KLEVV CRAS C930 1TB M.2 NVMe drive review — Lightning speeds, shockingly good price

I’m glad we live in a world where SSDs are a thing. These have changed gaming, with near instant loading that makes even bigger worlds possible. That said, there are a ton of different ones out there in the computer and PS5 space. Getting a good one that gives you great speed is important (especially as not all are compatible with the PS5), and the KLEVV C930 is a great choice among the many.

Getting a touch more specific, though folks often use the term SSD or NVMe to describe two different types of drives, they aren’t. SSD means “Solid State Drive” and “NVMe” stands for “Non-Volatile Memory Express”, and both are simply a change in form factor. 2.5” SSDs are the older technology that maxes out at 550MB/s, and NVMe SSDs are the M.2 form factor that can anywhere between 2500MB/s at the lower end, all the way up to 7000MB/s at the top end.

The KLEVV CRAS C930 1TB M.2 NVMe drive (henceforth known as the KLEVV C930), is a teeny tiny NVMe drive. Inside the box is the drive, and also an attachable heatsink. This is perfect for PS5 players, as a heatsink is quite necessary to avoid damage to your drive and console. While these are the only things in the box, you don’t need anything else to get started.

Installing the KLEVV C930 is simple, being very plug and play in nature. I inserted the drive into the M.2 slot, pushed it into position, and locked it into place using the clip mechanism on the pylon the non-inserted end rests upon. Once installed, a simple format did the rest, giving me 930GB of the 1TB of space as available. (It’s not uncommon for manufacturers to measure with 1000kb instead of 1040kb, meaning that they end up with slightly less than the full capacity. You can learn all about that here.)

As I’ve been building a new computer (of which you’ll learn about in a future editorial), this drive became my main one. Going from one computer to another involves a lot of transferring files, and to test the KLEVV C930, I decided to move 150GB of games from my Samsung SSD to the KLEVV C930. To my delight, the timer read out a six minute wait time. Fast forward and the entirety of my 150GBs was complete in only four minutes and fifty seconds. That’s insanely fast, making this a perfect drive for anyone who has to move large files around. I’m immediately thinking of people in the video or content creation space, as this can cut back on so much time spent waiting on transferring data.

Let’s take a look at the numbers revealed by testing the drive through Atto Benchmark and CrystalMark software (above). Both show a drive that meets the expectations set by the packaging (which shows up to 7400MB/S Sequential Read and 6400MB/S Sequential Write speeds). Interestingly, the 2TB has a faster Sequential Write speed of 6800MB/S, but that’s a question for another day. Again, the data presented proves the KLEVV C930 works at lightning speed.

As mentioned above, these are available as 1TB and 2TB drives. Not only is that a lot of space, but it’s fantastic in conjunction with the PS5. I have used a 1TB and 2TB drive on my console, so the dual options for space is appreciated. It’s also very inexpensive, with the 1TB currently running at $79.99 on Amazon, and the 2TB at $143.99. NVMe drives can get pricey for the good ones, and doubling your PS5 space or upgrading your PC for under eighty dollars is a steal. Compare that to the Samsung 990 Pro that costs $169.99 on sale, and you’ve got a clear winner.

Thanks to limitations of the hardware, all drives max out around 5500MB/s, which obviously this drive easily exceeds. The next consideration, then, is price – especially if you’ve already spent $500 on a new PS5 console. Being able to snap one of these up for $80 WITH a heatsink is incredible value. Speaking of value, the KLEVV C930 has a 5-year warranty. A 3-year warranty is pretty common, but apparently that wasn’t good enough for KLEVV. It’s great to know that they stand behind their product.

Of course, we couldn’t finish off a review for a SSD without testing some gaming with it. I chose Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered for this test, known for its quick loading speed in some of our other drive tests, and continuously streaming world. Cold booting the game from Steam to the Sony presents screen took only SIX seconds. Starting a brand new game took less than EIGHT seconds. Loading an old save took FIVE seconds. I keep capitalizing the numbers because I’m not even sure how this is possible. If you want to browse social media during loading screens, just go ahead and don’t buy a KLEVV, but if you want to game instantly, I’d highly recommend one.

You can grab the KLEVV CRAS C930 1TB M.2 NVMe drive in 1TB or 2TB variations right here.

Unless otherwise stated, the product in this article was provided for review purposes.