Kingston DC3000ME 7.68TB — U.2 PCIe Gen5 NVMe, 14,000 / 10,000 MB/s, 2.8M IOPS
14,000 MB/s read10,000 MB/s write2.8M random read IOPSPCIe Gen5 x4, U.2
The Kingston DC3000ME is a PCIe Gen5 data-centre NVMe SSD in the U.2 form factor, and this 7.68TB model is the fastest capacity in the line. Kingston publishes up to 14,000 MB/s sequential read and 10,000 MB/s sequential write, with 2,800,000 random read and 500,000 random write IOPS, at 1 drive write per day for five years — 14,016 TBW on the JEDEC enterprise workload. It is a mixed-use, self-encrypting drive: on-board power loss protection with capacitors, TCG Opal 2.0 with AES-256, NVMe-MI 1.2b out-of-band management and 128 namespaces.
Compatibility — check before buying:
Three hard requirements, and each of them stops the drive working if it is not met. First, U.2 is not SATA. The connector is SFF-8639 and it needs a U.2 backplane, a U.2 host card, or an SFF-8643/SFF-8654-to-U.2 adapter cable into a PCIe slot — it will not work in a 2.5-inch SATA bay. Second, it is 15 mm thick and will not physically fit a 7 mm or 9.5 mm bay even with the right cabling; the chassis must accept 15 mm U.2. Third, power and cooling: up to 24 W on write. That needs server-grade airflow and is not viable passively in a quiet desktop case. Two further notes. On a PCIe Gen4 host the drive works — Kingston publishes backwards compatibility — at roughly half the sequential ceiling, so the Gen5 premium only pays on a Gen5 x4 slot. And Kingston publishes no explicit hot-plug statement for this model; hot-swap behaviour depends on your backplane and controller, so we will not promise it. Tell us the server model and backplane type and we will confirm the drive fits before you order.
Best For
✓ Gen5 servers with a U.2 or U.3 backplane
✓ Databases and analytics that are IOPS-bound
✓ Virtualisation hosts needing low, predictable latency
✓ Storage nodes replacing SATA arrays
✓ Workloads that need namespaces and out-of-band management
✓ Sites where drives must be securely decommissioned
Key Features
14,000 read, 10,000 write, 2.8 million read IOPS
This capacity is materially faster than the 3.84TB, which Kingston publishes at 5,800 MB/s write and 300,000 random write IOPS. It is also the highest random read in the whole family at 2.8 million IOPS — ahead of the 15.36TB and 30.72TB models. Buying up in capacity genuinely buys speed here, which is not always true.
Latency measured in tens of microseconds
Kingston publishes 99th-percentile QoS latency of under 70 µs read and under 10 µs write. For a transactional workload, consistent low latency does more for throughput than peak bandwidth ever will.
On-board power loss protection with capacitors
Kingston publishes on-board PLP using power capacitors, so data already acknowledged to the host survives an unexpected power loss. On a drive this fast, with this much in flight, it is not optional.
TCG Opal 2.0, AES-256 and NVMe-MI management
Self-encrypting at full speed, plus NVMe-MI 1.2b out-of-band management, telemetry for media wear and temperature, 128 namespaces and static and dynamic wear levelling. These are the features that make a drive manageable at fleet scale rather than one at a time.
