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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.

Average Bench: 73.6% (566th of 1040)

Based on 35,092 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: 73.6% Great: 87%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 26.3% 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 156MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.8MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 30%. 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 137MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 187MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 35,092 samples)
Rank 56673.6%
Min Avg Max
301 Read 362 420
134 Write 187 223
177 Mixed 225 259
100 SusWrite 137 166
50.7% 228 MB/s
Min Avg Max
21 4K Read 30.1 37.4
39.8 4K Write 80.9 109
25 4K Mixed 37.8 47.6
137% 49.6 MB/s
Min Avg Max
135 DQ Read 205 248
122 DQ Write 176 213
93.2 DQ Mixed 156 202
126% 179 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
54GB free
Firmware: 60AABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 160 160 163 174 169 172 MB/s
91% Outstanding
Read 404
Write 202
Mixed 272
SusWrite 166
58% 261 MB/s
4K Read 37.7
4K Write 102
4K Mixed 51.7
178% 63.9 MB/s
DQ Read 233
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 198
151% 206 MB/s
83GB free
Firmware: 580ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 118 124 124 133 138 126 MB/s
83% Excellent
Read 386
Write 215
Mixed 253
SusWrite 127
54% 245 MB/s
4K Read 35.6
4K Write 95.1
4K Mixed 44.5
161% 58.4 MB/s
DQ Read 248
DQ Write 203
DQ Mixed 163
139% 205 MB/s
72GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 158 139 143 145 143 150 MB/s
77.3% Very good
Read 348
Write 221
Mixed 238
SusWrite 147
53% 238 MB/s
4K Read 29.3
4K Write 88
4K Mixed 43.8
147% 53.7 MB/s
DQ Read 218
DQ Write 164
DQ Mixed 179
137% 187 MB/s
35,092 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 32,764,687 SSDs tested.

 Prices

Approx. $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $1307 mins
AmazonUS $1603 months
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 20,986 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 2%
Tree trunk
Desktop
Desktop 65%
Battle cruiser
Workstation
Workstation 2%
Tree trunk

Disqualified System: bin bin

CPU
Core i7-3770Intel  $55Bench 75%, 199,195 samples1,370x
Core i7-2600Intel  $85Bench 72%, 131,972 samples1,157x
Core i5-2400Intel  $75Bench 69%, 111,601 samples797x
GPU
HD 2000 (Desktop 1.1 GHz)IntelBench 1%, 108,964 samples1,034x
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $146Bench 32%, 620,743 samples906x
HD 2500 (Desktop 1.05 GHz)IntelBench 1%, 111,421 samples615x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $130Bench 74%, 35,092 samples1x
RAM
2x2GBUnknownBench 19%, 354,364 samples865x
4x2GBUnknownBench 25%, 158,962 samples550x
1x4GBUnknownBench 25%, 109,572 samples336x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 38% - Below average Total price: $185

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB systems:

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

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  • - 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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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) October 2020 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
1,854

Official site www.kingston.com/...

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

3K loads games and applications faster...

Added 6 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
6,994

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

2 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
4,174

Excellent

21 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.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,854

Poor

6 years ago.

HRV-User
Avatar level
1,824

Good

4 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

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 i5-9600K $199Nvidia GTX 1660S (Super) $230Crucial MX500 250GB $45
Intel Core i5-9400F $140Nvidia RTX 3080 $700Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $78
Intel Core i5-10600K $260Nvidia RTX 2070S (Super) $510Samsung 860 Evo 250GB $50
HDDRAMUSB
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WD Blue 1TB (2012) $32Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $69SanDisk Extreme 32GB $28
Seagate Barracuda 3TB (2016) $85G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $548SanDisk Extreme 16GB $28
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