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Kingston SH103S3/120G

HyperX 3K 120GB

▲ 532,614 ▼

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

Average Bench: 72.9% (596th of 1058)

Based on 47,975 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: 56%Average: 72.9% Great: 86%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 27.0% 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 154MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.3MB/s

Good consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 29.9%. 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 139MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 189MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 47,975 samples)
Rank 59672.9%
Min Avg Max
298 Read 363 421
138 Write 189 225
173 Mixed 223 260
99.3 SusWrite 139 171
50.8% 229 MB/s
Min Avg Max
21.6 4K Read 30 36.4
38.4 4K Write 79 108
25.6 4K Mixed 37.3 47.2
135% 48.8 MB/s
Min Avg Max
97.3 DQ Read 198 247
106 DQ Write 172 214
79.8 DQ Mixed 154 202
124% 175 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
57GB free
Firmware: 506ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 167 155 162 157 154 154 MB/s
95.1% Outstanding
Read 460
Write 226
Mixed 262
SusWrite 158
61% 277 MB/s
4K Read 37.3
4K Write 122
4K Mixed 50.6
186% 70.1 MB/s
DQ Read 213
DQ Write 220
DQ Mixed 155
134% 196 MB/s
61GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 526ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 164 169 159 170 165 160 MB/s
80.1% Excellent
Read 380
Write 208
Mixed 230
SusWrite 164
55% 246 MB/s
4K Read 34.6
4K Write 82.6
4K Mixed 41
149% 52.7 MB/s
DQ Read 216
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 181
141% 195 MB/s
111GB free
Firmware: 580ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 143 120 124 138 138 132 MB/s
67.8% Good
Read 355
Write 180
Mixed 268
SusWrite 133
52% 234 MB/s
4K Read 35.5
4K Write 68
4K Mixed 23.5
120% 42.3 MB/s
DQ Read 249
DQ Write 203
DQ Mixed 197
155% 216 MB/s
47,975 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 51,464,904 SSDs tested.

 Prices

MSRP ≈ $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $1303 mins
AmazonUS $15014 mins
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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 14,413 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 25%
Raft
Desktop
Desktop 72%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 22%
Surfboard

Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 - $89

CPU
FX-8350AMD  $130Bench 67%, 324,614 samples4,512x
FX-6300AMD  $90Bench 62%, 262,306 samples3,289x
FX-8320AMD  $244Bench 64%, 100,884 samples2,163x
GPU
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $155Bench 31%, 914,197 samples928x
RX 480AMD  $234Bench 48%, 229,503 samples804x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $290Bench 57%, 1,237,858 samples710x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $130Bench 73%, 47,975 samples1x
RAM
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 58%, 103,277 samples447x
Savage DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBHyperXBench 51%, 63,964 samples388x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x4GBHyperX  $35Bench 51%, 41,569 samples262x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 45% - Average Total price: $504

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.
  • - SkillBench (space shooter) tests user input accuracy.
  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com.
  • - Identify the strongest components in your PC.
  • - See speed test results from other users.
  • - Compare your components to the current market leaders.
  • - Explore your best upgrade options with a virtual PC build.
  • - Compare your in-game FPS to other users with your hardware.
Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) January 2022 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
8,418

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

4 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
4,888

Terrible

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
2,030

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

6 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 i5-12600K $289Nvidia RTX 3060-Ti $400Crucial MX500 250GB $48
Intel Core i5-12400F $184Nvidia RTX 3070 $500Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $52
Intel Core i5-11600K $250Nvidia RTX 3080 $700Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $200
HDDRAMUSB
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WD Blue 1TB (2012) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $75SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 2TB (2016) $71G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $470SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $16
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