Technical Specifications
| Identification |
| Brand |
Kingston |
| Series |
DC3000ME PCIe 5.0 NVMe U.2 SSD |
| Part Number |
SEDC3000ME/7T6 |
| EAN / GTIN |
0740617347852 |
| MPN |
SEDC3000ME/7T6 |
| Endurance class |
Mixed use, encrypted |
| Drive |
| Capacity |
7.68TB |
| Interface |
PCIe NVMe Gen5 x4, backwards compatible with Gen4 |
| NVMe specification version |
Not published by Kingston |
| Form factor |
U.2, 2.5-inch × 15 mm |
| NAND |
3D eTLC |
| Controller |
Not published by Kingston |
| Performance |
| Sequential read |
Up to 14,000 MB/s |
| Sequential write |
Up to 10,000 MB/s |
| Random 4K read |
2,800,000 IOPS — the highest in the DC3000ME family |
| Random 4K write |
500,000 IOPS |
| Speed by capacity |
The 3.84TB model is quoted at 5,800 MB/s write and 300,000 random write IOPS — this capacity is the faster one |
| Latency, 99th percentile |
Under 70 µs read / under 10 µs write |
| On a Gen4 host |
The drive works and runs at roughly half the Gen5 sequential ceiling |
| Endurance and reliability |
| Endurance |
14,016 TBW — 1 DWPD over 5 years, derived from the JEDEC Enterprise Workload (JESD219A) |
| MTBF |
2 million hours |
| UBER |
Not published for this model |
| Power loss protection |
On-board power loss protection using power capacitors |
| Security and management |
| Encryption |
TCG Opal 2.0 with AES 256-bit — self-encrypting drive |
| FIPS, SIE and sanitize |
Kingston publishes no FIPS certification, no SIE model and no explicit sanitize or crypto-erase specification for this drive |
| Management |
NVMe-MI 1.2b out-of-band management, telemetry for media wear and temperature, 128 namespaces, static and dynamic wear levelling |
| In the box |
| Contents |
The bare U.2 drive. Kingston publishes no accessory list for this part number |
| Cables, caddy or adapter |
Not supplied — the U.2 backplane, tray and cabling come from the chassis |
| Physical, power and thermal |
| Dimensions |
100.50 × 69.8 × 14.8 mm |
| Weight |
151.3 g |
| Power |
Idle 8 W, max read 8.2 W, max write 24 W |
| Operating temperature |
0 °C to 70 °C |
| Hot plug |
Not published by Kingston — hot-swap behaviour depends on the backplane and host controller |
| Warranty |
| Warranty |
1-Year Warranty (Singular) |
| Manufacturer Term |
Kingston publishes a limited 5-year warranty with free technical support on this model, with identical wording on its global and UK/EU pages. Singular’s direct warranty is 1 year; beyond that we assist you with the manufacturer’s warranty process for its full duration. |
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I put this in a normal 2.5-inch drive bay?
No. U.2 uses an SFF-8639 connector carrying PCIe, not SATA, so it needs a U.2 backplane, a U.2 host adapter card, or an adapter cable into a PCIe slot. It is also 15 mm thick, so it will not fit a 7 mm or 9.5 mm bay even with the right cable. Send us the chassis model and we will tell you what it accepts.
What happens on a PCIe Gen4 server?
It works — Kingston publishes backwards compatibility — at roughly half the Gen5 sequential figure. Random IOPS hold up better than sequential bandwidth there, so the drive is still very fast. But if your platform is Gen4 and will stay Gen4, a Gen4 drive costs less for much the same real-world result.
Is 24 W a problem?
It is a design consideration, not a fault. A Gen5 drive doing 14,000 MB/s dissipates real heat, and Kingston publishes up to 24 W on write. In a server with front-to-back airflow that is routine. In a quiet desktop case with an adapter card and no directed airflow, the drive will throttle. Plan the cooling before you plan the speed.
Can I hot-swap it?
Kingston publishes no hot-plug statement for this drive, so we will not promise one. Hot-swap is a function of the backplane and the host controller rather than something the drive certifies. If hot-swap matters, check the server documentation — tell us the model and we will look it up with you.
Singular Expert Insight
Choosing this drive is really choosing an interface. The gap between enterprise SATA and Gen5 NVMe is not the sequential headline — it is
2.7 million random read IOPS against roughly 94,000, and sub-70-microsecond latency instead of hundreds. If your bottleneck is a database waiting on random reads, that is the whole answer. If it is capacity per bay in an existing chassis, a SATA drive such as Kingston’s DC600M is the right tool and this one will not even fit. Two things worth being blunt about. The
Gen5 premium only pays on a Gen5 x4 slot — on a Gen4 backplane you are buying headroom for a future rebuild. And
24 W on write demands server airflow; this is not a drive to put on an adapter card in a quiet workstation. Note also that its endurance is
1 DWPD mixed use, not a write-intensive class: for heavy sustained writing the DWPD budget runs out before the performance does. Our full range is in
enterprise and server SSDs, and
storage controllers and adapter cards covers what a chassis needs to accept U.2 at all.
Buyer’s Guide
Buy it if
Your server has a Gen5 U.2 backplane and your workload is IOPS-bound or write-heavy. 2.8 million random read IOPS, 10,000 MB/s write, TCG Opal 2.0, on-board PLP and 1 DWPD across 7.68TB.
Skip it if
Your chassis has SATA bays or a 7 mm caddy — this drive will not fit or connect. Skip it too if the platform is Gen4 and staying there, or if the workload writes more than 1 DWPD.
Also consider
The 3.84TB DC3000ME if you need less capacity per bay — note it is the slower of the two on writes. The Kingston DC600ME if the chassis is SATA-only. A U.2 host adapter card if the server has no U.2 backplane.