Kingston HyperX SSD 240GB & 120GB SSD Storage Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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Kingston HyperX SSD 240GB & 120GB SSD Storage Review - Kingston's move into the SandForce SSD market is great news for the consumer. With its new HyperX branded solid state drives in hand, we take a look at these amazingly fast SSDs and examine if an SSD from Kingston should be on your short list for your next storage purchase.
 
While you may end up saving money on other brands with similar speeds, you may also face stability/reliability issues. I would do a quick read through:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...-Agility3-Solid3-support-and-discussion-forum

Before buying an OCZ product so you understand just what you're getting into with the "3" series products from them.

In all honesty, I would love to see reviewers do more long running tests if at all possible. Install an OS on it and just have it scripted (through autohotkey or some other means of automation) to do different tasks. Load up a 1080p movie for an hour, run a game demo for 2 hours, load random websites for a few hours, let the computer sleep then wake it, etc. Just something to put it under real world usage tests while you're benching other things on different test beds.
 
I'm ready to call the OCZ Vertex 3 issues completely solved yet but the new firmware seemed to fix the issue I had with a Max IOPS. There is a high level of complexity in the issue.

I built a system and used it for over a month with a problem. Then one day a friend of mine was up for a weekend and we installed BF2 and another game. That night I BSODed a couple of time with firmware x.06. A few days ago I installed the latest firmware and the issue went away.

Not everyone is having the issue. I'll check in and find out the latest on what they've figured out. .
 
That's rather dissapointing pricing. When i bough my Kingston 40 it came with Acronis and 2,5" adapter for less than Intel 40 Gb G2 drive.
 
@ChrisRAM: While the latest firmware fixes problems of many With OCZ 3-series or Corsair Force 3/GT, it is not fixed for everyone. It is enough to browse their customer forums unfortunately to find that out.
 
If this drive doesn't have the problems a lot of other SF based SSDs seem to have I think I might consider it worth the price premium. $265 for the 120GB bare drive set doesn't sound too terrible and I hope more people buy and review them on Newegg before I get around to doing my upgrade next month. Right now I feel very uneasy looking at any SSD due to all the problems the fastest ones seem to have.
 
the only thing I'd like to see compared to the drive is how it competes against the 32nm drives from patriot or the max iops from ocz. it's good that it benches better than vertex 3, but I usually like to have a drive that performs better than the reviewed one just to see how it compares (unless of course it really is the best drive at the time)

also, I really wish more companies would release 40/60 gb drives for sata 3. the 120s have all of the fun, but at a price I usually don't want to deal with since I mainly use them for raid.
 
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gjs278 said:
also, I really wish more companies would release 40/60 gb drives for sata 3. the 120s have all of the fun, but at a price I usually don't want to deal with since I mainly use them for raid.
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60GB is problematic because they have too small overhead for the SandForce stuff - so you either cripple their performance by not using all SandForce 2xxx tech, or you add one extra flash on it, but that means the price is higher.
 
the only thing I'd like to see compared to the drive is how it competes against the 32nm drives from patriot or the max iops from ocz. it's good that it benches better than vertex 3, but I usually like to have a drive that performs better than the reviewed one just to see how it compares (unless of course it really is the best drive at the time)
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The Toshiba Toggle flash drives are actually a little slower at most client level (consumer) tasks. This includes the new OWC with SF-2282 paired with Toshiba Toggle.

I'll have an article about those drives and their strong points soon.
 
Intel 510 scores are suprising. They seem to be doing much closer to Sand Force drives in actual real world tests I have seen.

Let's for example take those "real world" test:

1313418153JYR0NkGAMW_6_6.png


When confronted with actual aplications:
witcher 1 prologue loading
corsair_wykres_30.png

photoshop working on pictures
photoshop_praca11.png

dirt 2 test loading
dirt2_loading1.png
 
On page 7, for the Real World Advance Fill Testing, I'm confused. The label says MB/s, yet the numbers on the bar graphs are in the 10's of thousands (up to 79,590 on one). I read that as 79,590 MB/s. I see it's like this on the NAND Flash faceoff too. How am I reading this wrong?
 
On page 7, for the Real World Advance Fill Testing, I'm confused. The label says MB/s, yet the numbers on the bar graphs are in the 10's of thousands (up to 79,590 on one). I read that as 79,590 MB/s. I see it's like this on the NAND Flash faceoff too. How am I reading this wrong?
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Thanks for noticing that. Neither Kyle nor I caught it. The number is PCMarks, the overall score produced.
 
Just want to say that I'm skeptical about that benchmark, because what does it consider gaming, what does it consider app loading? What's behind the scenes and why do things look weird? Megabytes per second look good on paper, but in practice?

Did some real world tests when I got my X25-V by filming the screen and measuring the time from click to the task being done, app load, game load to start screen, map load, MMORPG teleport from one zone to another with people in it. Hella time consuming but if it's possible to see a few games and apps tested like this, I'm one of many who'd love to see it.

