The PNY XLR8 CS3150 ($189.99 for 1TB as tested) is a version of the company’s CS3150 PCI Express 5.0 internal solid-state drive aimed at gamers, with faster speeds (if you have the right hardware), a dual-fan heatsink, and RGB lighting that You can set to a range of patterns using the downloadable PNY software. Of course, to see the light, you’ll need a desktop with a see-through case, and to get the PCIe 5.0 performance benefits of the drive, you’ll either need a recent boutique computer that supports that standard or build your own compatible rig. The last element. As of this writing, only a 1TB version of the drive is available, making it a better buy than the slightly faster and cheaper Editors’ Choice-winning Crucial T705 (which is also available in additional capacities). But this drive is the top of the line PCIe 5.0 model.
Design: High-end innards, fan-based heatsink, RGB lighting
The XLR8 CS3150 is a four-lane solid-state drive that runs the NVMe 2.0 protocol over a PCIe 5.0 bus. This internal SSD comes in standard M.2 Type-2280 “gumstick” format. The double-sided drive uses Micron 232-layer 3D TLC NAND chips and Phison’s Gen 5-optimized PS5026-E26 controller.
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The drive comes with a heatsink, which has a small fan on either end. A letter X between the fans, plus “PNY XLR8” in small type. When the drive is running, the letters glow in RGB colors, set by the PNY software, which you install on your PC, to set the light pattern.
PCIe 5.0 SSDs promise a big speed boost over PCIe 4.0 drives with lower throughput speeds than even the XLR8 CS3150, but you can only take advantage of that if the latest hardware supports the standard. (You can still run a PCIe 5.0 SSD in a PCIe 4.0 slot, but you’ll only get Gen 4 speeds, with read and write throughput peaking at around 7,000MBps.) Only the latest boutique desktops may be PCIe 5.0-ready off the shelf, so You may need to build your own PC from the ground up or update an existing system to gain the necessary connectivity.
You’ll need an Intel 12th Gen or later Core CPU with a motherboard based on Intel’s Z690 or Z790 chipset; Or a Ryzen 7000 or 9000 processor with an AM5 motherboard built around an X670, X670E, B650E, or emerging 800-series chipset. One big caveat is that the motherboard manufacturer doesn’t actually guarantee just because you have one of those chipsets implemented A PCIe 5.0-capable M.2 SSD slot. It depends on the board manufacturer, so check your system or motherboard’s specs and documentation before investing in one of these drives. Some boards have PCIe 5.0 expansion slots for graphics cards and other PCI Express cards, but you specifically need a PCIe 5.0-capable one. M.2 slot.
The drive connects via an attached cable to a nine-pin USB header located on the motherboard that powers both the RGB lights and the fan (see image above). Most SSDs with fan-based heatsinks use a SATA power connector from your power supply to drive the fan, but the USB header offers more versatility. The USB header connection lets you run the fan at an auto setting or full speed, and it enables access to nine different RGB lighting patterns via PNY’s VelocityX software. The software is available for download from the PNY site — the download link for the latest version is at the bottom of the page
The CS3150 currently comes in a 1TB capacity, with a 2TB model not yet widely available The drive comes in two versions; While the PNY CS3150 has dual-fan heatsinks but lacks RGB lighting, the PNY XLR8 CS3150, the version we tested, adds lighting. (All references to the CS3150 in this review are for the XLR8 version.)
For durability, expressed as lifetime write capacity in total terabytes written (TBW), the XLR8 CS3150 has a slightly better rating than the Crucial T700 and T705, which are both rated at 600TBW for their 1TB versions.
The TBW spec is a manufacturer’s estimate of how much data can be written to a drive before some cells fail and go out of service. PNY warrants the XLR8 CS3150 for five years or until you hit the data write rated TBW figure, whichever comes first. But the drive’s durability rating is such that unless you write an unusually large amount of data to the SSD, it’s a safe bet that it will last the full warranty period and beyond. The drive supports hardware encryption under the TCG Opal 2.0 standard.
