Crucial
Crucial P3 Plus 4TB NVMe Gen4
Who this is for: anyone who needs 4TB of NVMe storage for a boot drive or fast secondary drive in a modern build — it buys the most terabytes per dollar available in this form factor.
The Crucial P3 Plus 4TB NVMe Gen4 is a 4TB NVMe drive rated at up to 5000MB/s sequential read, built on QLC flash.
QLC determines how it behaves once the SLC write cache is exhausted: expect a noticeable drop during very large sustained transfers, which is a fair trade for the capacity per dollar. Crucial modules come straight from Micron, so the die behind the label is known quantity. Check that your M.2 slot runs at the drive’s interface generation, and give it airflow or a heatsink under long writes.
Our take
Buy it if: you want a lot of storage for an installed game library, photos or media at a low price per terabyte.
Skip it if: it will be your only drive and you often copy huge files. As a QLC drive, it slows down during long continuous writes.
Consider instead: WD Black SN850X 4TB for consistent speed at the same capacity.
Technical Specs
High-Capacity Value
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Frequently Asked Questions
What speeds should I expect from the Crucial P3 Plus 4TB NVMe Gen4?
The rated 5000MB/s figure is sequential read on an uncontested PCIe link. Random 4K performance, which is what actually determines how snappy a system feels, is a separate figure and is far less dependent on the headline number.
What is QLC flash and why does it matter?
QLC describes how many bits each memory cell stores and how the layers are stacked. QLC packs four bits per cell for cheaper capacity, at the cost of slower sustained writes and lower endurance.
Does the 4TB Crucial drive need a heatsink?
For long sustained writes, yes. High-speed NVMe drives throttle when they get hot, so either use the motherboard M.2 heatsink or a drive that ships with one.
Is it a good fit for a console or laptop?
Check physical clearance first: the expansion bay in consoles and the M.2 slot in thin laptops both have height limits, so a tall heatsink can be a problem.
Want the background behind these specs? Read our memory guides.