Kingston NV3 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD drops to $157 at Newegg for Labor Day

The NV3 succeeds Kingston's popular NV2 line, adopting a PCIe 4.0 x4 controller that delivers sequential read speeds up to 6,000MB/s and write speeds up to 4,000MB/s. TechRadar notes that independent testing has generally found the drive performs close to its rated speeds. It keeps a single-sided M.2 2280 form factor, which fits easily into thin laptops and small-form-factor desktops, and the new model is rated for lower power consumption and reduced heat compared with the NV2.

Kingston keeps costs down with QLC NAND and a DRAM-less design that relies on the Host Memory Buffer instead of including a dedicated cache chip. For typical use such as booting, loading applications and gaming, TechRadar describes the trade-off as barely noticeable. The main limitation is that sustained write performance drops once the SLC cache fills, a factor relevant mainly to continuous transfers of very large files.

According to TechRadar's buying advice, the NV3 1TB is a good pick for shoppers who want a fast, affordable PCIe 4.0 boot drive or a compact single-sided M.2 drive with low power draw. It is less suitable for those who regularly write large video files, prefer a drive with dedicated DRAM cache, or need more than 1TB in one drive. TechRadar also suggests double-checking Newegg's price at checkout because SSD pricing shifts often.