Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB Review

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB Review

Kingston has produced an impressive range of consumer-focused solid state drives with its "SSDNow" series over the last several years. Although the SSDNow series has done fine in terms of sales Kingston didn't get an overwhelming response from serious tech enthusiasts and gamers. That changed when the team at Kingston started offering higher performance SSDs under the company's "HyperX" line of memory components for gamers.

The HyperX 3K is a more budget-friendly version of the Kingston HyperX SSD. The only thing that sets this black and gray drive apart from the original black and blue HyperX SSD is that the 3K drive uses lower cost MLC NAND flash rated at 3,000 P/E cycles instead of the more expensive Intel 25nm Compute Quality MLC NAND flash rated at 5,000 P/E Cycles. That might sound horrible but in real-world terms even a serious gamer who stresses the drive on a regular basis is unlikely to reach the limitations of the drive before the 5-year projected lifespan ends.

In reality, what you get is a less expensive SSD that still delivers exceptional performance.

The specifications for the Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD are as follows:

• Model: SH103S3/240G
• Form Factor: 2.5" (9.5mm thickness)
• Capacity: 240GB
• Memory Type: MLC
• Interface: SATA III
• Controller: SandForce
• Weight: 97g
• Advertised Max Sequential Read: Up to 555 MB/s
• Advertised Max Sequential Write: Up to 510 MB/s
• Advertised 4KB Random Read: Up to 86,000 IOPS
• Advertised 4KB Random Write: Up to 60,000 IOPS
• MTBF: 1,000,000 hours
• MSRP: $300
• Average Retail Price: $240

Performance

As you can see in the CrystalDiskMark and ATTO benchmark test results the Kingston HyperX 3K is a stellar performer. When benchmarked as a boot drive with CrystalDiskMark this SSD shows a modest dip in real-world performance, most notably in write speeds. That said, ATTO reveals the maximum sequential read and sequential write speed of the drive meet or exceed what Kingston advertises.

A read speed of 555MB/s and a write speed of 530MB/s are fantastic for any consumer-class SSD ... even if it isn't using Intel-branded flash chips inside.

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB as boot drive benchmarked with CrystalDiskMark.

ATTO results from the Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB.