UserBenchmark: Intel 520 Series vs Kingston HyperX 3K

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KingstonSH103S3/240G

BUY • $70

IntelSSDSC2CW120A3

BUY • $199

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Real World Speed

Performance profile from 46,843 user samples

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27,495 User Benchmarks

Best Bench: 94% 1TB free
Worst Bench: 59% 25GB free (System drive)

Poor: 59% Great: 94%

SPEED RANK: 477^th / 1071

19,348 User Benchmarks

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

Poor: 57% Great: 88%

SPEED RANK: 594^th / 1071


Effective Speed Effective SSD Speed		80.6 %	Slightly faster effective speed. +9%		74 %


Read Avg. Sequential Read Speed	375 MB/s		392 MB/s	+5%
Write Avg. Sequential Write Speed	243 MB/s	Much faster write speed. +56%	156 MB/s
4K Read Avg. 4K Random Read Speed	31.2 MB/s		32.1 MB/s	+3%
4K Write Avg. 4K Random Write Speed	82.3 MB/s	+4%	78.9 MB/s
Mixed Avg. Sequential Mixed IO Speed	274 MB/s	Much faster mixed IO speed. +31%	209 MB/s
4K Mixed Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	40.2 MB/s	Faster random mixed IO. +10%	36.4 MB/s
SusWrite Avg. Sustained Write Speed	183 MB/s	Much faster sustained write speed. +38%	133 MB/s


Read Peak Sequential Read Speed	442 MB/s		446 MB/s	+1%
Write Peak Sequential Write Speed	281 MB/s	Much faster peak write speed. +57%	179 MB/s
4K Read Peak 4K Random Read Speed	37.8 MB/s		39.6 MB/s	+5%
4K Write Peak 4K Random Write Speed	112 MB/s		114 MB/s	+2%
Mixed Peak Sequential Mixed IO Speed	312 MB/s	Much faster peak mixed IO speed. +39%	224 MB/s
4K Mixed Peak 4K Random Mixed IO Speed	49.6 MB/s	Slightly faster peak random mixed IO. +9%	45.5 MB/s
SusWrite Peak Sequential Sustained Write 60s Average	221 MB/s	Much faster peak sustained write speed. +32%	168 MB/s

Market Share

Based on 75,747,400 SSDs tested

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Market Share Market Share (trailing 30 days)	0.02 %		0.02 %
Value Value For Money	13.2 %	Hugely better value. +301%	3.29 %
User Rating UBM User Rating	53 %		53 %
Price Price (score)	$70	Much cheaper. +65%	$199


Age Newest	144 Months	+1%	146 Months
DQ Read Peak 4K-64Thread Read Speed	298 MB/s	Faster peak deep queue read. +25%	239 MB/s
DQ Write Peak 4K-64Thread Write Speed	264 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue write. +56%	169 MB/s
AS-SSD Total AS-SSD Total Score	985 Pts	Stronger server IO. +24%	792 Pts
DQ Mixed Peak 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	289 MB/s	Much faster peak deep queue mixed IO. +51%	191 MB/s
ADQ Read Avg. 4K-64Thread Read Speed	258 MB/s	Faster deep queue read. +19%	217 MB/s
ADQ Write Avg. 4K-64Thread Write Speed	209 MB/s	Much faster deep queue write. +39%	150 MB/s
ADQ Mixed Avg. 4K-64Thread Mixed IO Speed	223 MB/s	Much faster deep queue mixed IO. +36%	164 MB/s


Capacity Capacity			240GB			120GB

The HyperX 3K is an updated version of the regular HyperX, the only difference between the two SSDs is the grade of NAND flash. The regular HyperX's NAND flash is rated at 5,000 erase cycles vs 3,000 on the 3K version so broadly speaking the number of erase cycles before drive failure on the newer drive is approximately 40% less than on the original HyperX. The distinction is largely irrelevant for consumer users because even after 10 years neither of the drives are likely to come even close to their maximum number of erase cycles. As expected both HyperX's have very similar performance profiles which can be seen in this direct comparison of the two drives. Although the HyperX SSDs were strong contenders on release they are showing their age now and can no longer compete amongst the newer drives from Samsung and Plextor which are both cheaper and faster. ^{[Jan '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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Storage Devices FAQ

What is sustained sequential write speed?

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What’s the difference between SATA, PCIe and NVMe?

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CPU	GPU	SSD
Intel Core i5-13600K $269	Nvidia RTX 4060 $295	Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-12400F $133	Nvidia RTX 4060-Ti $385	Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $80
Intel Core i5-12600K $177	Nvidia RTX 4070 $539	Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52

HDD	RAM	USB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39	Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $45	SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37	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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