PNY CS3150 tested: Fast, especially for gaming
To benchmark the PNY CS3150, we used our latest testbed PC, designed specifically for benchmarking PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs. It consists of a ASRock X670E Taichi Motherboard with an AMD X670 chipset, 32GB of DDR5 memory, one PCIe 5.0 x4 M.2 slot (with lanes that have direct access to the CPU), and three PCIe 4.0 slots. It is a sport AMD Ryzen 9 7900 CPU using an AMD stock cooler; a GeForce RTX 2070 Super graphics card with 8GB GDDR6 SDRAM; and a Thermaltech ToughPower GF1 Snow 750-watt power supply. A boot drive ADATA Legend 850 PCIe 4.0 SSD.
We put the CS3150 through our usual slate of internal solid-state drive benchmarks, including Crystal DiskMark 6.0, UL’s PCMark 10 Storage, and UL’s 3DMark Storage benchmark, the last of which measures the drive’s performance in several gaming-related tasks.
We ran Crystal DiskMark twice, with the fan on its default auto setting and then on its high-speed setting. High-speed results were slightly faster than those on auto across the board; In both cases the CS3150’s Crystal DiskMark sequential read score was below its rated speed, while its write score was faster than its rating. The CS3150 also lags behind the Crucial and Corsair speedsters shown in the table below, which have higher rated speeds.
The XLR8’s Crystal DiskMark 4K (small-file) read scores were very similar at both fan settings, with its 4K write result being 3.8% faster when the fan was set to high speed. Both sets were in the middle of a solid range of scores by the PCIe 5.0 drives we reviewed. (A PCIe 4.0 SSD on the table, the Samsung SSD 990 Pro, had a 4K read speed comparable to a PCIe 5.0 drive but a much lower 4K write speed.) Good 4K write performance is especially important for SSDs used as boot drives, although we tested as secondary drives. I do
The PCMark 10 overall storage test measures the drive’s speed during various routine tasks such as launching Windows, loading games and creative apps, and copying both small and large files. In this test, the XLR8 CS3150’s fan settings made no difference, as the scores were effectively identical with either set to Auto or High speed. Drive had the third-highest score among our comparison groups.
In 3DMark Storage, a benchmark that combines an SSD’s performance on various gaming-related tasks, running the fan at full speed made a statistically insignificant difference in scores (just half a percent higher) than when the fan was set to Auto. The CS3150’s score in this test was the second best behind the Crucial T705.
The bottom line about fan usage is that while running the fan at full speed showed some improvement in Crystal DiskMark 4K write scores when the fan was set to Auto, it had virtually no impact on its PCMark 10 score and its 3DMark Storage. result
Verdict: Gen 5 speed and RGB bling, but only 1TB of space
The PNY XLR8 CS3150 proved its mettle in our benchmarking with the second best score in the 3DMark Storage test and the third best overall score in PCMark 10. As of this writing, it’s only available as a 1TB stick, although a 2TB version will be out soon. Many Gen 5 SSDs, including the Editors’ Choice-winner Crucial T705 and Corsair MP700 Pro SE, are already available in both 2TB and 4TB capacities.
The T705, which has the highest rated and tested throughput speed of any SSD we reviewed, outperformed the CS3150 in our main benchmarks, especially the gaming-oriented 3DMark storage test. The 1TB version of the XLR8 CS3150 costs a bit more than the T705—which has a passive (finned) heatsink—but has one thing the Crucial SSD doesn’t: a great RGB lighting display, in keeping with its gaming-focused DNA. Help out your PC strategy. Just be sure to mod your rig to get the full performance benefits of a Gen 5 SSD.
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PNY’s XLR8 CS3150 is a 1TB PCIe 5.0 SSD with a dual-fan heatsink and cool RGB lighting, making it a good choice for desktop PC builders who don’t need a ton of space.
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