Tested: Kingston HyperX SSD 3K - quick test

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 logical for Kingston to enter the SSD business, as in addition to memory, the company is also a great power in the world of flash drives (although flash memory is needed there as well) and has been in this segment for quite a few years now. at the forefront.

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. This word or product line has been in the public consciousness for 10 years now, Kingston HyperX RAMs have now earned a very strong and positive reputation, which means that 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. That way, the company launches products with a strong enough background, and customers pretty much already know what to expect when dealing with a HyperX SSD. The first Kingston HyperX SSD (5K) has been tested before, and the Kingston HyperX 3K is almost identical to it, so we draw relatively much from that article. There are a lot of similarities, but what makes the difference is important.

The 3K notation refers to the lifetime of the chips used, i.e. instead of the previous 5K = 5000 write cycles, these 25 nm MLC (more precisely IMFT = Intel-Micron) 3Km i.e. 3000 write cycles. Do we have to panic about this? Not a drop. The simplest way is to write 10 GB of writing a day, the drive will still have to last 8 years. Let's put our hands on our hearts! Do we write 10 GB every day? If the answer is yes, in 8 years this drive will be a museum piece anyway, and we replaced it much earlier, meaning we have no worries about this feature, in fact, we can be happy about it, as Intel is obviously offering cheaper lifetime chips. So that’s one of the things that has changed.

Source: Anandtech

What doesn't, for example, is speed. The Kingston HyperX SSD 3K also has a read speed of 555 MB / s and a write speed of 510 MB / s, which is simply “enough for everything”. This is, of course, a theoretical maximum value that is met under certain conditions, but there is no doubt that this time 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 even today, in which case the manufacturers use a PCI Express interface, but this solution is quite rare and very expensive, it is not really made for home use, we have only noted this interestingly.

Source: Anandtech

So the Kingston HyperX SSD 3K is mandatory to use SATA 3.0, otherwise we won't be able to enjoy the huge data transfer speeds that the drive offers (obviously much faster on SATA2 than a hard drive, but why invest in such a fast unit if then let knowledge and speed lie idle). Inside, not much has changed from its predecessor. The control is performed by the SandForce SF-2281VB1-SDC chip, accordingly we do not even look for cache DRAM. Of course, this is not to be regretted, so the PCB is simpler, one part less, which means less production costs. The chips are the 25-nanometer Intel models already mentioned, but not with a 5K but 3K write cycle. There were 8-8 pieces on each side of the PCB. The metal housing itself is fitted with a relatively chunky thermal conductive plate, so that the heat generated by the chips can pass further to the housing itself, which is still a larger heat dissipating surface.

The case itself is a standard size, but it is 9,5mm thick, meaning it may not go into some ultra-thin notebooks, so before you buy it is worth checking this out. Let’s also look externally at the SSD and the package in which it comes (we got a boxed version). 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 brushed aluminum inlay, a metallic HyperX inscription already known about HyperX RAMs, and a mandatory Kingston logo. The exterior is virtually 100% identical to its more expensive predecessor, with the difference that this time the plastic parts are not blue but black, and as if the metal is also darker in tone.

Even more interesting is the package in which the product came, although it is practically already known because of its predecessor. It should be added that HyperX 3K SSDs are also available in two packages. The simpler and cheaper variation is to buy only the drive itself, and the second option is the Upgrade KIT, in which you get a lot of useful stuff next to the drive. The latter has arrived to us even now, so we can report on these accessories as well. If your HyperX 3K 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 and can be 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 the HyperX and Kingston logo, which also has an aluminum effect, which is actually a USB 2.0 2,5 ″ SSD or hard drive case. There are two ways to use this.

If your HyperX SSD is in an easily accessible place and you need to carry data frequently, you can easily snap it into your small enclosure and connect it to any machine that is equipped with USB, of course you can say goodbye to the high transfer speeds here, as the case its interface is only USB 2.0, so we actually recommend this for SSD only for intermittent use. 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 case, we immediately have a high-capacity, yet lightweight, portable HDD. Great! Of course, the package does not lack the installation disk either, which can be said to be that we can hardly wish to pack a box more ingeniously and meaningfully with an SSD.

Measurements

Test configuration:

Applications used for measurements:

• AS-SSD Benchmark 1.6.4237.30508
• Crystal Diskmark 3.0.1 x64
• HD Tach 3.0.4.0
• ATTO Disk Benchmark 2.47
• HD Tune Pro 5.00

AS-SSD Benchmark and Crystal DiskMark: 

HD Tach Long Bench:

ATTO Disk Benchmark (Queue depth: 4 and 10):

HD Tune 5.00 measurements:

Benchmark - read / write

Random acces - read / write

Extra test's - read / write

File benchmark - 1M / 64M / 512M 

Cue

As you can see from the pictures above, this time we did just a quick test with the Kingston HyperX SSD 3K, it delivered what we expected and already knew from its predecessor, the Kingston HyperX SSD (5K), as there is no difference in speed between the two between drives. What’s more, we don’t have to give up anything about the contents of the package (if we buy a boxed version), we get everything we have from our big brother. The only thing we get a little less from is the expected nominal life of the memory chips, but calculated with average usage, we don't have to worry about that either, as the life of the SSD can still be 7-8 years if you run what the manufacturer or Intel gives you. for life expectancy, and by then it is easy to imagine that we are not going to use this SSD but give it to our little sister’s tablet. Either way, in exchange for so many negatives, the Kingston HyperX SSD 3K is a good deal, we can get a very fast solid state drive for less, which is always a good thing. The proposed end-user prices are as follows.

Remember, it's always a good idea to look around the price comparison pages on the net and choose an offer from a cheap but reputable store or company, or if you order online, you can check by phone if you have the product you want to buy and if not, then when would you expect to arrive. We can save a lot with caution! The Kingston HyperX SSD builds on the SandForce SF-2281 controller and 25-nanometer Intel / Micron chips, like any fast and fresh product these days with no problem, as this is now the best recipe right now.

Overall, in terms of prices, we can find more favorable price tags than Kingston HyperX (5K), although HyperX 3K is still one of the more expensive products, knowing the name and quality, this is not very surprising. The product comes with a 3 year warranty and 24 hours a day technical support, we liked it and whoever chooses it will not be disappointed!

Kingston HyperX SSD 3K (240 GB)

A Kingston HyperX SSD 3K solid state drive a Kingston provided for our test, thank you!

Gábor Pintér (gabi123)