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Kingston SH103S3/120G

HyperX 3K 120GB

▲ 532,617 ▼

Controller: LSI SandForce SF2281VB1-SDC. NAND Memory: Intel Synchronous 25nm MLC. Release date: Q2 2012.

Average Bench: 74.1% (593rd of 1072)

Based on 46,066 user benchmarks.  Models: KINGSTON SH103S3120G, KINGSTON KINGSTON SH103S3, KINGSTON SH103S3120G, KINGSTON SH103S3

The 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K is nearly two years old, several generations of SSD have passed since its original release. Better 120GB SSDs have more NAND modules than the old HyperX and are able to write faster than the peak 234 Mb/s achieved by the HyperX 3K. The HyperX 3K also has a Sandforce 2281 controller which is unable to write compressed data as well as its more recent competition. All that said the HyperX still has an effective speed of 367 MBps which is respectable and far faster than even the best mechanical drive. With peak 4K read/write speeds of 33/110 MB/s the HyperX 3K also has competent small file performance. To summarize as a current value proposition the HyperX 3K struggles, simply because the likes of Samsung and OCZ have innovated and moved forward in the two years since the HyperX 3K was released. [Feb '14 SSDrivePro]

Poor: 57%Average: 74.1% Great: 87%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 25.9% lower than the peak scores attained by the group leaders. This isn't a great result which indicates that there are much faster alternatives on the comparison list.

Strengths

Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed 161MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 38.1MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 30.6%. This is a relatively narrow range which indicates that the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB performs reasonably consistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sustained Write Speed 142MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 192MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 46,066 samples)
Rank 59374.1%
Min Avg Max
302 Read 366 438
138 Write 192 225
185 Mixed 229 262
106 SusWrite 142 170
51.5% 232 MB/s
Min Avg Max
20.2 4K Read 30.2 37.4
36 4K Write 80.4 111
23.7 4K Mixed 38.1 48.1
137% 49.6 MB/s
Min Avg Max
141 DQ Read 203 248
116 DQ Write 175 216
101 DQ Mixed 161 202
128% 180 MB/s
User Benchmarks BenchSequentialRandom 4kDeep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
64GB free
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 168 161 160 158 163 155 MB/s
78.7% Very good
Read 372
Write 214
Mixed 241
SusWrite 161
55% 247 MB/s
4K Read 34
4K Write 74.8
4K Mixed 42
145% 50.3 MB/s
DQ Read 216
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 190
146% 198 MB/s
112GB free
Firmware: 506ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 181 153 156 153 165 180 MB/s
76.7% Very good
Read 377
Write 209
Mixed 246
SusWrite 165
56% 249 MB/s
4K Read 30.3
4K Write 73
4K Mixed 39.5
135% 47.6 MB/s
DQ Read 216
DQ Write 213
DQ Mixed 137
124% 189 MB/s
63GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 129 137 146 149 138 148 MB/s
75.1% Very good
Read 394
Write 182
Mixed 180
SusWrite 141
50% 224 MB/s
4K Read 30.9
4K Write 85.6
4K Mixed 36.4
139% 51 MB/s
DQ Read 210
DQ Write 156
DQ Mixed 161
126% 176 MB/s
112GB free
Firmware: 501ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 131 135 134 135 134 135 MB/s
71.2% Very good
Read 390
Write 159
Mixed 209
SusWrite 134
49% 223 MB/s
4K Read 27.1
4K Write 86.1
4K Mixed 33.7
130% 49 MB/s
DQ Read 189
DQ Write 154
DQ Mixed 160
123% 168 MB/s
41GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 501ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 115 113 115 110 109 109 MB/s
61.9% Good
Read 379
Write 129
Mixed 194
SusWrite 112
45% 203 MB/s
4K Read 21.1
4K Write 78.2
4K Mixed 26.7
108% 42 MB/s
DQ Read 189
DQ Write 134
DQ Mixed 142
111% 155 MB/s
28GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 503ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 112 117 118 120 120 125 MB/s
57.5% Above average
Read 369
Write 140
Mixed 196
SusWrite 119
46% 206 MB/s
4K Read 19.9
4K Write 52.8
4K Mixed 26
91% 32.9 MB/s
DQ Read 174
DQ Write 147
DQ Mixed 116
99% 146 MB/s
46,066 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 75,722,287 SSDs tested

