PNY CS2030 240GB PCIe NVMe M.2 drive Review

Rating: 8.0.

Many people missed the release of the new PNY CS2030. PNY seemed almost to avoid marketing the drive with tech media which is surprising considering it is their first consumer PCIe NVMe M.2 drive. We find out today how it handles and if it is worth considering for a new system build.

Built on an M.2 2280 form factor with a PCIe Gen3.0 x4 interface, the PNY NVMe CS2030 uses a combination of a Phison E7 controller and Toshiba 15mn MLC NAND. At the time of writing, there are just two capacities available, 240GB and 480GB.

Quoted Sequential performance figures for the 240GB drive are 2,750MB/s for reads and 1,500MB/s for writes. 4K random read/write figures are 201,000 IOPS and 215,000 IOPS respectively.  The 480GB model is a little faster at 2,800MB/s and 1,550MB/s respectively for Sequential read/writes while random read/writes come in at 300,000 IOPS and 215,000 IOPS respectively.

Although there's is no mention of encryption support in the specification sheet for the drive, AES-256 encryption is part of the Phison controllers feature list.  Similarly, there's no mention as to what the endurance rating of the drive is, but PNY back the drive with a 3 year warranty.

Physical Specifications:
Usable Capacities: 240GB, 480GB
NAND Components: Toshiba 15mn MLC
Interface: PCIe Gen3.0 x4 NVMe
Form Factor: M.2 2280
NAND Controller: PS5007-E7
Dimensions: 80 x 22 x 3.8mm
Drive Weight: 8g

Firmware Version: CS20302O

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