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Kingston SH103S3/120G

HyperX 3K 120GB

▲ 602,608 ▼

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

VS

Average Bench: 72.6% (532nd of 1003)

Based on 25,465 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]

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Poor: 54%Average: 72.6% Great: 87%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 27.4% 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 151MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.4MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 33.5%. 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 133MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 179MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 25,465 samples)
Rank 53272.6%
Min Avg Max
294 Read 363 420
130 Write 179 222
173 Mixed 219 259
91.1 SusWrite 133 165
49.5% 223 MB/s
Min Avg Max
21 4K Read 30.2 37.9
42.6 4K Write 80.9 113
24.1 4K Mixed 37.4 48.3
137% 49.5 MB/s
Min Avg Max
35.4 DQ Read 190 247
92.3 DQ Write 164 213
40.6 DQ Mixed 151 203
120% 168 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
38GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 580ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 145 144 146 138 142 122 MB/s
83.4% Excellent
Read 355
Write 206
Mixed 242
SusWrite 140
52% 236 MB/s
4K Read 34.4
4K Write 103
4K Mixed 45.5
165% 61 MB/s
DQ Read 247
DQ Write 190
DQ Mixed 182
146% 206 MB/s
29GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 526ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 178 172 165 161 166 111 MB/s
77.3% Very good
Read 400
Write 222
Mixed 246
SusWrite 159
57% 257 MB/s
4K Read 29.7
4K Write 75.8
4K Mixed 40.2
137% 48.6 MB/s
DQ Read 212
DQ Write 193
DQ Mixed 201
151% 202 MB/s
23GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 502ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 128 128 136 128 103 121 MB/s
68.6% Good
Read 377
Write 137
Mixed 158
SusWrite 124
44% 199 MB/s
4K Read 30.2
4K Write 79.6
4K Mixed 31.9
129% 47.2 MB/s
DQ Read 169
DQ Write 133
DQ Mixed 115
96% 139 MB/s
25,465 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 15,833,395 SSDs tested.

 Prices

Approx. $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $1309 mins
AmazonUS $1801 month
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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 21,991 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 57%
Gunboat
Desktop
Desktop 49%
Yacht
Workstation
Workstation 38%
Jet ski

Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 - $96

CPU
FX-8350AMD  $65Bench 55%, 185,576 samples6,690x
FX-6300AMD  $65Bench 46%, 166,854 samples5,254x
FX-8320AMD  $163Bench 50%, 75,564 samples3,409x
GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $250Bench 70%, 635,304 samples1,517x
RX 480AMD  $140Bench 64%, 130,010 samples1,403x
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $145Bench 38%, 364,011 samples1,265x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $130Bench 73%, 25,465 samples1x
RAM
Savage DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBHyperXBench 50%, 47,022 samples778x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 53,062 samples684x
Vengeance DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBCorsairBench 49%, 39,487 samples537x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 74% - Very good Total price: $541

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB compatible motherboards:

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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) July 2019 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
1,352

Official site www.kingston.com/...

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

3K loads games and applications faster...

Added 5 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
5,388

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

18 months ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
3,290

Excellent

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
1,552

Good

3 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,352

Poor

5 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

4 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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1003 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 i7-8700K $350Nvidia GTX 1070 $400Samsung 850 Evo 250GB $104
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 $127Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB $250Samsung 850 Evo 500GB $103
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X $248Nvidia GTX 1080-Ti $709Samsung 850 Pro 256GB $97
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $40Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $68SanDisk Extreme 64GB $128
Seagate Barracuda 3TB (2016) $70G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $606SanDisk Extreme 32GB $48
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $37Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $78SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $12
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