Kingston KC3000 2 TB

W1zzard · Nov 17, 2021

The Kingston KC3000 is built using the Phison E18 controller and Micron's best 176-layer TLC NAND flash. In our performance testing, the drive can beat the Samsung 980 Pro and is the fastest SSD we ever tested. It shares that performance throne with the WD Black SN850.

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Panther_Seraphin · Nov 17, 2021

How long before Kingston start cost cutting this model though.

Mussels · Nov 18, 2021

Looks like a great top tier SSD for the current market (as long as they dont suddenly swap parts)

One thing though - the conclusion mentions pseudo-SLC cache, but i dont see it mentioned at all earlier in the review. I feel like thats something that should be brought up and detailed.

Bruno_O · Nov 18, 2021

regarding throttling, for people that have MB heatsinks, should they remove the thin aluminum cover to install the heatsink, or just put on top of it? thermal paste?

Wooden Law - Black · Nov 18, 2021

Bruno_O said:
regarding throttling, for people that have MB heatsinks, should they remove the thin aluminum cover to install the heatsink, or just put on top of it?

Do you mean the SSD’s label? If so, no, don’t remove it, just put the heatsink on it. If you remove the SSD’s label you will invalidate the warranty.

Readlight · Nov 18, 2021

Atlast fast as DDR2 transfer speed. 10-12 times more expensive than hard drive.

Octopuss · Nov 18, 2021

I don't understand why they won't make 500GB SLC only SSD if they can afford to cram 600GB+ SLC cache onto this.

Micko · Nov 18, 2021

What would happen if one would short stroke a drive like this, i.e. make only one partition of 640gb ? Would a drive use only SLC cache in this case, or there would not be any difference in performance ?

Mussels · Nov 18, 2021

Bruno_O said:
regarding throttling, for people that have MB heatsinks, should they remove the thin aluminum cover to install the heatsink, or just put on top of it? thermal paste?

thermal paste is a bad idea for NVME drives, that little thermal sticker is fine to leave attached.

Micko said:
What would happen if one would short stroke a drive like this, i.e. make only one partition of 640gb ? Would a drive use only SLC cache in this case, or there would not be any difference in performance ?

That's what i'd like explained too, with my question above about the psuedo cache. If you just left the latter part of the drive unpartitioned, could you not turn it to an SLC drive?

Octopuss said:
I don't understand why they won't make 500GB SLC only SSD if they can afford to cram 600GB+ SLC cache onto this.
I

I think (and hence why i asked for more info, i may be wrong) that being a TLC drive they simply use the first layer til they run out, treating it like SLC and getting SLC performance. Then, as it fills up past that it changes the chips one at a time from SLC to TLC, trading speed for the extra storage.

Wooden Law - Black · Nov 18, 2021

Octopuss said:
I don't understand why they won't make 500GB SLC only SSD if they can afford to cram 600GB+ SLC cache onto this.

Using SLC flash is not the same as using a dynamic SLC cache. There’s a reason if there isn’t drives with 3D SLC flash, and the reason is that 3D SLC flash is very expensive. Beyond that, SLC flash has a lower density than other types of flash (MLC, TLC and QLC).

W1zzard · Nov 18, 2021

Mussels said:
One thing though - the conclusion mentions pseudo-SLC cache, but i dont see it mentioned at all earlier in the review. I feel like thats something that should be brought up and detailed.

We have a whole page on that? https://www.techpowerup.com/review/kingston-kc3000/5.html

Bruno_O said:
regarding throttling, for people that have MB heatsinks, should they remove the thin aluminum cover to install the heatsink, or just put on top of it? thermal paste?

Makes no difference I'd say. So for warranty reasons leave the drive as-is. And no need for thermal paste. The heat output of those SSDs is quite low

Octopuss said:
I don't understand why they won't make 500GB SLC only SSD if they can afford to cram 600GB+ SLC cache onto this.

