Decisive P3 Review | Technical Advisor

Best Prices Today: Crucial P3 NVMe SSD

If you are interested in the numbering of Crucial (Micron) NVMe modules, then you are not alone. First, Crucial released the P1, an M.2 form factor drive but with a SATA interface rather than an NVMe module.

Then came the P2, a real but very slow NVMe drive. It was followed by the P5, a much faster storage device with a Plus option that supported advanced operations using PCIe 4.0 mode.

So surely the next disc should be P6? No, Crucial doesn’t live up to our expectations with the P3.

It comes, like the P5, in a basic P3 design built for PCIe 3.0 systems and an advanced P3 Plus option that supports the higher bandwidth offered by PCIe 4.0.

Today we’re reviewing the new P3, a module that replaces the slow P2 with something more flexible, but at a price that won’t leave system builders feeling bloated.

Mark Pickavance / Foundry

Design and build

• Uninteresting appearance
• Lacks hardware encryption
• Capacity up to 4 TB

Those expecting something spectacular in terms of electrical engineering or heat distribution will be disappointed. This is a typical single sided M.2 2280 board with all the chips mounted on the same surface and conveniently hidden by a label.

One odd thing is that there are labels on both sides, one upside down with the other on the bottom showing that the module was made in Mexico, and the warranty will be void if you remove that label. It’s funny, but the label you can’t remove isn’t the one that covers the chips.

Like all Crucial modules of late, it comes in the most economical packaging imaginable. The module sits inside a plastic bubble tray along with a much appreciated mounting screw and some minimalistic documentation. Turning the propeller on is a simple yet thoughtful action that can make all the difference for anyone who has lost those evasive items.

What the P3 offers is a level of performance that was at the very top of what NVMe drives offered prior to PCIe 4.0, which is a significant jump from the P2 that came before it. What you don’t get is a heatsink, LEDs, or anything else that makes this module unique. It also doesn’t offer hardware encryption, unlike the old Samsung 980 Pro.

However, it comes with a 4TB capacity for those working with large datasets.

Mark Pickavance / Foundry

Characteristics and performance

• Declared 3500 MB / s when reading and 3000 MB / s when writing.
• Tested 3677 MB/s read and 3230 MB/s write.
• Outperforms P2 and P5

Its predecessor, the P2, used Micron 3D NAND modules and a Phison controller. The P3 uses Micron’s 176-layer NAND5, but manufacturers don’t say which controller is used in this or its P3 Plus sibling.

This uncertainty about exactly what’s in the module isn’t Crucial’s unique modesty, it’s what consumer electronics companies around the world are doing, but it doesn’t help potential customers make strategic choices about the components they want.

The P3 is rated at 3500MB/s read and 3000MB/s write, which is in line with Samsung and Kingston.

But these performance levels are not available in all capacities: the 500 GB variant only provides sequential writes at 1900 MB/s. For this reason, I would probably advise staying away from the smallest model, even if it is the cheapest.

For other capacities, these speeds were groundbreaking just a few years ago, although the advent of PCIe 4.0 drives with read speeds up to 7000MB/s has made them a little less impressive.

For those with PCI 3.0 systems, the P3 is about as fast as that interface allows drives to go, and it’s worth noting that the P5 has disappeared from the Crucial lineup since its introduction. This hints that it replaces not only the previous P2, but also the P5.

Mark Pickavance / Foundry

I tested the 1TB P3 and 1TB P3 Plus on the Ryzen PCIe 4.0 testbed and found that the samples provided perform exactly as Crucial predicts, if not slightly better.

Using the default CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4 test showed a read speed of 3677 MB/s and a write speed of 3230 MB/s. Other synthetic tests, such as AS SSD and AJA, confirmed this balance, albeit with slightly less optimistic numbers.

The ATTO test showed almost the same performance, but the architecture of this drive allows it to reach its full potential performance with less I/O.

While most NVMe drives don’t hit their stride until transfer sizes of 256KB, 512KB, or even 1MB in the case of the P2, this drive runs at a full speed of just 64KB. This is a good choice for those who have a lot of smaller files.

As with many current NVMe designs, the caching appears to be based on SLC, which provides decent performance for large writes to the point where a 1 to 3 SLC ratio depletes the available storage. What is missing here is hardware encryption or any stated power requirements.

