CONCLUSION

   SK hynix basically released the 2TB variant of their Gold P31 line in August 2021 meaning 1 full year after the 500GB and 1TB variants. Still from what I gather this was due to both adding AES 256-bit encryption (with Pyrite 2.0 support) and improving the overall performance of the drive. Yes, 2TB models usually outperform their 1TB brothers but the gaps in performance between these two P31 models are larger than what i usually see (so my guess is that they further tweaked the firmware of the drive – still, they may have done so with the firmware of the 1TB variant too). Performance aside durability/endurance numbers are also very good since aside its 1500TBW the Gold P31 2TB also has an MTBF (meantime between failure) of 1.5 million hours. Also, worth pointing out that in May this year SK hynix also released their Platinum P41 line (review soon) of PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 drives so if you’re looking for a Gen 4 model that might be it.

   Retailing for USD159.19 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for around 215Euros inside the EU the Gold P31 2TB PCIe 4.0 Gen 4 M.2 NVMe SSD by SK hynix is priced extremely well, on the other side of the Atlantic that is. Price aside however the Gold P31 2TB is probably the fastest overall Gen 3 SSD in my charts and even though it did take SK hynix a year to add it to their Gold P31 line it certainly deserves the Golden Award.

PROS

- Top Of The Charts Performance (Gen 3 SSD)
- Endurance Numbers (1500TBW / 1.5 Million Hours MTBF)
- First Gen 3 SSD Line With 128 Layer NAND Flash
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (USA)

CONS

- Price (EU)
- Thermal Throttling (12 Hour SNIA Test)