Slickdeals is community-supported.  We may get paid by brands for deals, including promoted items.
Heads up, this deal has expired. Want to create a deal alert for this item?
expiredheavyarms1912 posted Feb 25, 2024 10:13 PM

4TB Crucial P3 Plus PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive

$150

$300

50% off
+ S&Hat Adorama
25.3K Views
Visit Adorama
Deal Details
Adorama has 4TB Crucial P3 Plus PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (CT4000P3PSSD8) on sale for $149.99. Shipping varies by location.

Note: Ships from Manufacturer.

Thanks to Community Member heavyarms1912for finding this deal.

Features:
  • NVMe (PCIe Gen4 x4) technology with 5000MB/s sequential reads, random read/write 650K/900K IOPS
  • Spacious storage 4TB
  • Performs up to 43% faster than the fastest Gen3 NVMe SSDs
  • Rated at MTTF greater than 1.5 million hours for extended longevity and reliability
  • Backward compatibility with Gen3

Editor's Notes

Written by Corwin | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • This offer is lower than this previous Frontpage Deal from November.
    • Please see the original post for additional details and give the WIKI and forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by heavyarms1912
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Product Info
Community Notes
About the Poster
Adorama has 4TB Crucial P3 Plus PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (CT4000P3PSSD8) on sale for $149.99. Shipping varies by location.

Note: Ships from Manufacturer.

Thanks to Community Member heavyarms1912for finding this deal.

Features:
  • NVMe (PCIe Gen4 x4) technology with 5000MB/s sequential reads, random read/write 650K/900K IOPS
  • Spacious storage 4TB
  • Performs up to 43% faster than the fastest Gen3 NVMe SSDs
  • Rated at MTTF greater than 1.5 million hours for extended longevity and reliability
  • Backward compatibility with Gen3

Editor's Notes

Written by Corwin | Staff
  • About this Deal:
    • This offer is lower than this previous Frontpage Deal from November.
    • Please see the original post for additional details and give the WIKI and forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by heavyarms1912

Community Voting

Deal Score
+29
Good Deal
Visit Adorama

Price Intelligence

Model: CRUCIAL P3 PLUS 4000GB 3D NAND NVME PCIE M.2 SSD

Deal History 

Sale Price
Slickdeal
  • $NaN
  • Today

Current Prices

Sort: Lowest to Highest | Last Updated 8/1/2026, 09:32 AM
Sold By Sale Price
NewEgg$587
Amazon$639
Best Buy$699

Top Comments

Join The Conversation

Share your experience with the Slickdeals community

Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!

41 Comments

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Feb 25, 2024 11:24 PM
3.6K Comments
Joined Jan 2015
kevinaaaFeb 25, 2024 11:24 PM
3.6K Comments
Quote from masotime :
These are very good when paired with a cheap USB4 enclosure for 2-3GB/s transfer speeds -
https://a.aliexpress.com/_omsdsrY.
QLC and offline storage are double kill.
Feb 25, 2024 11:29 PM
354 Comments
Joined Apr 2009
alyssa_Feb 25, 2024 11:29 PM
354 Comments
Out of stock.

EDIT: Was able to place an order at 4:11PM PST, but backordered until April.
Last edited by alyssa_ February 25, 2024 at 04:23 PM.
Pro
Feb 25, 2024 11:31 PM
707 Comments
Joined Nov 2021
BeigeRoad455
Pro
Feb 25, 2024 11:31 PM
707 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank BeigeRoad455

It's important to note that this drive uses micron 176L qlc nand flash, which is of poor quality even among qlc nand. This 4tb drive has an endurance rating of 800tbw, which is exceptionally low. For reference, the solidigm 144L qlc nand (based on intel's qlc nand) used in the solidigm p41 plus qlc drive has double the endurance rating per tb. A decent quality 4tb tlc drive will generally have an endurance rating of 2400tbw, three times that of the p3 plus.

Additionally, the p3 plus has a fairly low tier controller, the Phison E21T (a low end controller for dramless drives from 2021), and lacks dram. Its random 4k performance, particularly at the more relevant low queue depths, is rather poor overall. The sequential read and write speeds are also low for a modern gen 4 drive, but those peak sequential speeds are basically meaningless above a few thousand for the vast majority of use cases.

Overall, at $150 this drive is good for the price if you just want basic mass storage, and will probably be decent as a low tier game drive. I would absolutely not recommend it for use as an OS/boot drive.
1
Feb 25, 2024 11:31 PM
104 Comments
Joined Feb 2015
masotimeFeb 25, 2024 11:31 PM
104 Comments
Quote from kevinaaa :
QLC and offline storage are double kill.
Why though? With offline storage, writes are kept to a minimum. TBW shouldn't matter so much, which I understand is the main argument against QLC. Is there something else about QLC that makes it bad for offline storage?
Feb 25, 2024 11:33 PM
62 Comments
Joined Sep 2011
kulletFeb 25, 2024 11:33 PM
62 Comments
Good for gaming laptop?
Feb 25, 2024 11:41 PM
132 Comments
Joined May 2004
xlrgwillystylesFeb 25, 2024 11:41 PM
132 Comments
OOO not available
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 12:04 AM
707 Comments
Joined Nov 2021
BeigeRoad455
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 12:04 AM
707 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank BeigeRoad455

