Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD

Here you will find a detailed speed, performance and benchmark test review. Tested was the M.2 NVMe SSD NV3 with 500GB (SNV3S/500G) from the brand Kingston.

Performance score 
6202
Price/GB
0.24 $
Read
5,000 MB/s
 Write
3,000 MB/s
Connector
M.2 2280
Interface
PCIe 4.0 x4
Technical specifications (manufacturer information)
Product image Product image NV3
Manufacturer Kingston  
Model number SNV3S/500G
Capacity 500 GB (466 GiB)
pSLC cache 128 GB approx.
Read speed 5000 MB/s
Write speed 3000 MB/s
Interface PCIe 4.0 x4
Connector M.2 2280
Memory module (NAND) QLC
DRAM cache No
TBW (Total Bytes Written) 160 terabyte
Warranty 3 Years
Controller Silicon Motion SM2268XT2

Product
Score
Price
7299
345 $
7248
165 $
  Current price
~ 120 $
(= 0.24 $ / GB)
Compare product Compared to the test winner*
Read speed
78 %
Write speed
78 %
*) Test result rated by AS SSD score within the same capacity.

We put the Kingston NVMe M.2 SSD through a detailed test. You can find the test result / test report here:


AS SSD Benchmark

Standard performance test

The standard test was performed with a 5 GB file. A total score of 6202 points was achieved.

AS SSD Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD
AS SSD Read: Write:
Seq
in megabytes per second
4,993.97 MB/s
4,037.09 MB/s
4K
in megabytes per second
57.61 MB/s
175.29 MB/s
4K-64Thrd
in megabytes per second
1,621.11 MB/s
2,374.44 MB/s
Access time
in milliseconds
0.021 ms
0.371 ms
Score
2178
2953
Total score 
6202

Copy performance test

A common everyday scenario is simulated here. Three test folders are created:

  • ISO (folder with two large files)
  • Program (folder with many small files)
  • Game (folder with small and large files)

The three folders are copied using the Windows copy command (cache remains enabled). The real-world test from 07 February 2025 shows performance during simultaneous write and read operations. The lower the duration, the better.

AS SSD TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD
AS SSD Copy Benchmark Transfer rate: Duration:
ISO
two large files
1,985.92 MB/s
1.16 s
Program
typical program folder with many small files
1,156.41 MB/s
6.09 s
Game
a game folder with small and large files
1,975.63 MB/s
3.50 s

Compression performance test

Here, speed is measured depending on how compressible the data is.

AS SSD TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark

Similar to AS SSD, two sequential and two random performance tests are carried out here and the write and read speed (manufacturer specs: 5000 MB/s and 3000 MB/s) the Kingston SSD is measured.

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD
CDM Read [MB/s] Write [MB/s]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
5,848.50
4,472.27
SEQ1M
Q1T1
3,742.00
4,266.78
RND4K
Q32T16
1,929.87
2,984.49
RND4K
Q1T1
72.88
192.74

IOPS (Input/Output operations per second)

CDM Read [IOPS] Write [IOPS]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
5,577.60
4,265.10
SEQ1M
Q1T1
3,568.70
4,069.10
RND4K
Q32T16
471,159.00
728,636.00
RND4K
Q1T1
17,792.50
47,054.90

Average latency

CDM Read [µs] Write [µs]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
1,433.59
1,872.56
SEQ1M
Q1T1
280.07
245.53
RND4K
Q32T16
1,084.94
701.75
RND4K
Q1T1
56.09
21.13

HD Tune Pro long-term test

A long-term test was performed to fully utilize the storage. You can see at what point the cache (if present) becomes full and write performance drops. A test file of 150 GB was written to the medium. After approx. 128 GB, the cache was full and performance was throttled.
The test file could at least be read with an average read speed of 3,762 MB/s and written at 504 MB/s.

HD Tune endurance test TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD

HD Tune Pro Benchmark

HD Tune writes a 5 GB file to the Kingston NVMe M.2 SSD. The transfer data of the read speed is displayed graphically. The minimum, maximum and average values are also determined. The measured access time and burst rate are also shown.

HD Tune TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Here, a 256 MB file is written to the Kingston NVMe M.2 SSD multiple times. The I/O block size varies (from 512 bytes to 64 megabytes). The larger the blocks, the faster writing and reading usually becomes.

ATTO Disk Benchmark TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD

SSD-Z Benchmark

Similar to HD Tune, a 500 MB file is written to the Kingston NVMe M.2 SSD here. The transfer data is displayed. The more consistent the line, the better. Unfortunately, the tool no longer works correctly from around 4,000 MB/s and no line is displayed (and sometimes incorrect min/max data is shown).

SSD-Z TEST: Kingston NV3 500GB M.2 SSD


You can find information about the test system at the bottom of the homepage.
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