Direct links
-
Price, specifications and availability
-
Should you buy the Crucial P310?
The size of games is increasing, especially for AAA titles like Call of Duty franchise, where a single install can be over 100GB in size. That's a big problem for the Steam Deck or any of the best PC gaming handhelds, which often ship with 512GB or 1TB of storage. The good news is that more and more companies are making 2TB capacity M.2 2230 NVMe SSDs, and we're testing one of them today, the Crucial P310. This tiny SSD offers a surprising amount of fast SSD storage at a competitive price.
While most handheld SSD replacements, like the ROG Ally, have relatively slow speeds compared to NVMe drives designed for desktop use, the Crucial P310 is an outlier. It has a maximum transfer speed of 7,100MB/s, putting it just ahead of the Corsair MP600 Mini (2TB), which we rated with a near-perfect score, making it possibly the best SSD for handheld consoles with the smaller 2230 form factor.
About this review: For this test, Crucial sent us the Crucial P310 (2 TB). The company had no influence on the contents.
Fast and small
Decisive P310
The new king of 2230 SSDs
$215 $265 Save $50
Not only is this tiny SSD the fastest we've tested in the 2230 form factor used by the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and MSI Claw, but it's also available in up to 2TB of storage capacity. That's a lot of gaming in a tiny package.
- Capacities of 1 TB and 2 TB available
- Performance over 7,100 MB/s reading and 6,000 MB/s writing
- Long 5 year warranty
- Expensive
- Additional costs in addition to the handheld console
Price, specifications and availability
The Crucial P310 2230 M.2 SSD was released on July 17, 2024. It comes in 1TB and 2TB storage capacities and has an MSRP of $115 and $215, respectively. It is available directly from Crucial and from retailers like Amazon and B&H Photo. It is intended for use on handheld gaming consoles like the Steam Deck and ROG Ally, and due to its small size, it doesn't have room for DRAM, but that's fine for loading games.
Possibly the best SSD for handheld consoles with the smaller 2230 form factor.
What I like
The fastest 2230 SSD on the market
This drive is intended for handheld gaming consoles, and the only one I have on hand that uses a 2230 SSD is the Steam Deck. However, the PCIe 3.0 interface in that console doesn't show how fast this drive can be, so I tested it in a PCIe adapter on my gaming PC running a Ryzen 9 7900X. This way I can check how well the drive performs compared to the manufacturer's claims.
Performance is what really matters with these little SSDs, and the Crucial P310 blew me away. It's the fastest 2230-style SSD we've tested, and it's almost as fast as our PCIe 4.0 SSD king, the Samsung 990 Pro, in sequential workloads, and faster in random performance too. It's exceeded the marketing numbers, which is great to see.
|
Crucial P310 2TB |
Samsung 990Pro |
MP600 Mini 2TB |
520N 2TB |
MP44S 2TB |
SN770M 2TB |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
SEQ1M Q8T1 |
7,171/6,330 |
7,465/6,897 |
5,147/3,919 |
5,150/3,929 |
5,158/3,877 |
5,183/4,874 |
|
RND4K Q1T1 |
80/293 |
72/248 |
75/552 |
73/447 |
73/442 |
80/356 |
The results are measured in MB/s.
The Crucial P310 completely blew me away.
We also fired up the 3DMark Storage benchmark to test the Crucial P310 with gaming workloads like installation and loading. The P310 was once again one of the fastest SSDs of this type that we've tested, performing similarly to the Corsair MP600 Mini and comfortably ahead of the other 2230-style SSDs we've tested.
|
Crucial P310 2TB |
MP600 Mini 2TB |
520N 2TB |
MP44S 2TB |
SN770M 2TB |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Score |
3,307 |
3,324 |
2,721 |
2,762 |
3,183 |
As with any SSD, performance will drop off a little as the drive fills up, but as long as you leave about 10 or 15% free, you won't notice the slower transfer speeds in everyday use. And with 2TB of capacity, you can store plenty of your gaming library on it in the meantime.
What I don't like
Spoiler: not much
There's very little I don't like about the Crucial P310. The 2TB drive's original retail price was $265, which made it rather expensive, but with a revision to $215, it's now significantly more competitive. I'd also like to see Crucial include an adapter for use in the Legion Go, which uses slightly longer 2242-style SSDs, which would broaden their target market. The problem for Crucial is that it launched at a time when new gaming handhelds like the ROG Ally X are using desktop-sized 2280 NVMe drives, some of which can hold up to 8TB. ​​It's still a compelling replacement for the SSD in the ROG Ally, Steam Deck, and MSI Claw, so it's currently meeting the needs of a key niche market.
This tiny SSD offers a surprising amount of fast SSD storage at a competitive price.
Should you buy the Crucial P310?
You should buy the Crucial P310 2TB if:
- You want the most powerful 2230 SSD
- You want more storage for your Steam Deck or ROG Ally
- You want a faster SSD for your handheld game console
You should NOT buy the Crucial P310 2TB if:
- You own an Asus ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion Go
- You don't necessarily need the fastest drive
- You want a cheaper SSD
The Crucial P310 is the fastest 2230-style SSD on the market. Its quality is undeniable – but how long will the market continue to use this form factor? However, many gaming handhelds will likely stick with smaller SSDs as they save valuable space in a crowded case. The 2TB Crucial P310 offers enough storage capacity for your portable game library and the speed to load those games quickly – you can't ask for more from a storage drive.
Fast and small
Decisive P310
The fastest SSD for many gaming handhelds
$215 $265 Save $50
Not only is this tiny SSD the fastest we've tested in the 2230 form factor used by the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and MSI Claw, but it's also available in up to 2TB of storage capacity. That's a lot of gaming in a tiny package.