 Prices

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MSRP ≈ $101 @ launch in Apr '12
AmazonUS $1007 months
EbayUS $1303 mins
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Custom PC Builder (Start a new build) Build your perfect PC: compare component prices, popularity, speed and value for money

CHOOSE A COMPONENT:

CPU GPU SSD HDD RAM MBD
Typical HyperX 3K 120GB Builds (Compare 4,010 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings
Gaming
Gaming 56%
Gunboat
Desktop
Desktop 77%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 44%
Speed boat

Motherboard: MSI Z87-G45 GAMING (MS-7821) - $242

CPU
Core i5-4670KIntel  $127Bench 68%, 128,482 samples1,367x
Core i7-4770KIntel  $120Bench 74%, 172,887 samples1,199x
Core i7-4790KIntel  $348Bench 79%, 455,746 samples390x
GPU
GTX 1070Nvidia  $132Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples319x
GTX 970Nvidia  $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples316x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples309x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $100Bench 74%, 46,066 samples1x
RAM
BLS8G3D1609DS1S00. 2x8GBCrucialBench 55%, 48,796 samples84x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 122,541 samples77x
HyperX DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBKingstonBench 50%, 19,207 samples74x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 84% - Excellent Total price: $602

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB compatible motherboards:

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Welcome to our PC speed test tool. UserBenchmark will test your PC and compare the results to other users with the same components. You can quickly size up your PC, identify hardware problems and explore the best value for money upgrades.

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  • - CPU tests include: integer, floating and string
  • - GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations
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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) April 2024 SSD Rankings

Welcome to our 2.5" and M.2 SSD comparison. We calculate effective speed for both SATA and NVMe drives based on real world performance then adjust by current prices per GB to yield a value for money rating. Our calculated values are checked against thousands of individual user ratings. The customizable table below combines these factors to bring you the definitive list of top SSDs. [SSDrivePro]

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Group Test Results

  • Best user rated - User sentiment trumps benchmarks for this comparison.
  • Best value for money - Value for money is based on real world performance.
  • Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.

 Comments

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,859

Official site www.kingston.com/...

Controller: LSI SandForce SF2281VB1-SDC. NAND Memory: Intel Synchronous 25nm MLC

3K loads games and applications faster...

Added 10 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
9,838

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

6 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
5,524

Good

2 months ago.

2012 i bought hyperx 120 gb and only 1 gb free space left. it was full with application then looked results and tough 860 pro better then kingston. kingston hyber x 120 gb read speed 555 Mb (2012 model) and 860 pro (2019 model) 560 mb read speed honestly i replaced only ssd drive and kingston definetly faster then samsung even it has 1 gb free space, when i click applications it load faster then samsung.. windows starts, opening firefox, photoshop or intellij vs 7 years old kingston ssd definetly faster then samsung 860 pro ssd disc.

HRV-User
Avatar level
2,322

Good

7 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,859

Poor

10 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

8 years ago.

18 months in it's still running, and seq read speeds remain decent (mid 400's) but seq write speeds have dropped to around 175 avge. It's got 9K power on hours, so fairly heavy use. It's an underwhelming drive that'll get you a year and a half of OKish speeds, then it's relegated to your girlfriends friends laptop for $20 :)

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1072 Drives (Compared) Thousands of user benchmarks compiled into one comparison list

See how consistently different SSDs perform with varying real world conditions. The charts also illustrate overall performance, popularity and rank.

 Frequently Asked Questions

Storage Devices FAQ
What is sustained sequential write speed?
What’s the difference between SLC, MLC and TLC?
What is 3D XPoint and how fast is it?
What’s the difference between SATA, PCIe and NVMe?
What’s the difference between NAND and V-NAND?
What is sequential write speed?
What is sequential read speed?
What is incompressible data?
What is queue depth?
Solid State Drives
What is the SSD value for money rating?
What is 4K 64 thread write speed?
Can CPU power saving states (C1,C2,C3) impact SSD speed?
What is the effective SSD speed index?
How is the AS SSD write score calculated?
How is the AS SSD read score calculated?
How is the AS SSD total score calculated?
ALL FAQs »

 Best User Rated
The Best.
CPUGPUSSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $273Nvidia RTX 4060 $295Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177Nvidia RTX 4070 $539Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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