We tried: Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB - it really seder!
SSDs are usually less common on our test benches than, say, motherboards, but sometimes a promising copy falls when our partners supply this type of product as test material. This has happened again thanks to Kingston Technology.
The Kingston brand doesn’t need to be introduced to anyone, but when we first hear the name, we always think of the company’s excellent memories. Of course, it was a logical move for Kingston to enter the SSD business as well, and they have been at the forefront of this segment for quite a few years now. Trying to cover all price ranges, the range ranges from cheaper and at the same time more modest speed drives to hyper-fast units. If you’re already hyper, there’s one more word that jumps next to Kingston as an accompaniment: HyperX. Kingston HyperX RAMs have now deservedly gained a very strong and positive reputation, meaning HyperX is now a well-established brand. No wonder, then, that Kingston also found the HyperX flag on the SSD front to be suitable for naming high-end solid state drives with this family name. We were visited by a larger member of the HyperX family, the 240GB copy, and we have to admit that we were thrilled with the excitement of the speed data.
We are already revealing these numbers to the enthusiast: the box itself contained data from 525 MB / s to 480 MB / s, but a large sticker on the foil indicated that speed had already progressed since then, so we managed to reach 555 MB / s. read and write speeds of 510 MB / s. This is, of course, a theoretical maximum value that is met under certain conditions, but there is no doubt that we are facing an extremely fast drive. Forget this speed with a SATA2 port, the drive supports the 6 Gb / s standard, which is mandatory, so this condition must be met from the direction of our motherboard as well! The 600 MB / s SATA 3.0 limit is still sufficient for SSDs today, but if progress continues, the new standard may soon become scarce. There are examples of this today, in which case manufacturers use a PCI Express interface, but this solution is also quite rare and very expensive, not really made for home use.
So it is mandatory to use SATA 3.0 for the Kingston HyperX SSD, otherwise we will not be able to enjoy the huge data transfer speed that the drive offers. Take a look at the SSD itself and the package in which it arrives. There is nothing special about the design of the device, it is a standard 2,5 ″ SSD with a SATA 6 Gb / s data port on the back and a SATA power connector. Design, on the other hand, hasn’t been forgotten at Kingston, after all, it’s a HyperX model and it has a style that fits into the family. Accordingly, a very jawy look has been put together, with a blue base, brushed aluminum inlay, the metallic HyperX inscription already known about HyperX RAMs, and a mandatory Kingston logo.
As far as a hundred, the appearance of an SSD is concerned, there is less opportunity to unleash creative freedom, but what could have been brought out in style was brought out by Kingston. Even more interesting is the package in which the product arrived. It should be added that HyperX SSDs are available in two packages. The simpler and cheaper variation is to buy only the SSD itself, and the second option is an Upgrade KIT that comes with a lot of useful stuff next to the drive. The latter has arrived to us, so we can report on these accessories as well.
If your HyperX SSD is going to land on a desktop machine (and there is a realistic chance of that), then the mounting frame with which we can mount the 2,5 ″ SSD in a 3,5 ″ slot is an indispensable accessory. The package includes such a frame, which is not a field metal plate, but a tinted brushed aluminum frame with holes and the HyperX logo. You could say we even expect this, as do the screws that come with it. The other things, however, are unusual. The first, for example, is a metal Kingston pen, which is not really a pen, but a screwdriver with the tips inside the aptitude. We just snap them into place and they can already be screwed on, plus since they are properly demanding as well as clipped to clothes, this little tool can be with us at any time.
Getting a blue SATA cable is a must. At the sight of the USB cable, however, we can already scratch our heads, as in the case of the black case with a HyperX and Kingston logo, which also has an aluminum effect. Not only is it case-like, it really is. Namely, a USB 2.0 2,5 SS SSD or hard disk case. There are two ways to use this. If your HyperX SSD is in an easily accessible location and you need to carry data frequently, you can easily snap it into your little house and connect it to any machine that has USB, of course from values above 500 MB / s on this interface we can say goodbye. The other use comes into play if we bought the HyperX SSD for notebook expansion and acceleration.
In this case, the solid state drive will be inserted into the notebook, most likely in place of the 2,5 ″ HDD, so we will have a small, lightweight notebook hard drive that we can’t use for anything in this form. If, on the other hand, we incorporate this into the Kingston USB 2.0 enclosure, we immediately have a high-capacity, yet lightweight, portable HDD. Great! Of course, the installation disk is not without the package either, which can be said to be that we can hardly wish a more imaginatively and meaningfully packed box next to an SSD.
Let’s also say a few words about the inside of HyperX SSDs before communicating dry specification data! The Kingston HyperX SSD product line includes the latest and most reliable SandForce controller paired with premium-grade NAND (P / E 25K) modules with Intel 5nm technology. Thanks to SandForce’s DuraClass technology, it offers users first-class reliability, performance and energy efficiency.
Key features:
SandForce control: The SandForce company was founded in 2006 and has been seriously present on the market since 2009. SandForce does not offer complete SSDs, but manufactures high-quality and capable SSD controller processors, which it then sells to manufacturers, which they use to make the drive. That's why we can find the SandForce logo on the boxes of many brands with this signature: "SandForce driven" - i.e. controlled by SandForce. Those who are more seriously interested in the background of SandForce, for example here you can read back, we wouldn’t go into it very deeply. The bottom line is that having an SandForce control processor in an SSD is a good omen for the future.
Support for SMART and TRIM technologies: The S.M.A.R.T. it is far from new, it has been available in hard drives for years. Abbreviation for "Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology", which in practice means that S.M.A.R.T. capable device can perform analysis, monitoring and logging in relation to itself, which it can also share with the user if necessary. If we have some problem with the drive, it can be useful and help us discover the cause of the problem. The TRIM command already saw the light of day with SSDs, which could be discussed for long pages, but perhaps its essence can be expressed in a few words, that by using TRIM, the SSD also physically removes the data during deletion, which thus prevents the internal data from fragmentation, and the deceleration in speed that can be derived from this. TRIM support is also required at the operating system level.
NAND (P / E 25K) with Intel 5nm technology: The new NAND chips have replaced Intel’s 3K NANDs, which have significantly higher endurance and life expectancy.
DuraClass technology: This is a way of handling the NAND flash chips, which is unique to the SandForce controller and has significant merit in terms of available speed and life expectancy.
User-adjustable “Over Provisioning”: HyperX SSD drives allow the "user" to decide how much storage space to allocate to increase the speed of the drive. By sacrificing a larger capacity, the speed can be increased somewhat, while "taking back the space" can result in a slight slowdown.
Advanced Wear-Leveling Technology: This ability is responsible for the even wear of NANDs. It provides an even write load on memory cells, which increases both performance and lifespan.
Full specification:
Now we know everything about Kingston HyperX SSDs inside and out, let’s see the test configuration and the tests themselves!
Test configuration
Applications used for measurements:
- AIDA64 v1.85
- HD Tach 3.0.4.0
- PCMark Vantage
- BootTimer
- Crystal Disk Mark 3.0.1 x64
- AS-SSD benchmark 1.6.4
- ACT Disk benchmark
Test results:
The first step of the Kingston HyperX SSD measurements was to clone the entire system on the SSD of our test configuration to the HyperX SSD, so that both drives had exactly the same content. Then, we measured the time required for booting with the program called BootTimer (small, small, free) (presumably it counts from the point where the system starts loading). The resulting values of 13,4 and 16,780 s are both very good. In the next step, the time required for booting was measured manually with a stopwatch, but in such a way that it shows the time between pressing the power button and the appearance of the Windows desktop (we know that the machine tends to blur a significant time by recognizing and checking devices). Here, too, we could note the same speed difference in favor of the HyperX SSD as with BootTimer. PCMark Vantage does not need any further explanation, we ran the HDD measurements with "loop 3".
