Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD Review: The Budget Champ

Kingston has been making some great SSDs and RAMs for anyone and everyone. We have reviewed many SSDs ranging from internal all the way to external drives. This time, they have sent another budget-friendly SSD that doesn’t break the bank but runs on proper PCIe Gen 4 and gives a bang-for-the-buck performance – we just might have the budget reigning champ for PCIe Gen 4. Here’s the Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD review.

Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD Review

Packaging

Just like any other SSDs you purchase from Kingston, their package has not changed a lot. The Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD uses the same sealed packet-style packaging, that holds the SSD in place. Once you do cut and open it, you get access to the SSD, protected in a black plastic cover shell. What’s interesting is that: Kingston is known for giving out Acronis software codes to be able to clone the older SSD to the newer SSD. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here – and you may have to purchase the software or scour for a different one to make it work according to your liking.

Specification

In terms of specification, there isn’t much to scream and shout about the Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD – as it cuts straight to the point.

• Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD (2TB)
  • 2 2280 SSD
  • PCIe NVMe Gen 4×4 Performance
  • Up to 3500MB/s read, 2800MB/s write speeds

Now do take note: The Kingston NV2 we reviewed here is a 2TB capacity and the speeds are a lot higher than the 1TB and lower capacity. We’d recommend checking the website for the configuration. For the most part, the read speeds are 3000MB/s and above, but the write speeds vary drastically, ranging from 1300MB/s to 2100MB/s (250GB – 1TB).

Performance

For synthetic benchmarks, we use two specific applications to show the prowess of the SSD – CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo to monitor the temperature, verify the specification, and test the speeds.

With CrystalDiskInfo, you can immediately see that the Kingston NV2 is connected to an NVMe interface and has the potential to do transfers on PCIe Gen 3 and Gen 4 speeds. This is good enough for us to show that the SSD is properly configured and works well with our test system.

Moving on to the speed test via CrystalDiskMark, the speeds are pretty phenomenal and as advertised with minor variability which is normal. In Sequential 1M (Q8T1), you can see that the Read Speeds are at 3223MB/s whereas the write speeds are at 2095MB/s. These are acceptable ranges of speeds and while there are some little differences, factors like the processor and motherboard can play a vital role. But for the most part, the Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD is a fast SSD.

During our day-to-day test, where we moved a mixed file (8.2GB) from the system storage to the SSD – it took about 12 seconds to move. We moved the file from the SSD to another storage and it took about 8-9 seconds to move. Well kept up. So, if you plan to load up on that game for quicker boot times, for instance, Cyberpunk requires a fast SSD to keep up with the game’s resources loading – so, in that case, the NV2 suffices.

Say if you do use it to export videos into it from Premiere Pro, it’s quite alright too. One thing that always bothers me with such SSDs, is the lack of DRAM cache which is something you only find on more premium SSDs for quicker access to files that are frequently used. That doesn’t mean you can’t use it as your daily drive – you still can.

Conclusion

The Kingston NV2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD caught us by surprise with its speed, performance, and best of it all, how well the price per GB value is just too good. In fact, the price difference between the NV1 and NV2 is so marginal that you’d be better off getting the NV2 in the market. The specification we reviewed here costs anywhere from RM 700 – 730 – which honestly is a good buy. But again, you only get to experience the speeds above on a 2TB drive. So, if you are planning to opt-in for any lower, then, getting the NV1 isn’t a bad idea either. Your call.