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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: 73.9% (519th of 1011)

Based on 23,606 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: 56%Average: 73.9% Great: 87%

Popular builds with this SSD

Good average bench

The Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB averaged 26.1% 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 38.2MB/s

Above average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB is 31.1%. 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 191MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 23,606 samples)
Rank 51973.9%
Min Avg Max
297 Read 361 410
133 Write 191 225
178 Mixed 224 259
102 SusWrite 138 168
50.8% 228 MB/s
Min Avg Max
21 4K Read 30.2 37.7
42.1 4K Write 82 114
26.7 4K Mixed 38.2 47.9
138% 50.1 MB/s
Min Avg Max
122 DQ Read 201 248
118 DQ Write 174 214
47.8 DQ Mixed 154 200
125% 176 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
33GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 158 161 166 166 160 163 MB/s
82.6% Excellent
Read 342
Write 219
Mixed 248
SusWrite 162
54% 243 MB/s
4K Read 34.6
4K Write 101
4K Mixed 44.3
162% 59.8 MB/s
DQ Read 209
DQ Write 191
DQ Mixed 200
150% 200 MB/s
56GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 526ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 158 160 165 162 165 164 MB/s
76% Very good
Read 377
Write 204
Mixed 236
SusWrite 162
54% 245 MB/s
4K Read 27.8
4K Write 96.1
4K Mixed 35.3
138% 53.1 MB/s
DQ Read 210
DQ Write 184
DQ Mixed 195
147% 196 MB/s
52GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 526ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 150 142 157 155 155 154 MB/s
75.9% Very good
Read 323
Write 195
Mixed 245
SusWrite 152
51% 229 MB/s
4K Read 32
4K Write 79.8
4K Mixed 41.4
144% 51.1 MB/s
DQ Read 216
DQ Write 188
DQ Mixed 188
145% 197 MB/s
23,606 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 17,666,076 SSDs tested.

 Prices

Approx. $101 @ launch in Apr '12
EbayUS $1302 mins
AmazonUS $15016 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 23,451 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 44%
Speed boat
Desktop
Desktop 47%
Yacht
Workstation
Workstation 35%
Sail boat

Motherboard: Asus M5A97 R2.0 - $96

CPU
FX-8350AMD  $90Bench 48%, 221,207 samples7,159x
FX-6300AMD  $90Bench 39%, 157,206 samples5,573x
FX-8320AMD  $141Bench 43%, 78,467 samples3,642x
GPU
GTX 1060-6GBNvidia  $240Bench 56%, 642,931 samples1,597x
RX 480AMD  $140Bench 50%, 140,936 samples1,484x
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $145Bench 31%, 428,583 samples1,369x
SSD
HyperX 3K 120GBKingston  $130Bench 74%, 23,606 samples1x
RAM
Savage DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBHyperXBench 50%, 51,430 samples818x
Fury DDR3 1866 C10 2x8GBHyperXBench 58%, 53,837 samples728x
Vengeance DDR3 1600 C9 2x4GBCorsairBench 49%, 44,156 samples576x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 43% - Average Total price: $556

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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  • - GPU tests include: six 3D game simulations.
  • - Drive tests include: read, write, sustained write and mixed IO.
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  • - Reports are generated and presented on userbenchmark.com.
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Solid State Drive Rankings (Price vs Performance) September 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
5,570

Excellent (edit your comment) Add link

21 months ago.

TUR-User
Avatar level
3,398

Excellent

7 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
1,592

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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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 i5-9400F $140Nvidia GTX 1660 $220Samsung 850 Evo 250GB $70
Intel Core i5-9600K $225Nvidia GTX 1660-Ti $278Samsung 850 Evo 500GB $105
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 $195Nvidia RTX 2060S (Super) $429Samsung 850 Pro 256GB $203
HDDRAMUSB
Seagate Barracuda 1TB (2016) $39Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB $70SanDisk Extreme 64GB $88
WD Blue 1TB (2012) $34G.SKILL Trident Z DDR4 3200 C14 4x16GB $606SanDisk Extreme 32GB $48
Seagate Barracuda 3TB (2016) $64Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200 C16 2x8GB $73SanDisk Extreme 16GB $24
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