The lack of encryption is not a major issue for most customers, but the lack of information about power consumption is useless for battery-powered laptop users.

Because the P3 doesn’t have a heatsink and instead relies on thermal chip management, it can run within a laptop setup.

The specified TBW (total bytes written) is low compared to P5. The 1TB P5 had a TBW of 600TB whereas the P3 only offers 220TB. If you don’t exhaust your NVMe storage this might not be an issue, but it’s clear that some layout changes have improved performance at the cost of reduced fault tolerance.

The P3 is definitely better than the P2, but it’s also better than the original P5 (not the P5 plus). However, if you have a PCIe 4.0 system, you can get 40% more speed from the P3 Plus for just another $10.

Price and availability

The Crucial P3 can be purchased directly from Crucial for $49.99 / £49.19, $89.99 / £89.99, $174.99 / £173.99 and $349.99 / £347.99 for 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models respectively. My Excel spreadsheet says that the best value models are the 2TB and 4TB models, and the worst are the 500GB models, wherever you buy them.

Online retailers offer slightly better deals, with the 1TB model selling for $83.99 through Newegg and BestBuy. You can also buy it in the US on Amazon.

In the UK, it’s available on Amazon. ebayer, Scan and Box.

It is interesting to note that this is slightly more expensive than the released P5, but only by a small amount. What’s also different is that the difference between capacities is shrinking and the cost per gigabyte is between 10 and 9 cents (or pence) no matter which size you choose.

This way you are not penalized for choosing the largest capacity as you probably would have been in the past.

If we compare the P3 with the P3 Plus, the cost difference is between 10% and 14%, which seems quite reasonable given that the P3 Plus is over 40% faster.

Looking at the competitor market for PCIe 3.0 drives, the Samsung 980 1TB costs £83 in the UK but over $100 in the US. For those looking for very cheap drives, the WD Green SN350 is under $75, bringing the P3’s price down very slightly. But the SN350 is inferior to the P3 in many ways.

You can also find lesser-known brands that offer sub-$70/TB options for those who want to go that route.

In short, the price of P3 is very competitive, especially in online stores. However, since many offer the P3 Plus for only $10 more at some capacities, Crucial can compete with itself to some extent.

Check out our table of the best SSDs to see all the best drives.

Verdict

Crucial’s advantage over other brands is that they manufacture their own NAND modules through Micron, reducing overall costs.

NAND as a commodity has been in free fall lately, and the news that SK Hynix has a new 512Gb/s 238-layer TLC 4D NAND that will be ready for production in 2023 is not news that wanted to hear Micron. It would be reasonable to assume that Micron has parallel plans, but these have not been disclosed at this time.

Ignoring those storm clouds on the horizon, Crucial is confident that most customers don’t need the raw speeds or capabilities that these developments represent. They want affordable product lines like the P3 and P3 Plus that will easily replace existing or even older systems.

It’s disappointing that Crucial feels it’s necessary to provide such limited specifications for this product, so it can change them whenever it wants, but that seems to be the mode of operation for many consumer electronics manufacturers right now.

At the time of review, those planning to upgrade to a PCIe 4.0 system soon should look into the P3 Plus as it will run faster on that platform, but will now also run on an existing PCIe 3.0 machine.

But for those who want a fast and relatively cheap drive for a PCIe 3.0 system, maybe a laptop, the P3 has a few good things to offer.

Once you get over the slightly confusing aspect that the P3 replaces not only the P2 but also the P5, the logic behind this product becomes clearer.

The only unresolved issue here is that if you’re inclined to cannibalize details, the P3 Plus is undoubtedly worth the extra cost over the P3. And for those looking for better than 4TB, it’s clear that next year there will be 8TB, 16TB or larger drives from other manufacturers.

Specifications

• Capacity: 500GB/1TB/2TB/4TB
• 4 KB performance tested (read/write): 60.38/215.92 MB/s
• Claimed Sequential Performance (Read/Write): 3500/3000 MB/s
• Controller: Unknown
• Encryption: N/A
• Flash technology: Micron 176-layer NAND5
• Connectivity: PCIe Gen3 x4, NVMe 1.3
• Claimed energy consumption: unknown
• Warranty: 5 years;
• Form factor: M.2 80mm single sided
• Size: 70x150x7.8mm
• Weight 6g;