark.

 

final use AIDA64 Read Test Suite, Linear Read Test, Read Test Suite mainly uses Linear Read, Random Read, Buffered Read, etc. to test the read performance of hard disks through these three types of read methods.

∆ AIDA64 Read Test Suite reads the performance combination test.

 

AIDA64 Linear Read 與 Linear Write The full disk read/write test will read and write large files with MAX capacity of the hard disk for users to observe its read/write stability. In the Linear Read test, SSD reads around 6047 MB/s on average most of the time, but there is a period of dropping to a minimum of 2183 MB/s in the early stage, and then recovered to the original level later on.

∆ AIDA64 Linear Read.

 

Conclusion

The actual test is to open the box of Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD 2TB SSD with M.2 2230 specification, which is specially designed for mobile devices and other customers. It uses the same SiliconMotion (SMI) SM2268XT controller chip as the 2280-size version, and there is no difference in the continuous read/write performance between the two in terms of the paper specification. There's no difference in paper-based sequential read/write performance between the two, with the 2TB capacity versions both offering up to 6000/5000 MB/s, but the 2230 version only has a maximum selectable capacity of 2TB, which is more than enough for handhelds and other mobile devices.

After unboxing the Kingston NV3 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2230 SSD, it also uses 64MB Host Memory Buffer (HMB), which is provided by the system DRAM, that is, there is no physical DRAM cache, which is the so-called DRAM less solution. In other words, there is no physical DRAM cache, which is the so-called DRAM less solution, and with the Toshiba 218L QLC BiCS8 chips, there is basically no room for physical DRAM cache on the M.2 2230 SSD, and it is hard to ask for physical DRAM cache on the M.2 2230 SSD.

The performance test part I originally wanted to use with a laptop for unboxing, but when the laptop arrived, I realized that there was no expansion slot available, so I had to continue to use a PC to conduct the test, and the actual test exceeded the official website's continuous read/write performance level in CrystalDiskMark and TxBENCH software, and it comes with a five-year warranty and 640 TB of total data writes. TBW (Tera Bytes Written), DWPD_Drive Writes Per Day (DWPD_Drive Writes Per Day) is converted to 2048 GB, which means that you have to write 350 GB, or 17 % of the hard drive's capacity, to the SSD every single day for five years to exceed the nominal TBW value.