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Crucial P3 1TB PCIe Gen3 NVMe SSD: features, specs and who it suits
A 1TB PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD with sequential reads up to 3,500MB/s. What Gen3 NVMe means compared with SATA drives and hard disks, and what to check.
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The Crucial P3 is an internal M.2 solid state drive that uses NVMe over PCIe Gen3 x4. This 1TB model is intended as a main or secondary drive for a desktop or laptop with an M.2 slot, giving faster start-up, loading and file transfers than a hard disk or a SATA SSD.
What NVMe over PCIe Gen3 means
NVMe is a protocol designed for flash storage, and it talks to the processor over PCIe lanes rather than the older SATA connection. The P3 uses four Gen3 lanes. Crucial rates sequential reads at up to 3,500MB/s and writes at up to 3,000MB/s, with random read/write of 650K/700K IOPS. Crucial says that is nearly 5x faster than SATA and nearly 20x faster than a hard disk drive, and that the P3 performs up to 33% better than the previous generation. These are the maker's peak figures, and real-world speeds vary with the computer.
Gen3 compared with newer drives
Gen4 and Gen5 drives are faster on paper, but they need compatible slots to reach those speeds. A Gen3 drive suits systems that were built for it, and daily tasks such as booting, opening applications and loading games usually depend on more than peak sequential speed. A Gen3 drive can also generally be used in a newer slot at Gen3 speed.
Capacity and longevity
The P3 range offers capacities up to 4TB; this listing is the 1TB version. Crucial describes the drive as built with Micron Advanced 3D NAND and an in-house controller design. It is rated at an MTTF (mean time to failure) of more than 1.5 million hours. MTTF is a statistical figure from the manufacturer, and does not predict how long one drive will last. Backing up important files matters whichever drive you use. Some capacity is used for formatting, so the usable space is slightly less than 1TB.
Fit and installation
The drive is a bare M.2 stick, about 3.1 x 0.9 inches (roughly 80 x 22 mm), the common 2280 length. It has no case, and it plugs straight into an M.2 slot on a motherboard or in a laptop. The listing doesn't mention a heatsink, so check whether your motherboard or laptop provides one. Some consoles and older laptops use different slot types or sizes.
Who it suits
It suits people upgrading from a hard disk or a SATA SSD, or adding a second drive to a PC with a Gen3 or newer M.2 slot. It is a sensible fit for general computing, office work and gaming. Heavy video work with very large files may justify a faster drive.
What to check before you buy
- Slot type: confirm your device has an M.2 slot that supports NVMe (some are SATA only).
- Length: confirm it accepts 2280 drives.
- Cooling: check whether your board includes a heatsink or cover.
- Capacity: pick the size that matches your files, games and software.
- Cloning or fresh install: plan how you will move your data over.
- Backups: keep a second copy of important files.
The short version
- Crucial P3 1TB, NVMe over PCIe Gen3 x4 in M.2 format, model CT1000P3SSD8.
- Up to 3,500MB/s sequential reads and 3,000MB/s writes, as Crucial rates it.
- Random read/write of 650K/700K IOPS.
- Rated at an MTTF of more than 1.5 million hours.
- Needs an NVMe-capable M.2 slot.
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