Kingston is prepping to launch its first PCIe Gen 4 consumer SSD, the KC3000. Based on 3D TLC NAND and paired with the Phison E18 controller, the KC3000 lineup offers four storage capacities: 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB. The higher capacity models have rated sequential read/write speeds of up to 7,000 MB/s and random performance of 1 million IOPS.
The 512GB and 1TB variants retain the peak sequential read speeds of the higher capacity models, but the write speeds are reduced to 3,900 MB/s and 6,000 MB/s, respectively. Similarly, the random and 4K speeds of these SKUs have also been scaled down as expected.
Kingston is using Micron’s 176-layer 3D NAND for its KC3000 lineup. The amount of DRAM cache is unknown, but considering the use of Phison’s E18 controller, we’re likely looking at a moderate amount of it. The SSDs have a TDP of up to 10.2W for the 4 TB model which brings us to the heatsink.
The KC3000 range features a graphene heatsink similar to the one used by Team Group, allowing the drives to function at full capacity without heating up. Like most SSDs in this range, the KC3000 also comes with a five-year warranty period, and a TBW (Total Bytes Written) value of 400 TB, 800 TB, 1,600 TB, and 3,200 TB for the 512 GB, 1 TB, 2 TB, and 4 TB variants, respectively. The official launch is expected on the 25th of October, and that’s when the prices will be disclosed as well.
