The Kingston NV1 has been a staple on so many builds – at least from what I’ve seen personally. It is almost dirt cheap (back then) with a generally good performance to boot.
Now what we have here is the NV2 which is an update to or rather, a replacement for the NV1. Out with the old, the NV2 has a higher throughput for both read and write along with a native PCIe 4.0 interface. Form factor and choice of capacities remains the same. We got the 2 TB variant here, featuring 3,500 MB/s read and 2,800 MB/s write speeds.
Disclosure: Kingston sent the NV2 SSD for the purpose of this review. As usual, the company did not ask me to say anything particular about it.
- Product page: Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD
- Price: ₱9,019 PHP (Lazada), $129.99 USD (Amazon)
- Release Date: Q4 2022
Technical Specifications
| Storage | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 2 TB (Also available in 250 GB, 500 GB and 1 TB) |
| Cache | — |
| Flash Controller | Phison PS5021-E21 |
| Flash Memory | Kingston FB25608UCT1-AF (3D TLC) |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Sequential Read | 3,500 MB/s |
| Sequential Write | 2,800 MB/s |
| Random 4 KB Read | — |
| Random 4 KB Write | — |
| Endurance | |
| MTBF | 1,500,000 Hours |
| TBW | 640 TB |
| Dimensions | |
| Length | 80 mm |
| Width | 22 mm |
| Height | 2.2 mm |
| Weight | 7 grams |
Packaging and Accessories
The Kingston NV2 sports a simple blister packaging.
The packaging comes with the following items inside:
- Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2TB SSD
Truly the essentials. I mean, don’t expect anything extravagant with a blister pack.
Design, Build and Connectivity
The Kingston NV2 looks exactly like the NV1 or any barebone M.2 SSD for that matter. Not even a whiff of Graphene could be found here which is understandable for the price.
The rear is a blank slate. SSDs are generally not that exciting to look at in the first place.
Price and use case scenario dictates why it is such a bland looking product. Now since this is a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, I am interested to see the thermals.
Test Setup and Methodology
Our test setup relies on the measurements taken from industry standard benchmark tools and real-world applications. It is important to note that we are testing the review sample after burn-in, with at least 24-hours of uptime. This is done so to negate the FOTB (fresh out the box) state of the DUT (device under test), yielding better benchmarking consistency.
| Test System Specifications | |
|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3600 |
| Motherboard | BIOSTAR B550M-SILVER |
| Cooler | Noctua NH-U12S Redux |
| Memory | ADATA Premier DDR4-2666 16 GB |
| GPU | GALAX RTX 2060 EX White 6 GB |
| Storage | Kingston NV2 2 TB |
| Case | Mechanical Library JXK-K2 |
| PSU | Thermaltake Toughpower PF1 850 W |
| Display | LG UF680T |
| OS | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-bit |
The DUT is tested with the following configuration from our test system:
- UEFI configuration: Default
- Windows Power Plan: Balanced
Throughput
Throughput is measured in Megabytes per second (MB/s) at read and write. This is done via Crystal Disk Mark and its sequential benchmark.
Throughput is measured in Megabytes per second (MB/s) at read and write. This is done via AS SSD and its sequential benchmark.
The Kingston NV2 performed really well from the get go. Not quite there (specified write speed) throughput wise but it is close.
Operations per Second
Operations per Second is measured in Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) at read and write. This is done via Crystal Disk Mark and its 4K benchmark.
Operations per Second is measured in Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPS) at read and write. This is done via AS SSD and its 4K benchmark.
IOPS performance checks out within the realm of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs.
Access and Loading Time
Access time is measured in Milliseconds (ms). This is done via AS SSD and its Access Time benchmark.
Loading time is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker and its official benchmark.
For benchmarks more aligned into real world performance, the Kingston NV2 is excellent at this metric. Not that excellent though at write access times. A possible reason would be its DRAM-less cache – or lack there of.
File Copy
File copy performance is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via AS SSD and its File Copy benchmark.
File copy performance is measured in Seconds (s). This is done via TeraCopy and 16 GB worth of files.
File copy performance is excellent – as is with the other recently tested PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Thermals
Temperature is measured in degree Celcius (ºC) at system idle and load. This is done via AIDA64 Extreme and its System Stability Test.
The NV2 has the highest temperature output of all the SSDs I’ve tested. Granted, that’s the hot spot – with the NAND themselves operating at just around 60 ºC at full load. Still, this is enough to warrant the use of a cooler – a passive one will do. It does not throttle though so that’s something to be jolly about.
Features
The Kingston NV2 comes with the usual stuff that most NVMe SSDs have right out of the box: SMART, TRIM, etc. Aside from those standard features, the NV2 also comes with an endurance of 640 TBW, topped with a 1,500,000 Hours MTBF.
Support is a limited 3-year warranty with a free technical support.
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Kingston NV2 is a good update to the NV lineup, featuring a performance fit for the PCIe 4.0 interface without sacrificing much when it comes to its price per capacity. Our 2 TB unit for example retails for about $130 USD which is one of the best I’ve seen in the market to date.
Since Kingston is adamant in marketing this drive as an add-in for storage upgrades, I am compelled to talk about its fault which is the lack of a thermal interface. Again, the hot spot is the only place to reach the 86.4 ºC mark but it is so high it could potentially heat up surrounding components – especially on a notebook. That said, I would really suggest buying a 3rd party cooler for such applications. For desktop PCs though, your usual motherboard thermal solution should be enough. I.e., those fancy passive M.2 heatsinks.
In closing, the Kingston KV2 is still a commendable drive no doubt. A fast and high capacity PCIe 4.0 SSD with a competitive price point to match.
Kingston NV2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe 2TB SSD
Summary
The Kingston NV2 is a direct update of the NV1 series of SSDs. I say it is a properly instated one, featuring a familiar price point but with the extra speed attached.
