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PNY has been around for a long time and is known for its memory, GPUs, and flash-based goods. The company’s new XLR8 CS3140 SSD has sequential read/write speeds of up to 7,500/6,850 MBps for the 2TB and bigger models. It’s also flexible because it comes with and without a heatsink, and you can use a separate PlayStation 5 heatsink for the version without a heatsink.
Last year, Chia cryptomining, which was known to kill SSDs with heavy write workloads, caused PNY to cut the lifetime rating of its CS3030 SSD by almost 80%. But with the XLR8 CS3140, PNY is back to getting good ratings for how long it lasts. We tried the new 1TB XLR8 CS3140 model, which has a good starting capacity, but the 2TB model has better peak performance because it has more flash dies.
PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD specifications
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 1TB / 2TB |
| Interface | PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 1.4 |
| Sequential Read Speed | Up to 7,500 MB/s |
| Sequential Write Speed | Up to 6,850 MB/s |
| Random Read Speed | Up to 1,050K IOPS |
| Random Write Speed | Up to 1,000K IOPS |
| Endurance | Up to 3,600 TBW |
| Form Factor | M.2 2280 |
| Warranty | 5 years |
PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD review: Design
Anyone who has seen one of PNY’s NVMe drives before shouldn’t be too surprised by how the XLR8 CS3140 looks. Even though it may have a similar name and look to some of the brand’s other models, the flagship model jumps out with its aggressive black and red design.
My review unit is simple; it doesn’t come with a motherboard heatsink or a PS5 cover, even though those are choices. The best thing about the PNY XLR8 CS3140, though, isn’t how it looks. Instead, it’s the drive’s top Phison E18 controller, which is one of the best you can get right now. Even though it will soon be replaced by the E26 type from the same company.
PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD: Performance
In our industry-standard tests, the PNY XLR8 CS3140 showed itself to be one of the more reliable drives on the market, and it was clear that reads were given more importance than writes. The CrystalDiskMark number of 6,245.11 MB/s for reading and 3,635.37 MB/s for writing shows this. You’re not bad at the latter, but you’re not exactly making the same trail here.
This is backed up by the fact that AnvilPro gave me a total of 20,997.50. As was to be expected from an NVMe SSD with a Phison E18 driver, it was easy to get past the 20,000 mark. Even though their read speeds were about the same. You can buy this ssd from its official website
Price and availability
The most recent systems from AMD and Intel all work with either PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0. It’s also a bit pricey. The price of the 4TB is more than $600. Other SSDs and HDDs are more affordable, giving better value for dollar per GB. The PCIe 3.0 XPG SX8100 4TB costs $400, but its speeds are nowhere near those of the PNY XLR8.
Final Words
The PNY XLR8 CS3140 is fast and has a good price, especially when it comes to the sweet spot of 1TB. Whether you’re switching to NVMe Gen 4.0 for the first time or just want a solid second drive for your computer, this model has a lot to offer for the price.PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD review
PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD Ratings
PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD review: the good and the bad
The Good
- Excellent heatsink.
- Reads well
The Bad
- Lacks drive duplication software
faqs
The company’s new XLR8 CS3140 SSD has sequential read/write speeds of up to 7,500/6,850 MBps for the 2TB and bigger models. It’s also flexible because it comes with and without a heatsink, and you can use a separate PlayStation 5 heatsink for the version without a heatsink.
The PNY CS3140 is made with a lot of the same parts as drives like the Rocket 4 Plus. A 176-layer Micron B47R TLC NAND and a DDR4 DRAM cache go with the Phison PS5018-E18 processor.