PNY XLR8 CS3030 1TB: Gen3 NVMe with DRAM, 3,500/3,000 MB/s—best as a budget boot/game drive; endurance now 360 TBW after PNY’s 2021 spec change.
Storage performance rankTop 3% of storage drives
TierBudget?GixCore tierWhat a part was built to do — not what it costs.EntryBudgetMainstreamHigh endEnthusiastFlagship A part can be cheap because it is an ageing flagship, or because it is a current entry-level model. The tier tells you which.
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Capacity1 TB
TypeSSD
InterfacePCIe
Read speed3500 MB/s
Write speed3000 MB/s
Form factorM.2
C
GixCore Editorial
Product overview
Announced in May 2019 as part of PNY’s XLR8 CS3030 family (M.2‑2280, PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe 1.3), the 1TB model is rated up to 3,500 MB/s read and 3,000 MB/s write.Sourcetechpowerup.com↗
Positioned today as a budget NVMe option, it exists to give older or spare M.2 slots a fast, low‑cost upgrade over SATA. With TLC NAND and a DRAM cache on a Phison E12/E12S platform, it suits roles like a boot drive or game library; DRAM helps sustain consistency, but the 1TB SKU’s endurance is 360 TBW, so it’s not ideal for heavy sustained‑write work. Notably, PNY revised CS3030 endurance downward in 2021 versus early documents.Sourcetweaktown.com↗
At a glance iEach dot represents a catalog model. Farther right means a higher measured value, not necessarily a better fit.Measured against the storage drives catalog
Current modelCatalog models
Capacity1 TB
870 EVOCapacity: 1 TBBX500Capacity: 1 TBExtreme M.2 NVMe SSD 1TBCapacity: 1 TBpny-xlr8-cs3030-1tb-m-2-nvme-ssdCapacity: 1 TBThis partWD Blue SA510 SATACapacity: 1 TBWD_BLACKCapacity: 1 TB MP600 PRO LPXCapacity: 2 TB2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen3x4Capacity: 2 TB870 EVOCapacity: 2 TB870 QVOCapacity: 2 TB970 EVO PlusCapacity: 2 TB980 PROCapacity: 2 TB990 PRO 2TBCapacity: 2 TBBarraCuda 2TBCapacity: 2 TBKC3000 2TBCapacity: 2 TBMP700 Elite 2TBCapacity: 2 TBMX500Capacity: 2 TBQN322 2TBCapacity: 2 TBRocket 5 2TBCapacity: 2 TBT-FORCE A440 Aluminum Heatsink 2TBCapacity: 2 TBWD BlackCapacity: 2 TBWD_BLACK 2TB SN770Capacity: 2 TB4TB WD BlackCapacity: 4 TB870 EVOCapacity: 4 TBMX500Capacity: 4 TBPerformance Plus Capacity: 4 TBSkyhawk 4TBCapacity: 4 TBUltra 3D NANDCapacity: 4 TBWD Blue 6 TBCapacity: 6 TB IronWolf 8TBCapacity: 8 TB870 QVOCapacity: 8 TB8TB WD Red PlusCapacity: 8 TBBarraCuda 8TBCapacity: 8 TBWD BLACK 8TB Capacity: 8 TB10TB WD Purple ProCapacity: 10 TB10TB WD Red PlusCapacity: 10 TBIronWolf 10TB NASCapacity: 10 TB12TB WD Purple ProCapacity: 12 TBArsenalCapacity: 14 TBUltrastar DC HC530Capacity: 14 TBWD Purple Pro Surveillance HDDCapacity: 18 TBWD Red Pro NASCapacity: 18 TBWD Red Pro NAS Capacity: 20 TB
