Priced around RM550 for a 2TB NVMe Gen 4, the Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Drive probably the most affordable NMVe Gen 4 drive you can find in the market. However, according to official data, the drive still promises 3500 MB/s read and 2800 MB/s write speeds, which is unusual for an PCIe 4.0 NVMe drive.
Can Kingston balance price vs performance for the Kingston NV2? Will there be a scenario where the using the Kingston NV2 is practical? Find out in our review as we explore the Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2, HelloExpress’ first NVMe SSD review.
Kingston NV2 Hardware
The Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 2TB is built with a DRM-free controller and a 4-NAND package, the Silicon Motion SM2267XT. The controller is a PCIe Gen4 x4 controller with 4 NAND channels. Unlike its sister model, the SM2267, the SM2267XT lacks DRAM, which would eventually affect its random read and write performance and slow the drive down over time.
The Kingston NV2 used a Toshiba-rebranded TLC NAND flash memory model FB51208UCT1-B8 package. It contains a total of 4 chips, each of which is 512 GB in size, making a 2 TB package.
According to Techpowerup.com, Kingston provides different controllers and NAND packages for different capacities, resulting in varying performance. For more detail, refer to the table below:
| Capacity | 250GB | 500GB | 1TB | 2TB |
| Sequential Read | 3000MB/S | 3500MB/S | 3500MB/S | 3500MB/S |
| Sequential Write | 1300MB/S | 2100MB/S | 2100MB/S | 2800MB/S |
| Endurance | 80TB | 160TB | 320TB | 640TB |
| Controller | SM SM2267XT Phison PS5021-E21T | SM SM2267XT Phison PS5021-E21T | SM SM2267XT Phison PS5021-E21T | SM SM2267XT Phison PS5021-E21T |
| NAND Flash | BiCS5 Toshiba | BiCS5 Toshiba | FB25608UCT1-AF (Toshiba) N38A (Intel) | FB51208UCT1-B8 (Toshiba) FB51208UCN1-6D (Intel) |
| Warranty | 3 year limited warranty | 3 year limited warranty | 3 year limited warranty | 3 year limited warranty |
Source: Techpowerup.com
Kingston NV2 Performance:
Test System 1
| CPU | Ryzen 9 7900X |
| RAM | 4 x Kingston Fury Beast DDR5 6000 16GB CL36-38-38 1.35V XMP |
| Storage | Kingston NV2 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 |
| Cooler | MSI MPG CORELIQUID K360 |
| PSU | MSI MPG A1000G |
| GPU | – |
| Casing | Bykski B-CE-X |
| Operating System | Windows 11 64Bit |
| Bios | AGESA ComboAM5PI 1.0.0.4 |
On the PCIe 4.0 system, the drive achieved sequences SEQ1M Q8T1 3637.06 MB/s read speed and 2927.71 MB/s write speed. SEQ1M Q1T1 3273.30 MB/s read speed, 2870.61 MB/s write speed, RND4k Q32T1 786.84 MB/s read speed, 412.66 MB/s write speed, and RND4k Q1T1 50.59 MB/s read speed, 192.28 MB/s write speed.
The result shows that while the NV2 can handle moving larger files, it fell short when moving random files. This is due to the drive’s lack of DRAM, which means it has no cache to quickly handle the next file to move.
Judging from the result, we do notice right away that the speed is not what we would expect from a PCIe 4.0 drive. A PCIe 4.0 drive would deliver higher performance; for example, Kingston’s KC3000 would be able to double the performance. If anything, this shows similar performance to a PCIe 3.0 slot. We were wondering if we could put it on a PCIe 3.0 system and get a similar result.
Test System 2
| CPU | Ryzen 5 5600G |
| RAM | 4 x Kingston Fury Beast DDR4 3200 8GB CL17-21-21 1.35V XMP |
| Storage | Kingston NV2 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 |
| Cooler | AMD Wraith Spire |
| PSU | Cooler Master 750 W TUF Edition |
| GPU | – |
| Casing | Bykski B-CE-X |
| Operating System | Windows 11 64Bit |
| Bios | F4- / AGESA V2 1.2.0.7 |
Lord and behold, while the results are noticeably slower, they do not sway too far from the PCIe 4.0 result, where it will still deliver a rather similar performance in real-world usage.
Kingston NV2 Conclusion:
Yes, the Kingston NV2 is not the fastest NVMe 4.0 drive out there, but it is likely the most affordable NVMe 4.0 drive we have seen so far. It might not be the perfect primary drive, but the Kingston NV2 is perfect for other roles in a PC setup. The affordability of the drive plus the large storage would serve well as a secondary drive, storage drive, or even as a media scratch drive.
By matching it with a fast primary drive to handle the heavy lifting, the Kingston NV2 would be the ideal storage drive. And in the situation where more users need a media scratch drive to speed up their content editing process, the Kingston NV2 would be well suited due to its longer endurance than QLC, affordability, and 3-year warranty.
In conclusion, the Kingston NV2 NVMe Drive is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a secondary drive when paired with a faster drive as primary, perhaps as a secondary drive for MSI MPG X670E Carbon Wifi? With its combination of affordability, reliability, and affordability, this drive is an excellent investment for anyone looking to take their system to the next level.
Help us!
So here you go, our review of Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 . If you agree with us about the Kingston NV2 and want to pick one up, do consider purchasing via the link below. The affiliate link doesn’t cost you any extra, but will be a great help to keep our lights on here at HelloExpress.
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