Quote from masotime :
Why though? With offline storage, writes are kept to a minimum. TBW shouldn't matter so much, which I understand is the main argument against QLC. Is there something else about QLC that makes it bad for offline storage?
There's nothing in particular about offline storage that would be an issue with qlc, so long as the drive gets consistently powered on. Cold storage (where the ssd isn't being powered) is a whole different issue. In very simple terms, a ssd stores information in the form of bits by writing certain voltages to a floating gate. Slc nand only has two charge levels, mlc nand has four, tlc nand has eight, and qlc nand has sixteen discrete charge levels. This is relevant because over time electrons are able to "escape" the floating gate, therefore changing the charge. This leads to the loss of data. The more charge levels there are, and the closer the voltages of those different levels are, the easier it is for data loss to occur. Ssd firmware has a variety of error correction and refreshing measures in place to ensure that data is not lost over time, but that requires the drive to be powered on. Therefore, drives using qlc nand have worse data retention for use in cold storage. As a side note, semiconductor conductivity scales with temperature, so at higher temperatures ssd data retention worsens.
1

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Feb 26, 2024 12:10 AM
2.6K Comments
Joined May 2014
Greenworld123Feb 26, 2024 12:10 AM
2.6K Comments
Cheaper than the Verbatim Vi7000G 4TB SSD with Heatsink for $175 I just ordered from Japan. But this one appears to be slower.
Feb 26, 2024 12:14 AM
3.6K Comments
Joined Jan 2015
kevinaaaFeb 26, 2024 12:14 AM
3.6K Comments
Quote from masotime :
Why though? With offline storage, writes are kept to a minimum. TBW shouldn't matter so much, which I understand is the main argument against QLC. Is there something else about QLC that makes it bad for offline storage?
My gut feeling tells me SSD leaks electrons when offline and needs to be recharged periodically and QLC is more sensitive of such leakage than TLC.
Feb 26, 2024 12:27 AM
87 Comments
Joined Sep 2013
matts_leeFeb 26, 2024 12:27 AM
87 Comments
Back ordered to April
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 3:21 AM
3.3K Comments
Joined Jul 2020
ThirstyCruz
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 3:21 AM
3.3K Comments
So much for ssd prices set to skyrocket! Ever since a few of those 'news' articles last month, prices been dropping lol.
Feb 26, 2024 7:15 AM
2 Comments
Joined Feb 2024
MellowSeed241Feb 26, 2024 7:15 AM
2 Comments
Quote from BeigeRoad455 :
It's important to note that this drive uses micron 176L qlc nand flash, which is of poor quality even among qlc nand. This 4tb drive has an endurance rating of 800tbw, which is exceptionally low. For reference, the solidigm 144L qlc nand (based on intel's qlc nand) used in the solidigm p41 plus qlc drive has double the endurance rating per tb. A decent quality 4tb tlc drive will generally have an endurance rating of 2400tbw, three times that of the p3 plus.

Additionally, the p3 plus has a fairly low tier controller, the Phison E21T (a low end controller for dramless drives from 2021), and lacks dram. Its random 4k performance, particularly at the more relevant low queue depths, is rather poor overall. The sequential read and write speeds are also low for a modern gen 4 drive, but those peak sequential speeds are basically meaningless above a few thousand for the vast majority of use cases.

Overall, at $150 this drive is good for the price if you just want basic mass storage, and will probably be decent as a low tier game drive. I would absolutely not recommend it for use as an OS/boot drive.
Which model/brand would you recommend for a OS/boot drive or a gaming machine?
Feb 26, 2024 8:34 AM
10.9K Comments
Joined Nov 2010
youra6Feb 26, 2024 8:34 AM
10.9K Comments
Quote from ThirstyCruz :
So much for ssd prices set to skyrocket! Ever since a few of those 'news' articles last month, prices been dropping lol.
Except it has? The 2 TB P5 which is a much faster SSD was selling for 86-90 dollars all day in Q4 2023. The deals were way more frequent back then.
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 9:26 AM
707 Comments
Joined Nov 2021
BeigeRoad455
Pro
Feb 26, 2024 9:26 AM
707 Comments
Quote from MellowSeed241 :
Which model/brand would you recommend for a OS/boot drive or a gaming machine?
There are a bunch of good options, though now probably isn't the best time to buy an ssd since prices have increased over the past several months. I'd typically recommend purchasing from a brand with a strong presence in western markets, your best bets (for brands that offer decent value products) are probably: samsung, western digital, sk hynix, crucial, teamgroup, and solidigm (intel's old ssd division that got bought by hynix). For a boot drive I recommend a pcie gen 4 drive with tlc nand, dram, and a modern controller with good random 4k performance at low queue depths.