We then made three more measurements with tasks taken from everyday life. In the first, we copied a 7,8 GB ISO file from the Samsung hard drive to the SSDs, and then ran the same ISO file inside the SSD. In the jump, we switched to small files, a total of 2,2 GB of photos were moved, first also from the HDD and then within the SSD. In the end, the compressed files were also found, with a small file size of 1,2 GB in total. The time required for the operations is summarized in the table above. The speed advantage of the HyperX SSD is clearly evident, it has stepped down its cheaper counterpart everywhere with no small difference, of course this did not come as a surprise at all.
Let's see the results achieved in each program! These are arranged in three columns: the first is always the Kingston HyperX SSD 240GB, the second is the Kingston SSD Now V Series 64GB, and the third is the 320GB Samsung SATA2 hard drive. It is important to mention that, of course, these units are not opponents of each other, nor do they have anything to do with each other in either category or price. However, these results are definitely good for illustrating the leaps between a hard drive, an average SSD, and a SATA3 extra-fast SSD.
PCMark Vantage
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
AIDA64 read test suite
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
HD Tach long bench
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
Crystal Disk Mark
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
ACT Disk benchmark
Queue depth: 4
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
Queue depth: 10
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
AS-SSD benchmark
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Samsung 320GB HDD
HD Tune measuring modules
Benchmark - read
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Benchmark - write
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Random access - read
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Random acces - write
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Extra tests - read
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Extra tests - write
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
File benchmark - 1M
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
File benchmark - 64M
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
File benchmark - 512M
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB
Summary
The performance of the Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB does not seem to us much to explain. The results speak for themselves and show that we can really welcome a very fast SSD in the person of the Kingston HyperX SSD series, and that is exactly what we expected. Of course, the 555 MB / s to 510 MB / s values affixed to the box are difficult to reproduce in practice, but the point is not that the HyperX SSD could be constant, constantly fast, without the need for any spells. . If we choose the upgade kit, we will be richer not only with a wind-fast drive, but also with a number of useful accessories already mentioned, which will make the HyperX SSD even more convenient to set up and use. If your motherboard has SATA 3.0 ports and you have the right financial resources to invest in an SSD that takes advantage of this standard speed, then Kingston HyperX SSD models should definitely be included in the cart as eligible products.
The fresh SandForce controller, and the fresh technologies associated with it, the new Intel NAND flash chips, and the familiar Kingston quality create a mix of capabilities that show off not only in terms of pace, but also in terms of life expectancy. This is reinforced by the 3-year full manufacturer warranty and 24-hour online and telephone customer service that comes with the Kingston HyperX SSD series. The packages in the table and the associated end-user prices associated with them are no longer up-to-date, so you can get SSDs a little cheaper with a little trace. The 120 GB piece without accessories is now available for 65 HUF. The whole package is not much, only 000 - 3000 HUF more expensive, so keeping its content in mind, it may be worth choosing it. The 4000 GB version can be tweaked around HUF 240 without accessories, with accessories this amount is HUF 126, ie approx. With the HUF 000 price below the recommended price, the package we visited is already available.
Yes, but to be honest, it’s still amazingly expensive for the average buyer, which of course may not be Kingston, but rather the market and many other factors. Of course, a 240 GB SSD may not be suitable for all machines, 120 GB may be enough, which can cost our machine at a much more humane price. We hope that in a few years the time will come that these products will be more widely available, as there is no question that we have had an excellent SSD in the person of Kingston HyperX SSD, which is clearly I liked it.
Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB
(SH100S3B / 240)
The Kingston HyperX SSD 240 GB (SH100S3B / 240) drive is available at Kingston Technology provided for our test, which we thank you along the way! On the joy of his arrival, only the pain of saying goodbye was greater! 🙂
Gábor Pintér (gabi123)
Thanks to the following sponsors for our permanent test components in this article:
- ASUS Maximus IV Extreme REV 3.0 - ASUS Representation in Hungary
- Kingston HyperX T1 DDR3 1600 MHz 2 x 2 GB Kit - Kingston Representation in Hungary
- Kingston SSD Now V Series 64 GB SATA2 (SNV425-S2 / 64) - Kingston Representation in Hungary
- Xigmatek NRP-HC1501 - PC Gear
- ASUS 24T1E TV Monitor - ASUS Representation in Hungary
