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Kingston SH103S3/120G

HyperX 3K 120GB

▲ 532,610 ▼

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

Average Bench: 73.1% (589th of 1058)

Based on 46,502 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: 55%Average: 73.1% Great: 86%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 26.8% 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 158MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.6MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 30.9%. 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 138MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 187MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 46,502 samples)
Rank 58973.1%
Min Avg Max
304 Read 362 417
135 Write 187 223
176 Mixed 224 257
95.8 SusWrite 138 168
50.5% 227 MB/s
Min Avg Max
20.6 4K Read 30.1 37.2
38.8 4K Write 79.2 110
24.9 4K Mixed 37.6 47.8
136% 49 MB/s
Min Avg Max
118 DQ Read 201 247
95.4 DQ Write 171 213
64.5 DQ Mixed 158 202
126% 177 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
30GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 506ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 137 124 128 131 121 126 MB/s
82.3% Excellent
Read 399
Write 218
Mixed 250
SusWrite 128
55% 249 MB/s
4K Read 33.8
4K Write 101
4K Mixed 43.8
161% 59.6 MB/s
DQ Read 214
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 136
120% 179 MB/s
111GB free
Firmware: 507KC4
SusWrite @10s intervals: 161 157 155 151 156 157 MB/s
78.3% Very good
Read 376
Write 225
Mixed 256
SusWrite 156
56% 253 MB/s
4K Read 29.2
4K Write 96.2
4K Mixed 37.6
143% 54.3 MB/s
DQ Read 214
DQ Write 225
DQ Mixed 158
136% 199 MB/s
46,502 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 44,074,796 SSDs tested.

 Prices

MSRP ≈ $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $591 min
AmazonUS $20211 days
Send price feedback
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 6,506 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 63%
Destroyer
Desktop
Desktop 82%
Aircraft carrier
Workstation
Workstation 49%
Yacht

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

CPU
Core i5-4670KIntel  $400Bench 77%, 130,169 samples2,442x
Core i7-4770KIntel  $300Bench 78%, 137,629 samples1,950x
Core i7-4790KIntel  $348Bench 83%, 316,893 samples449x
GPU
GTX 1070Nvidia  $400Bench 80%, 1,127,629 samples532x
GTX 970Nvidia  $340Bench 51%, 671,374 samples493x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $290Bench 57%, 1,201,235 samples492x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $59Bench 73%, 46,502 samples1x
RAM
Vengeance DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBCorsairBench 49%, 69,450 samples165x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 58%, 86,383 samples133x
BLS8G3D1609DS1S00. 2x8GBCrucialBench 56%, 41,557 samples132x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 55% - Above average Total price: $1,102

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB compatible motherboards:

How Fast Is Your SSD? (Bench your build) Size up your PC in less than a minute.

Welcome to our freeware 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 upgrades.

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How it works

  • - Download and run UserBenchMark.
  • - CPU tests include: integer, floating and string.
  • - GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations.
  • - Drive tests include: read, write, sustained write and mixed IO.
  • - RAM tests include: single/multi core bandwidth and latency.
  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com.
  • - Identify the strongest components in your PC.
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  • - Share your opinion by voting.
Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) June 2021 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
1,857

Official site www.kingston.com/...

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

3K loads games and applications faster...

Added 7 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
7,884

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

3 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
4,688

Excellent

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
1,956

Good

5 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,857

Poor

7 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

5 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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 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 i5-11400F $220Nvidia RTX 3070 $500Crucial MX500 250GB $40
Intel Core i5-11600K $259Nvidia RTX 3060-Ti $400Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $78
Intel Core i7-11700K $380Nvidia RTX 3080 $700Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $45Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $79SanDisk Extreme 64GB $72
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $35Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $95SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $80G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $649SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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