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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% (601st of 1080)

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 60174.1%
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%
95GB free
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 172 159 159 156 155 158 MB/s
85.6% Excellent
Read 390
Write 222
Mixed 264
SusWrite 160
58% 259 MB/s
4K Read 35.1
4K Write 100
4K Mixed 46.1
165% 60.5 MB/s
DQ Read 215
DQ Write 195
DQ Mixed 202
152% 204 MB/s
19GB free
Firmware: 507KC4
SusWrite @10s intervals: 173 142 191 184 125 122 MB/s
82.9% Excellent
Read 402
Write 228
Mixed 252
SusWrite 156
58% 260 MB/s
4K Read 33.8
4K Write 89
4K Mixed 42.9
153% 55.2 MB/s
DQ Read 219
DQ Write 224
DQ Mixed 149
132% 197 MB/s
46,066 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 76,508,375 SSDs tested

 Prices

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MSRP ≈ $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $799 mins
AmazonUS $10010 months
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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 4,102 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  $52Bench 68%, 128,482 samples1,400x
Core i7-4770KIntel  $100Bench 74%, 172,887 samples1,229x
Core i7-4790KIntel  $348Bench 79%, 455,746 samples398x
GPU
GTX 1070Nvidia  $278Bench 80%, 1,459,281 samples327x
GTX 970Nvidia  $200Bench 49%, 834,238 samples324x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $117Bench 56%, 1,368,019 samples315x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $79Bench 74%, 46,066 samples1x
RAM
BLS8G3D1609DS1S00. 2x8GBCrucialBench 55%, 48,796 samples86x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 122,541 samples78x
HyperX DDR3 1600 C10 2x8GBKingstonBench 50%, 19,207 samples74x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 61% - Good Total price: $651

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB compatible motherboards:

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  • Fastest real world speed - Real World Speed measures performance for typical consumers.

 Comments

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,921

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
9,918

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

6 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
5,548

Good

5 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
2,338

Good

8 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,921

Poor

10 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

9 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
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