Because it would cost too much. 500 GB SLC = 1.5 TB TLC

Micko said:
What would happen if one would short stroke a drive like this, i.e. make only one partition of 640gb ? Would a drive use only SLC cache in this case, or there would not be any difference in performance ?

Depends on the algorithms, but I think it'll probably end up running in SLC mode all the time, or close-to

zlobby · Nov 18, 2021

Panther_Seraphin said:
How long before Kingston start cost cutting this model though.

Yeah, that price tag!

W1zzard said:
Depends on the algorithms, but I think it'll probably end up running in SLC mode all the time, or close-to

No, not in Chia plotting it won't.

W1zzard · Nov 18, 2021

zlobby said:
No, not in Chia plotting it won't.

Ah so that's why people suddenly want SLC SSDs

Mussels · Nov 18, 2021

W1zzard said:
We have a whole page on that? https://www.techpowerup.com/review/kingston-kc3000/5.html

That's... IO latency? Not what this psuedo cache is?

W1zzard · Nov 18, 2021

Mussels said:
That's... IO latency? Not what this psuedo cache is?

Sorry wrong link: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/kingston-kc3000/6.html

SLC cache = pSLC = pseudo-SLC

mechtech · Nov 18, 2021

Talk about steep performance price premium. I just got a WD blue sata 2TB for $225 CAD. For documents and photos and mass storage great.

Zareek · Nov 18, 2021

Black [Super Saiyan Rosé] said:
Do you mean the SSD’s label? If so, no, don’t remove it, just put the heatsink on it. If you remove the SSD’s label you will invalidate the warranty.

Not is the US. I'm sure you'd need the label for the serial number but removing a warranty void stickers is not grounds for refusing to honor a warranty in the United States. This is according to a memorandum by the FTC in 2018. It's one of the few consumer protection laws the US government has done a good job with in recent years.

That being said, I wouldn't bother removing the sticker, the increase in heat transfer wouldn't be worth the bother anyway. On top of that, the controller is the only part that really requires cooling. According to the paper linked here, too much cooling for NAND can have a negative effect on it.

zlobby · Nov 18, 2021

W1zzard said:
Ah so that's why people suddenly want SLC SSDs

Among other things, yes.

tomfuegue · Nov 18, 2021

Great SSD !.

Thx.

Selaya · Nov 18, 2021

more overpriced pcie 4.0 the world doesn't need
at the very least this one's topping performance charts tho, so there's that

Harakhti · Nov 18, 2021

Well, the review came and it did deliver! Price is performance-relative to the KC2500, at least in Hungary...also about 10% over said competing Samsung models, but I can't complain - having more options on the market is always nice.

Mussels · Nov 19, 2021

W1zzard said:
Sorry wrong link: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/kingston-kc3000/6.html

SLC cache = pSLC = pseudo-SLC

okay, i missed it due to looking for different terms to what that content was titled

W1zzard · Nov 19, 2021

Mussels said:
okay, i missed it due to looking for different terms to what that content was titled

Any suggestions how to reword?

Mussels · Nov 19, 2021

W1zzard said:
Any suggestions how to reword?

SLC cache and sustained write performance?

It's two different things covered in the one area for sure, this drive has a massive SLC cache, but drives without an SLC cache or much smaller ones can compete equally so it's not just a single metric - more of a comparison between the two... i'm far from an expert on these topics, i tend to use the title of the page and paragraphs to decide if i want to read the content

These drives make the Intel 6000P i have in my USB enclosure look really sad, i can see its writes dip to 50MB/s at times -.-

Octopuss · Nov 19, 2021

I wonder what the performance is like on the smaller capacity version. Proportionally good maybe?
I already have HP EX950 as my system drive, but this one looks interesting.