Maybe as a showdown, popular SSDs compared with real world tests. My consensus was that an SSD was actively essential for MMOs (APB included in that group), but only helped map loads and system-stutter stability from HD access in things like Bad Company 2.

(A good read, happy to see SSD coverage, aiming for a 120gb one before I reformat soon)
 
MrLonghair said:
Just want to say that I'm skeptical about that benchmark, because what does it consider gaming, what does it consider app loading? What's behind the scenes and why do things look weird? Megabytes per second look good on paper, but in practice?

Did some real world tests when I got my X25-V by filming the screen and measuring the time from click to the task being done, app load, game load to start screen, map load, MMORPG teleport from one zone to another with people in it. Hella time consuming but if it's possible to see a few games and apps tested like this, I'm one of many who'd love to see it.

Maybe as a showdown, popular SSDs compared with real world tests. My consensus was that an SSD was actively essential for MMOs (APB included in that group), but only helped map loads and system-stutter stability from HD access in things like Bad Company 2.

(A good read, happy to see SSD coverage, aiming for a 120gb one before I reformat soon)
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Yeah I'd like to see such test too as all fragmentent evidence and tests I've seen suggest going for fast ssds is completly pointless and offers only minimal gains beetween cheapest and most expensive models.

Which is probably why noone does them to not piss SSD giants like ocz
 
Do any newer Sandforce-controller drives have stuttering issues with video playback?

I remember this being discussed as an issue with some previous drives, presumably due to the compression done by the controller.
 
I'm working on validating "real" real world tests now. This is a process that takes a bit of time since you are relying on several other components at the same time.

There are also issues with being able to move games from one install to another. Some of the games I want to use have a 3 strikes and your out limit which is a pain in the butt. Thank DRM for that! You guys are going to have some real world game loading, video editing, software installing, software starting tests very soon.

The next step is multitasking with anti-virus scanning in the background and such.

These tests also cause issues when moving between platforms. We only have a couple more months with Z68 and then Intel will have a new, true enthusiast platform ready with PCIe 3.0.Almost everything passes over the PCIe bus these days.
 
LoneWolf said:
Do any newer Sandforce-controller drives have stuttering issues with video playback?

I remember this being discussed as an issue with some previous drives, presumably due to the compression done by the controller.
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Not that I've seen. I am watching a Blu-Ray ISO of Green Day right now while getting the Revo 3 x2 charts ready.
 
ChrisRam said:
I'm working on validating "real" real world tests now. This is a process that takes a bit of time since you are relying on several other components at the same time.

There are also issues with being able to move games from one install to another. Some of the games I want to use have a 3 strikes and your out limit which is a pain in the butt. Thank DRM for that! You guys are going to have some real world game loading, video editing, software installing, software starting tests very soon.

The next step is multitasking with anti-virus scanning in the background and such.

These tests also cause issues when moving between platforms. We only have a couple more months with Z68 and then Intel will have a new, true enthusiast platform ready with PCIe 3.0.Almost everything passes over the PCIe bus these days.
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You rock :)
 
ChrisRam said:
I'm working on validating "real" real world tests now. This is a process that takes a bit of time since you are relying on several other components at the same time.

There are also issues with being able to move games from one install to another. Some of the games I want to use have a 3 strikes and your out limit which is a pain in the butt. Thank DRM for that! You guys are going to have some real world game loading, video editing, software installing, software starting tests very soon.

The next step is multitasking with anti-virus scanning in the background and such.

These tests also cause issues when moving between platforms. We only have a couple more months with Z68 and then Intel will have a new, true enthusiast platform ready with PCIe 3.0.Almost everything passes over the PCIe bus these days.
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Good that's the attitude I expect from [H] :)
 
FYI on the pricing: The 120gb bare bones version is now priced $244.99 at Newegg, $214.99 after MIR (good till 8/24).

Kingston must have read the reviews and decided they better lower the price and take advantage of the fact that OCZ has had so many disgruntled customers with all their firmware issues. I've owned and been happy with 4 different OCZ SSD's in the past couple of years, but this Kingston drive just moved to the top of my wish list.
 
-Anomie- said:
FYI on the pricing: The 120gb bare bones version is now priced $244.99 at Newegg, $214.99 after MIR (good till 8/24).

Kingston must have read the reviews and decided they better lower the price and take advantage of the fact that OCZ has had so many disgruntled customers with all their firmware issues. I've owned and been happy with 4 different OCZ SSD's in the past couple of years, but this Kingston drive just moved to the top of my wish list.
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Thanks, I made a note in the conclusion of the article.
 
-Anomie- said:
FYI on the pricing: The 120gb bare bones version is now priced $244.99 at Newegg, $214.99 after MIR (good till 8/24).

Kingston must have read the reviews and decided they better lower the price and take advantage of the fact that OCZ has had so many disgruntled customers with all their firmware issues. I've owned and been happy with 4 different OCZ SSD's in the past couple of years, but this Kingston drive just moved to the top of my wish list.
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Nice. If that $245 price sticks I'll really be tempted to pick this up when I upgrade.
 
