PNY CS3150-HS 1TB SSD review: Eye-wateringly fast

PCI Gen 5 drives are here, and we’ve tested PNY’s CS3150-HS 1TB to see if the SSD is really going to be as quick as the company claims, and if you should pick one up for your gaming rig.

Getting a new SSD for your PC might be getting a bit more difficult, and it’s due to the advent of rapid PCI 5 drives beginning to hit the market. Recently released in January, PNY’s CS3150 has finally landed. But, are they really fast enough to warrant their price tags?

We investigate their CS3150-HS, which sports a rather large heatsink, alongside an addressable fan connector. These SSDs might look slightly different from their PCI 3 or PCI 4 brethren in one big way: Their heatsinks are gigantic. This ends up making the SSD look like a mini GPU, strapped into a tiny slot, rather than the gumsticks we’re so accustomed to seeing from the likes of Sabrent.

Key specs

• Capacity: 1TB
• Form factor: M.2 2280
• Max sequential read: 11,500 MB/s
• Max sequential write: 8,500 MB/s
• Warranty: 5 years
• Price: $194.99

Design

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As we mentioned before, PNY’s CS3150-HS has a couple of tricks up its sleeve. Firstly, the SSD comes mounted to a fairly chunky heatsink, which is presented in a metallic black finish. At each of the SSD’s flanks is a pair of teeny tiny fans, which allows the SSD to receive some form of active cooling, which is going to be necessary if you want to hit those key advertised speeds that are plastered on the box.

But, there’s one ugly addition: The addressable fan connector which protrudes from the heatsink itself. While it’s great that you can configure fan speeds and curves, the cable itself is not fully wrapped, instead, the cable has accented ketchup and mustard cabling which just looks downright awful. It’s 2024, can we not make black cables for high-end performance hardware these days?

The cable, regardless of its look, has enough length on it to fit just about any motherboard. But, due to the sheer size of the drive itself, you might want to check if you actually have clearance for it on your motherboard. Some boards offer an integrated heatsink, which won’t be compatible with this drive.

We’ve most recently seen companies like Sabrent offer up Gen 5 drives without a heatsink, so it would have been nice to see PNY attempt such a feat, too.

Given its 2280 form factor, you’ll be able to slot it in just about anywhere, just make sure you have a PCI 5 slot to accommodate the full potential on offer from the drive itself.

Performance

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So, does the PNY CS3150 really have it where it counts when it comes to performance? I left the fan to its default curves in my testing, and put it through a gauntlet of tests via several methods. Crystal DiskM ark, and as well as moving over some real-world files and how it loads in gaming scenarios.

Crystal Disk Mark results

• Max sequential read: 11,422 MB/s
• Max sequential write: 8,445 MB/s

The CS3150 puts in a great performance here, managing to break some barriers with some mighty impressive synthetic results. The SSD is making use of all the extra bandwidth afforded to it on the PCI lanes in order to make operation absolutely rapid.

But, while the numbers do indeed tell an interesting story, what about real-world usage?

Real-world use

The CS3150 was slightly faster when loading up an installation of Tekken 8, when compared to the Samsung 990 Pro that was installed in a different slot on the system. It’s a real blink and you’ll miss it scenario though, but there is some merit to having rapid speeds afforded by Gen 5 drives. If I wasn’t specifically measuring this however, I would struggle to see any real differences in performance from both drives.

Transferring a large video file to the drive also showcased impressive results with a 50GB file being transferred in under ten seconds flat: This is impressive, but unless you are doing this regularly, it becomes a bit of a moot point when it comes to the level of speed that these drives are now reaching.

Should you buy it?

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There are a couple of things about the PNY CS3150 that I adore: its transfer speeds being one of them. But, as someone who isn’t regularly watching the clock when my games load, or transferring large files to my system, I would be perfectly happy sitting with an existing, cheaper Gen 4 drive that sits at a higher capacity for around the same price.

Right now, these speeds are impressive in terms of performance, but the value it offers to the user in gaming PCs is still a bit questionable right now. As these drives are popularized and widely supported, and when prices begin to come down, it might be an easier pill to swallow.

Verdict: 4/5

It’s difficult to refute the pure performance on offer here. While there are elements like the partially wrapped fan cable that I wasn’t a fan of, it’s still an impressive drive that can offer heaps of speed for those who need it. Just remember, if you are getting one of these, you should be someone who is transferring large files often, otherwise, there’s very little point in spending more money right now, over getting a PCI 4 alternative.

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