This unit can be found in both 1TB capacity and 2TB capacity (we will analyze the 2TB unit). This SSD offers us a Maximum read speed of 5000 MB/s and 680,000 IOPS, and 3,900 MB/s write and 950,000 IOPS. Additionally, this gives us a guaranteed TBW durability of 1,200 terabytes and a life expectancy of 1.5 million hours.
A curious fact about this SSD is that its operating temperature range has been set outside the norm. The normal thing for an SSD is that its operating temperature range goes from 0ºC to 70ºC, but in this case KIOXIA has provided that it can operate at full capacity (we understand this without Thermal Throttling) up to 85ºC.
The SSD has the standard M.2 2280 format, with dimensions of 80.15 x 22.15 x 2.63 mm and a weight of 7.4 grams. Therefore, it is ideal for any PC, laptop and even PS5 consoles.
Unboxing and external analysis
The KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 comes in a soft cardboard box, with the predominant colors black and blue. At the top of the box we can see a photo of the device along with its speed and other technical specifications. On the back we find more detailed information about the product.
We open the box and find the SSD block perfectly wrapped in plastic, inside a cardboard blister.
Inside the blister we find the typical quick start leaflet, as well as another leaflet with safety information.
We take out the SSD and we already have the first contact with it. At first glance, we don’t see much as it has the typical sticker on the top of the controller and chips that manufacturers usually include to indicate the make and model of the unit. As we see, it is the EXCERIA PLUS G3, and it belongs to the “personal” series, for domestic use.
At the bottom of the PCB we see that there is absolutely nothing, just a sticker where we see the brand, model, serial number and capacity.
At the very end we have the M.2 connector with a standard design, nothing particularly remarkable.
Under the label we find the controller PHISON PS5021 (very well known and offers excellent performance) that this device mounts, as well as its memory chips.
We’ve already seen what this looks like, and now we’ll see how it works.
KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 performance test
The assembly of this SSD hides no mystery, just place it in an M.2 slot on the motherboard, and anchor it with the screw or anchor that our plate has. Our recommendation is to place a heatsink on top (even if it’s the one on the motherboard itself) to keep the temperature at bay at full performance, although this shouldn’t be a problem.
The test bench we used to test this device is as follows:
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D processor
- CORSAIR Vengeance RGB DDR5 RAM 32 GB at 6,000 MHz
- AORUS X670 ELITE AX motherboard
- AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT graphics card
- Windows 11 23H2
Windows recognizes it without problem and without installing anything. Of course, it comes from the factory without a format or drive letter assigned, so as usual the first thing we will have to do before we can use it is to initialize it from the Windows Disk Manager itself .
Once an NTFS partition is initialized and created, let’s see its performance. The first thing we will do is use the program CrystalDiskInfo to know in detail the technical specifications of the unit.
In the next step we will use the program Brand CrystalDisk to measure the reading and writing speed of the hard disk. As we can see, for a PCIe 4.0 unit, the data obtained is exceptional, reaching the speeds (even slightly higher) that the manufacturer promised us.
The next program we will use to measure the performance of the unit is AS SSD reference. This software analyzes several operating points of the unit and returns a score, perfect for comparison.
In this test we realize that the values are a little lower (generally normal, since this program uses different algorithms than the previous one), but they are still excellent data, as expected. In addition, it also has specific tests that allow us to measure file copy speeds, both programs and ISO images and games.
And even a test with which we will be able to know the performance and stability when working with non-compressible files, one of the tasks where this type of units suffer the most. In the latter we see that the SSD suffers a little with non-compressible files, even if the speed does not drop and recovers very well.
Another test that we are going to carry out with this SSD we will do with the program ATTO Disk Evaluation. This software will allow us to know the speed of reading and writing files of different sizes, ranging from 512 bytes to 64 megabytes. In this way we will see how it behaves with small files and from what capacity we already get full performance.
As we can see in this test, the SSD reaches its maximum write speed from 32 KB, although the maximum read speed is only reached from 1 MB files. From there, it always remains stable.
And, in addition, we also used the program Anvil referencethrough which we will be able to measure the performance of the SSD, as well as its random performance, in IOPS, to see how it behaves.
Finally, the temperature we obtained during performance tests was quite controlled. Of course, it should be borne in mind that despite using our own motherboard’s heatsink, the SSD touched 70 degrees after performance testing. If we want to make intensive use of it and we do not want to face Thermal Throttling, it is better to choose to install a better heat sink that maintains these degrees in a more controlled way.
In any case, it is an SSD that has retained its type quite well in all the tests and which, in short, has kept its promises.
Conclusion, is it worth it?
It’s true that we’re not looking for the fastest PCIe Gen4 SSD on the market, but it’s not one of the most expensive either (in fact, its price is one of its biggest attractions, which is common at KIOXIA). Now entering speeds of 4 GB/s write and 5 GB/s read, the bottlenecks are completely eradicated, and it is better to try to reduce the price of the units, or get some with a better random access, rather than spending more money on a little more speed (which incidentally will result in greater heat).
This KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 is an intermediate option, totally valid for all types of users. On the one hand, we will achieve exceptional speeds that will allow us to get the most out of our hardware and our games (it even works on a PS5), while on the other hand, we will be able to buy it at a completely affordable price. . Currently, we can find the 1 TB modality for only 60 dollars, while the 2 TB version (the one we analyzed) can be found for around 110 dollars (both prices, on sale).
Of course, even though this is an SSD that, according to the manufacturer, supports operation up to 85°C without issue (compared to the usual 70°C), our recommendation is that if your motherboard is equipped with SSD heatsinks, use them, because otherwise you will run that SSD at a higher temperature than it should and you may experience thermal throttling if the case is not well ventilated.
For all these reasons, we decided to give this KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS G3 NVME SSD our Gold medal and our recommendation for its performance/price ratio.