-Anomie- said:
FYI on the pricing: The 120gb bare bones version is now priced $244.99 at Newegg, $214.99 after MIR (good till 8/24).

Kingston must have read the reviews and decided they better lower the price and take advantage of the fact that OCZ has had so many disgruntled customers with all their firmware issues. I've owned and been happy with 4 different OCZ SSD's in the past couple of years, but this Kingston drive just moved to the top of my wish list.
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Kingston has also had some of the friendliest RMA procedures I've ever had, at least with RAM (though I haven't had to use it much). Fill out an online form, get sent a label via e-mail, bring it to any FedEx/Kinko's and the RAM would go out in a bubble mailer with the form you printed in an attached pouch. Plus, they had advanced replacement, you just had to provide a credit card in case they didn't get the defective product back. Incredibly hassle-free.
 
Well so much for my Corsair Force GT 120G, I bought from New Egg with the H coupon last week.

I havn't even installed it yet and it's already the bottom of the barrel speed. I'm such a loser.

I notice it isn't even included in the comparison.
 
can i use the Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD on my Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R Motherboard?
and would i still get high speed transfer and that?
 
If your Corsair SSD is working fine, then you're already near the top of the heap. There will always be someone with a Z-Drive at an SSD party. For normal everyday use, you're not even going to notice the difference among a Corsair GT, a Vertex 3, and a Kingston HyperX. How much more faster can instant be?
 
ol1bit said:
Well so much for my Corsair Force GT 120G, I bought from New Egg with the H coupon last week.

I havn't even installed it yet and it's already the bottom of the barrel speed. I'm such a loser.

I notice it isn't even included in the comparison.
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not really. the force gt just isn't compared... it's bounds better than the other drives on their like the performance 3.
 
very nice might just have to finally pick up an ssd
thanks for the review
 
I actually had this drive in my Amazon cart before this review was completed. Looks like a solid product from a solid company. I just wish the 240GB drive would come down in price and I will definitely buy.
 
ctrlbrk said:
A real beauty, but aren't you concerned about lack of TRIM with RAID?
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no, because sandforce drives degrade in capability at 50% nearly as much as 75%. there becomes no difference, and internal garbage collection and overprovisioning makes it so the drive is truly never 100%
 
ol1bit said:
Well so much for my Corsair Force GT 120G, I bought from New Egg with the H coupon last week.

I havn't even installed it yet and it's already the bottom of the barrel speed. I'm such a loser.
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Force GT is up there with Vertex 3 MAXIOPS and with Kingston HyperX. Just not included in the review.
 
Where these tests done with MAX IOPS versions of the OCZ drives or regular?

Why were the tests done with old OZC firmware?
 
trimbal said:
can i use the Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD on my Gigabyte GA-X58-UD3R Motherboard? because it is Marvell's SE9128 chips for high-speed SATA Revision 3.0.
and would i still get high speed transfer and that?
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any answer to my question?
 
trimbal said:
any answer to my question?
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Sorry, I missed that one.

I'm running a Max IOPS on the -UD7 version of that board. I don't get the maximum speed available but I do have the ultra low access times and 'good enough' performance until the next Intel enthusiast system launches. You'll be fine but only hit around 350MB/s or so.
 
evm said:
Where these tests done with MAX IOPS versions of the OCZ drives or regular?

Why were the tests done with old OZC firmware?
Click to expand...

The baseline Vertex 3 drives were used. I only have a 240GB MAX IOPS.

Just like end users, I don't upgrade the firmware on a whim if I'm not running into any problems.


At this time there are three drives using Toshiba Toggle flash. The Max IOPS, new OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G 240GB (only the 240GB and it was just changed to Toggle) and Patriot's Wildfire (EDIT: A company in Europe is making a Toggle Flash drive and Mushkin also has one now). The 32nm Toshiba Toggle Flash is actually a little slower than the 25nm IMFT drives. There is no way to notice a difference in real world tasks in the performance.

If you are someone who plans on using a drive for more than 5 years then the 32nm flash has an advantage. Your drive should last longer since the flash is rated for more P/E cycles. At this time we can't say how much longer the drives will last but some forum guys are torture testing a number of drives right now to give us all the data.
 
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Hi all. Great site, found it doing a search for info/reviews of the HyperX drives.

I just ordered a 120Gb HyperX this morning. I have an Agility2 120Gb I've been running for about 6 months now w/o any issues (Biostar TA870U3+ mobo) but the continuing issues with OCZ's 3 series have had me holding off on my original plan of getting an Agility3.

Sam
 
Ok, so I am getting an LSI 9265 8i for free. I am going to get four new SSDs for the Raid card. Which SSDs to get? The OCZ Max Iops 120GB or the Kingston HyperX 120GB. I will be using the drives for video editing/motion graphics?

Thanks for your educated recommendation!
 
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