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Kingston SH103S3/120G

HyperX 3K 120GB

▲ 602,607 ▼

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

VS

Average Bench: 73.5% (492nd of 992)

Based on 25,773 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: 57%Average: 73.5% Great: 89%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 26.5% 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 153MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.7MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 31.3%. 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 184MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 25,773 samples)
Rank 49273.5%
Min Avg Max
300 Read 362 420
133 Write 184 222
175 Mixed 219 258
107 SusWrite 138 168
50.2% 226 MB/s
Min Avg Max
20.9 4K Read 30.2 37.7
45.5 4K Write 82.2 116
25.6 4K Mixed 37.7 48.5
138% 50 MB/s
Min Avg Max
39.8 DQ Read 195 247
113 DQ Write 171 213
46.9 DQ Mixed 153 203
123% 173 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
65GB free
Firmware: 526ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 158 157 164 166 166 167 MB/s
81.9% Excellent
Read 377
Write 228
Mixed 248
SusWrite 163
56% 254 MB/s
4K Read 34.3
4K Write 93.4
4K Mixed 41.5
155% 56.4 MB/s
DQ Read 215
DQ Write 204
DQ Mixed 171
139% 197 MB/s
35GB free
Firmware: 541ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 141 142 146 153 157 159 MB/s
81.8% Excellent
Read 373
Write 182
Mixed 244
SusWrite 150
53% 237 MB/s
4K Read 34.1
4K Write 97.3
4K Mixed 42.5
158% 58 MB/s
DQ Read 226
DQ Write 189
DQ Mixed 184
144% 200 MB/s
19GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 580ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 159 139 146 114 103 112 MB/s
80.9% Excellent
Read 312
Write 191
Mixed 235
SusWrite 129
48% 217 MB/s
4K Read 33.2
4K Write 104
4K Mixed 46
164% 61.1 MB/s
DQ Read 244
DQ Write 192
DQ Mixed 203
156% 213 MB/s
19GB free
Firmware: 506ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 137 163 134 134 133 127 MB/s
69.1% Good
Read 318
Write 221
Mixed 228
SusWrite 138
50% 226 MB/s
4K Read 32.8
4K Write 71.5
4K Mixed 32.3
129% 45.5 MB/s
DQ Read 204
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 132
116% 175 MB/s
25,773 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 12,966,448 SSDs tested.

 Prices

Approx. $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $15953 mins
AmazonUS $1604 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 19,173 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 58%
Gunboat
Desktop
Desktop 50%
Yacht
Workstation
Workstation 38%
Jet ski

Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 - $88

CPU
FX-8350AMD  $65Bench 55%, 180,358 samples5,726x
FX-6300AMD  $60Bench 46%, 131,108 samples4,621x
FX-8320AMD  $88Bench 50%, 66,730 samples2,994x
GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $230Bench 71%, 516,221 samples1,335x
RX 480AMD  $280Bench 65%, 119,751 samples1,250x
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $155Bench 38%, 327,558 samples1,085x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $159Bench 73%, 25,773 samples1x
RAM
Savage DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBHyperXBench 52%, 40,835 samples676x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 48,391 samples611x
Vengeance DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBCorsairBench 50%, 38,622 samples470x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 73% - Very good Total price: $542

Popular HyperX 3K 120GB compatible motherboards:

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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) March 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
4,992

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

14 months ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
3,048

Excellent

1 month 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
1,458

Good

2 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,352

Poor

5 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

3 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 i7-8700K $370Nvidia GTX 1070 $364Samsung 850 Evo 250GB $75
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 $120Nvidia GTX 1060-6GB $230Samsung 850 Evo 500GB $105
Intel Core i5-8600K $260Nvidia GTX 1080-Ti $808Samsung 850 Pro 256GB $97
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $43Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $105SanDisk Extreme 64GB $43
Seagate Barracuda 3TB (2016) $85G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $761SanDisk Extreme 32GB $48
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $45Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $110SanDisk Ultra Fit 32GB $12
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