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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: 73% (596th of 1058)

Based on 49,294 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: 73% Great: 87%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 26.9% 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 158MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Mixed IO Speed 37.5MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 31.6%. 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 140MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 189MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 49,294 samples)
Rank 59673%
Min Avg Max
299 Read 365 437
134 Write 189 227
179 Mixed 227 261
97.4 SusWrite 140 169
51.1% 230 MB/s
Min Avg Max
19.1 4K Read 29.9 37.2
30.6 4K Write 78 110
23.5 4K Mixed 37.5 48
135% 48.5 MB/s
Min Avg Max
112 DQ Read 201 247
79.3 DQ Write 172 216
67 DQ Mixed 158 202
126% 177 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
47GB free
Firmware: 60AABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 162 158 172 156 172 173 MB/s
90% Excellent
Read 411
Write 211
Mixed 273
SusWrite 166
59% 265 MB/s
4K Read 35.2
4K Write 109
4K Mixed 48.9
174% 64.4 MB/s
DQ Read 233
DQ Write 197
DQ Mixed 199
154% 210 MB/s
34GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 541ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 116 147 136 144 132 138 MB/s
81.5% Excellent
Read 355
Write 209
Mixed 222
SusWrite 136
51% 230 MB/s
4K Read 35.8
4K Write 95.4
4K Mixed 44.7
162% 58.6 MB/s
DQ Read 226
DQ Write 178
DQ Mixed 172
137% 192 MB/s
20GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 102 148 140 126 120 129 MB/s
72.8% Very good
Read 394
Write 194
Mixed 226
SusWrite 127
52% 235 MB/s
4K Read 32.5
4K Write 85.8
4K Mixed 31
134% 49.8 MB/s
DQ Read 214
DQ Write 177
DQ Mixed 182
140% 191 MB/s
49,294 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 57,591,653 SSDs tested.

 Prices

MSRP ≈ $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $13016 mins
AmazonUS $2001 day
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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 16,151 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%, 342,478 samples5,013x
FX-6300AMD  $80Bench 61%, 260,489 samples3,661x
FX-8320AMD  $244Bench 63%, 108,350 samples2,447x
GPU
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $155Bench 31%, 994,730 samples1,053x
RX 480AMD  $234Bench 48%, 233,732 samples896x
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $290Bench 57%, 1,387,999 samples775x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $130Bench 73%, 49,294 samples1x
RAM
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 59%, 112,875 samples489x
Savage DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBHyperXBench 51%, 78,181 samples424x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x4GBHyperX  $35Bench 51%, 38,490 samples297x
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) August 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 8 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
8,838

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

4 years ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
5,052

Terrible

12 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
2,092

Good

6 years ago.

After 23k hours on power still OK SSD.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,857

Poor

8 years ago.

Cantell
Avatar level
6

Poor

7 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 $270Nvidia RTX 3060-Ti $446Crucial MX500 250GB $42
Intel Core i5-12400F $160Nvidia RTX 3050 $292Samsung 850 Evo 120GB $106
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