UserBenchmark: Intel 520 Series vs Kingston HyperX 3K

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KingstonSH103S3/120G

BUY • $100

IntelSSDSC2CW120A3

BUY • $199

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 65,414 user samples

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46,066 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 87% 47GB free
Worst Bench: 57% 21GB free (System drive)

Poor: 57% Great: 87%

SPEED RANK: 593^rd / 1072

19,348 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 88% 17GB free
Worst Bench: 57% 37GB free (System drive)

Poor: 57% Great: 88%

SPEED RANK: 594^th / 1072


Effective Speed Effective SSD Speed		74.1 %	+0%		74 %


Read Avg. Sequential Read Speed	366 MB/s		392 MB/s	Slightly faster read speed. +7%
Write Avg. Sequential Write Speed	192 MB/s	Faster write speed. +23%	156 MB/s
4K Read Avg. 4K Random Read Speed	30.2 MB/s		32.1 MB/s	Slightly faster random read. +6%
4K Write Avg. 4K Random Write Speed	80.4 MB/s	+2%	78.9 MB/s
Mixed Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed	229 MB/s	Slightly faster mixed IO speed. +10%	209 MB/s
4K Mixed Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	38.1 MB/s	+5%	36.4 MB/s
SusWrite Avg. Sustained Write Speed	142 MB/s	Slightly faster sustained write speed. +7%	133 MB/s


Read Peak Sequential Read Speed	438 MB/s		446 MB/s	+2%
Write Peak Sequential Write Speed	225 MB/s	Faster peak write speed. +26%	179 MB/s
4K Read Peak 4K Random Read Speed	37.4 MB/s		39.6 MB/s	Slightly faster peak random read. +6%
4K Write Peak 4K Random Write Speed	111 MB/s		114 MB/s	+3%
Mixed Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed	262 MB/s	Faster peak mixed IO speed. +17%	224 MB/s
4K Mixed Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	48.1 MB/s	Slightly faster peak random mixed IO. +6%	45.5 MB/s
SusWrite Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average	170 MB/s	+1%	168 MB/s

Market Share

Based on 75,667,014 SSDs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.03 %	Much higher market share. +50%	0.02 %
Value Value For Money	5.52 %	Much better value. +68%	3.29 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	53 %		53 %
Price Price (score)	$100	Much cheaper. +50%	$199


Age Newest	144 Months	+1%	146 Months
DQ Read Peak 4K-64Thread Read Speed	248 MB/s	+4%	239 MB/s
DQ Write Peak 4K-64Thread Write Speed	216 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue write. +28%	169 MB/s
AS-SSD Total AS-SSD Total Score	851 Pts	Slightly stronger server IO. +7%	792 Pts
DQ Mixed Peak 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	202 MB/s	Slightly faster peak deep queue mixed IO. +6%	191 MB/s
ADQ Read Avg. 4K-64Thread Read Speed	203 MB/s		217 MB/s	Slightly faster deep queue read. +7%
ADQ Write Avg. 4K-64Thread Write Speed	175 MB/s	Faster deep queue write. +17%	150 MB/s
ADQ Mixed Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	161 MB/s		164 MB/s	+2%


Capacity Capacity			120GB			120GB

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]}

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The Intel 520 Series was Intel's first SSD to feature a Sandforce 2281 controller. This controller has powered countless SSDs over the last three years but is now dated and is known to be limited in the area of incompressible write speed. The 120GB Intel 520 scored peak and average sequential read/write speeds of 514/157 and 421/133. These read speeds are good but the peak write of 157 MB/s lags the group leaders average of 313 MB/s by nearly 100%. This relative inability to write lowers the 520's overall effective speed to 403 MB/s or 15% lower than the 459 MB/s achieved by the group leaders. At two years of age the Intel 520 can no longer compete with newer drives, there is far better value available amongst the group leaders. ^{[Feb '14 SSDrivePro]}

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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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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $279	Nvidia RTX 4060 $300	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $182	Nvidia RTX 4070 $409	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $40	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $30	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $43	SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $51	G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $351	SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16

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