If you're on a tight budget you can get away with a drive without dram if it's got a recent controller with strong random 4k performance and hmb (host memory buffer), but dram is generally preferred. I would not recommend getting a qlc drive as a boot drive unless your budget is cataclysmically low, the increased endurance of tlc drives is rather important for use as an os drive. Peak sequential read and write speeds, despite being heavily marketed by basically every company out there, aren't terribly relevant for standard use cases. So long as the drive has a peak sequential read speed of at least 5000MB/s it should be fine. Random 4k read and write performance, denoted in iops, is far more relevant for actual performance.

There are certain things you should avoid in a drive where reliability is key, such as a boot drive. First off, many cheap drives with high end performance make use of the innogrit ig5236 (rainier) controller. The ig5236 is notorious for having a variety of issues, and drives with this controller should not be used as a boot drive unless you really feel like taking a gamble, keep full backups, and the drive is substantially cheaper than comparable options.
Next, ymtc 128L tlc nand is known to have reliability issues. That particular nand is used in many cheaper "high end" chinese drives, and should be avoided. To the best of my knowledge ymtc 232L nand does not have known issues currently. If you decide to get a drive with ymtc nand make absolutely sure it's 232L, and under no circumstances get a drive with ymtc nand and the ig5236 controller. Drives with both the ig5236 controller and ymtc nand brick themselves.

The current sweet spot in terms of price for capacity is 2tb. Prices have increased dramatically over the past several months, it used to be a high end gen4 2tb drive was $100 or less, but now you're lucky to find one for $120. In terms of specific product recommendations, I'm a bit out of date, but all the drives I list should offer very good performance and good value on sale. The list will be in order of most to least desirable, but any of them are perfectly suitable for use as a boot drive, and differences in real world performance will be minimal. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so please do your own research. Recommended drives off the top of my head (most to least desirable): samsung 990 pro, solidigm p44 pro, sk hynix p41 platinum, western digital black sn850x (avoid if you use windows bitlocker), crucial t500, samsung 980 pro, western digital black sn850 (avoid if you use windows bitlocker).
Last edited by BeigeRoad455 February 26, 2024 at 01:33 AM.

Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.

Feb 26, 2024 10:08 AM
2 Comments
Joined Feb 2024
MellowSeed241Feb 26, 2024 10:08 AM
2 Comments
Quote from BeigeRoad455 :
There are a bunch of good options, though now probably isn't the best time to buy an ssd since prices have increased over the past several months. I'd typically recommend purchasing from a brand with a strong presence in western markets, your best bets (for brands that offer decent value products) are probably: samsung, western digital, sk hynix, crucial, teamgroup, and solidigm (intel's old ssd division that got bought by hynix). For a boot drive I recommend a pcie gen 4 drive with tlc nand, dram, and a modern controller with good random 4k performance at low queue depths.

If you're on a tight budget you can get away with a drive without dram if it's got a recent controller with strong random 4k performance and hmb (host memory buffer), but dram is generally preferred. I would not recommend getting a qlc drive as a boot drive unless your budget is cataclysmically low, the increased endurance of tlc drives is rather important for use as an os drive. Peak sequential read and write speeds, despite being heavily marketed by basically every company out there, aren't terribly relevant for standard use cases. So long as the drive has a peak sequential read speed of at least 5000MB/s it should be fine. Random 4k read and write performance, denoted in iops, is far more relevant for actual performance.

There are certain things you should avoid in a drive where reliability is key, such as a boot drive. First off, many cheap drives with high end performance make use of the innogrit ig5236 (rainier) controller. The ig5236 is notorious for having a variety of issues, and drives with this controller should not be used as a boot drive unless you really feel like taking a gamble, keep full backups, and the drive is substantially cheaper than comparable options.
Next, ymtc 128L tlc nand is known to have reliability issues. That particular nand is used in many cheaper "high end" chinese drives, and should be avoided. To the best of my knowledge ymtc 232L nand does not have known issues currently. If you decide to get a drive with ymtc nand make absolutely sure it's 232L, and under no circumstances get a drive with ymtc nand and the ig5236 controller. Drives with both the ig5236 controller and ymtc nand brick themselves.

The current sweet spot in terms of price for capacity is 2tb. Prices have increased dramatically over the past several months, it used to be a high end gen4 2tb drive was $100 or less, but now you're lucky to find one for $120. In terms of specific product recommendations, I'm a bit out of date, but all the drives I list should offer very good performance and good value on sale. The list will be in order of most to least desirable, but any of them are perfectly suitable for use as a boot drive, and differences in real world performance will be minimal. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so please do your own research. Recommended drives off the top of my head (most to least desirable): samsung 990 pro, solidigm p44 pro, sk hynix p41 platinum, western digital black sn850x (avoid if you use windows bitlocker), crucial t500, samsung 980 pro, western digital black sn850 (avoid if you use windows bitlocker).
Thanks! That's very helpful. But how do I know if an SSD uses tlc nand, dram, and a modern controller with good random 4k performance at low queue depths? For example, I have no idea this Crucial 4TB SSD uses QLC. If I want to simply limit the choices to Samsung and Western Digital, which Samsung or Western Digital 4TB model meet all the requirements: tlc nand, dram, and a modern controller with good random 4k performance at low queue depths?

Join The Conversation

Share your experience with the Slickdeals community

Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!

Related Deals

Sponsored

Popular Deals

Trending Deals