🔥
Micron today announced a new NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) that’s actually two with the same name, the Crucial P3.
What set them apart is the suffixes, including Plus Gen 4 and Gen 3. In other words, you’ll have to call them with mouthful names or risk getting confused.
The shared name likely results from the fact, according to Micron, the two both use the company’s homegrown 76L 3D NAND Flash memory, which is “subject to change while delivering consistent or better performance according to the product’s specifications.”
In other words, the same Crucial P3 released at a different time might use slightly different types of flash.
Crucial P3 Plus Gen 4 NVMe SSD: A lesser version of the P5 Plus
As the same suggests, the Crucial P3 Plus Gen 4 supports the latest PCIe Gen 4 to deliver a new performance class with up to 5000MB/s and 4200MB/s and read and write speeds or some 43% faster than drives of PCIe Gen 3, according to Micron.
While that’s fast, the new drive is slower than the P5 Plus that came out more than two years ago, which had another 1000MB/s in the claimed speeds. You can generally expect an NVNe’s sustained speeds to be around 70% of these estimates in real-world usage.
Crucial P3 Gen 3 NVMe SSD: A better alternative to previous versions
The Crucial P3 Gen 3 is an official replacement for the P2, which was notorious for being slow. Specifically, Micron says the new drive will be 45% faster. And if you’re still using the Crucial P1 SATA drive, upgrading to the P3 will be a huge improvement.
Supporting the older PCIe Gen 3, the Crucial P3 is compatible with older hardware than the P3 Plus. Micron says the new SSD is “well-suited for DIYers, casual gamers, professionals, entry-level designers.” But basically, it’s a new option for anyone who’s still using SATA storage and can upgrade to NVMe.
Availability
Micron says the two new Crucial P3 NVMe SSDs are slated to be available this summer, with more details and pricing available then. The company promises that both will be “affordable” options among its growing Micron SSD portfolio that includes the P5 Plus, X8, X6, MX500, and BX500.
Comments are subject to approval.
It's generally faster to get answers via site/page search -- your question/comment is one of many that Dong Knows Tech receives daily.
(•) Per the 💯no-nonsense policy, all comments with an external link are scrutinized, and most links are redacted. Do not leave a comment if you're, in any capacity, representing a company/product mentioned here! Instead, send Dong Knows Tech a private message or use a PR channel.
Thank you!