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
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Software	Windows 10 64-bit

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Motherboard	Asus x570-F (BIOS Modded)
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Video Card(s)	Galax RTX 3090 SG 24GB: Underclocked to 1700Mhz 0.750v (375W down to 250W))
Storage	2TB WD SN850 NVME + 1TB Sasmsung 970 Pro NVME + 1TB Intel 6000P NVME USB 3.2
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Audio Device(s)	Logitech G560 \| Corsair Void pro RGB \|Blue Yeti mic
Power Supply	Fractal Ion+ 2 860W (Platinum) (This thing is God-tier. Silent and TINY)
Mouse	Logitech G Pro wireless + Steelseries Prisma XL
Keyboard	Razer Huntsman TE ( Sexy white keycaps)
VR HMD	Oculus Rift S + Quest 2
Software	Windows 11 pro x64 (Yes, it's genuinely a good OS) OpenRGB - ditch the branded bloatware!
Benchmark Scores	Nyooom.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 3600
Motherboard	MSI X470 Gaming Plus MAX
Cooling	Stock
Memory	Crucial Ballistix 16GB (2x8) 3600 MT/s 16–18-18-38
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT Pulse
Storage	Crucial MX500 500GB + WD Caviar Green 1TB
Display(s)	ViewSonic XG2401
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P400A + P12 rear + P14 on top
Audio Device(s)	Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 80ohm
Power Supply	Antec EAG650G Pro
Mouse	Razer Viper Mini
Keyboard	Magicforce 69 (PBT Dye Sub + Gateron Red)
Software	Windows 10 Pro

System Name	Fujitsu Siemens, HP Workstation
Processor	Athlon x2 5000+ 3.1GHz, i5 2400
Motherboard	Asus
Memory	4GB Samsung
Video Card(s)	rx 460 4gb
Storage	750 Evo 250 +2tb
Display(s)	Asus 1680x1050 4K HDR
Audio Device(s)	Pioneer
Power Supply	430W
Mouse	Acme
Keyboard	Trust

Kingston KC3000 2 TB

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Processor	Ryzen 5800X
Motherboard	Asus TUF-Gaming B550-Plus
Cooling	Noctua NH-U14S
Memory	32GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo F4-3600C16D-32GTZNC
Video Card(s)	Sapphire Radeon Rx 580 Nitro+ 8GB
Storage	HP EX950 512GB + Samsung 970 PRO 1TB
Display(s)	HP Z Display Z24i G2
Case	Fractal Design Define R6 Black
Audio Device(s)	Creative Sound Blaster AE-5
Power Supply	Seasonic PRIME Ultra 650W Gold
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Software	Windows 10 x64

Processor	Ryzen 5700x
Motherboard	Gigabyte X570S Aero G R1.1 BiosF5g
Cooling	Noctua NH-C12P SE14 w/ NF-A15 HS-PWM Fan 1500rpm
Memory	Micron DDR4-3200 2x32GB D.S. D.R. (CT2K32G4DFD832A)
Video Card(s)	AMD RX 6800 - Asus Tuf
Storage	Kingston KC3000 1TB & 2TB & 4TB Corsair LPX
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Cooling	Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black
Memory	32GB(2x16GB) Patriot Viper DDR4-3200C16
Video Card(s)	EVGA RTX 3060 Ti
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO Plus 1TB (Boot/OS)\|Hynix Platinum P41 2TB (Games)\|Kingston KC3000 2TB (Misc)
Display(s)	Gigabyte G27F
Case	Corsair Graphite 600T w/mesh side
Audio Device(s)	Logitech Z625 2.1 \| cheapo gaming headset when mic is needed
Power Supply	Corsair HX850i
Mouse	Redragon M808-KS Storm Pro (Great Value)
Keyboard	Redragon K512 Shiva replaced a Corsair K70 Lux - Blue on Black
VR HMD	Nope
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64
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System Name	Zero RGB PC
Processor	Intel Core-i7 12700KF
Motherboard	Gigabyte Z690 AORUS PRO
Cooling	Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black
Memory	Kingston Fury Renegade DDR5-6400 CL32 2x16GB
Video Card(s)	PNY GeForce RTX 4090 24GB XLR8 Gaming VERTO
Storage	Kingston KC3000 2TB + Samsung 860 EVO 4TB
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