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Kingston SV300S37A/120G

SSDNow V300 120GB

▲ 545,433 ▼

Controller: LSI SandForce SF2281. Flash Memory: Toshiba 19nm Toggle Mode MLC. Release date: Q4 2012.

Average Bench: 53.6% (867th of 1071)

Based on 339,020 user benchmarks.  Models: KINGSTON SV300S37A120G, KINGSTON SV300S37A12, KINGSTON SV300S37A120G, KINGSTON SV300S3, KINGSTON KINGSTON SV300S3

The 120GB Kingston V300 has a performance profile that closely matches its 240GB sibling. Both drives utilize a Sandforce LSI controller and therefore demonstrate relative weakness in their write speeds. With burst sequential read/write speeds of 497/166 MBps and 4k burst read/write speeds of 30/97 MBps the 120GB V300 is amongst the slower SSDs I have seen. A concern I have with this drive is the relatively slow real world speeds our users have experienced. Most drives have average throughput rates that are around 75% of peak. Both this and the 240GB V300s, based on 130 samples, are averaging sequential read rates of around 240 MBps which is less than 50% of peak. It's not all bad news though because the V300's are priced extremely aggressively and as a result still offer decent value for money. [Feb '14 SSDrivePro]

Poor: 30%Average: 53.6% Great: 73%

Popular builds with this SSD

Average average bench

The Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB averaged 46.4% 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 91.6MB/s
Avg. 4K Random Write Speed 73.9MB/s

Average consistency

The range of scores (95th - 5th percentile) for the Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB is 42.1%. This is a relatively wide range which indicates that the Kingston SSDNow V300 120GB performs inconsistently under varying real world conditions.

Weaknesses

Avg. Sustained Write Speed 88.3MB/s
Avg. Sequential Write Speed 122MB/s
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Average Bench

(Based on 339,020 samples)
Rank 86753.6%
Min Avg Max
101 Read 227 385
83.9 Write 122 153
99 Mixed 155 204
56.2 SusWrite 88.3 127
33% 148 MB/s
Min Avg Max
11.1 4K Read 22.9 32.1
29.8 4K Write 73.9 108
13.2 4K Mixed 29.4 41.4
112% 42.1 MB/s
Min Avg Max
26.3 DQ Read 101 195
69.5 DQ Write 118 153
29.3 DQ Mixed 91.6 133
73.9% 103 MB/s
User Benchmarks Bench Sequential Random 4k Deep queue 4k
The fastest SSD (mainstream) averages a speed of 100%
19GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 583ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 90 65 86 80 76 76 MB/s
58.6% Above average
Read 293
Write 105
Mixed 176
SusWrite 78.7
36% 163 MB/s
4K Read 26.6
4K Write 70.5
4K Mixed 33.6
121% 43.6 MB/s
DQ Read 86
DQ Write 126
DQ Mixed 104
79% 105 MB/s
59GB free
Firmware: 505ABBF1
SusWrite @10s intervals: 138 133 134 131 131 130 MB/s
55.9% Above average
Read 394
Write 152
Mixed 195
SusWrite 133
48% 219 MB/s
4K Read 20.9
4K Write 37.7
4K Mixed 21.2
79% 26.6 MB/s
DQ Read 198
DQ Write 154
DQ Mixed 102
97% 151 MB/s
38GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 521ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 78 78 81 80 81 81 MB/s
52% Above average
Read 126
Write 98.3
Mixed 123
SusWrite 79.6
24% 107 MB/s
4K Read 24.1
4K Write 105
4K Mixed 25.2
124% 51.5 MB/s
DQ Read 122
DQ Write 101
DQ Mixed 93.3
75% 106 MB/s
74GB free (System drive)
Firmware: 608ABBF0
SusWrite @10s intervals: 100 103 104 99 105 106 MB/s
49.4% Average
Read 205
Write 149
Mixed 170
SusWrite 103
35% 157 MB/s
4K Read 26
4K Write 50.7
4K Mixed 28.8
103% 35.2 MB/s
DQ Read 34.5
DQ Write 99.2
DQ Mixed 42.1
39% 58.6 MB/s
339,020 MORE »

 Market Share (See Leaders)

The number of benchmark samples for this model as a percentage of all 63,161,146 SSDs tested.

 Prices

MSRP ≈ $79 @ launch in Nov '12
EbayUS $4010 mins
AmazonUS $751 day
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 SSDNow V300 120GB Builds (Compare 16,810 builds) See popular component choices, score breakdowns and rankings.
Gaming
Gaming 8%
Tree trunk
Desktop
Desktop 74%
Battleship
Workstation
Workstation 7%
Tree trunk

Disqualified System: bin bin

CPU
Core i7-3770Intel  $297Bench 69%, 278,207 samples1,331x
Core i7-2600Intel  $157Bench 67%, 185,630 samples1,015x
Core i5-3470Intel  $50Bench 63%, 223,595 samples624x
GPU
SVGA 3DVmwareBench 20%, 11,474 samples965x
HD 2000 (Desktop 1.1 GHz)IntelBench 1%, 150,891 samples956x
GTX 1050-TiNvidia  $120Bench 29%, 946,701 samples687x
SSD
SSDNow V300 120GBKingston  $40Bench 54%, 339,020 samples1x
RAM
2x2GBUnknownBench 20%, 446,702 samples445x
4x2GBUnknownBench 25%, 183,252 samples292x
1x8GBUnknownBench 38%, 168,538 samples212x
EDIT WITH CUSTOM PC BUILDER Value: 61% - Good Total price: $337

Popular SSDNow V300 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.

UserBenchmark of the month

Gaming Desktop ProGaming

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 2023 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 SF2281. Flash Memory: Toshiba 19nm Toggle Mode MLC

A cost-effective way to revive your computer...

Added 8 years ago.
USA-User
Avatar level
9,146

Poor (edit your comment) Add link

21 months ago.

Terrible, bait and switch like others have stated.

Comment 

slow ssd. but it's super cheap—Sep '14

Comment 

Kingston wins the bait & switch sleezebag trophy with this one—Sep '15

TUR-User
Avatar level
5,212

Average

2 years ago.

It was great upgrade from HDD. But it failed after 1,5 year of active usage

ROU-User
Avatar level
4,351

Disliked

2 years ago.

Comment 

The devices s/n 501 to 504 were performing way better than what Kingston is offering now with the s/n 506 and up. This marketing idea of starting with a good product, get good press and then keep only the case is bad. Do not buy Kingston.—Sep '14

NLD-User
Avatar level
3,284

Good

5 years ago.

It gave new live to my old laptop. For a very convenient price. Maybe is not the best SSD, but it is cheap and fits well to my needs.

LTU-User
Avatar level
2,104

Good

5 years ago.

Perfect SSD for upgrading 5 years laptop. Super cheap.

NZL-User
Avatar level
1,958

Good

5 years ago.

This drive is installed into a 2007 Mac Mini used as a media centre. Although it's not a fast SSD drive, it's perfect for this old Mac where the real bottle neck is the drive bus speed. Super fast compare to a standard HD, and has extended the life of this machine yet another couple of years. Thanks Kingston for your super cheap, yet super under performing drive. Works for me.

SSDrivePro
Avatar level
1,857

Terrible

8 years ago.

polKZY
Avatar level
26

Poor

4 years ago.

poor performance

nrage
Avatar level
22

Below average

6 years ago.

Poor performance when compared with other SSDs at the same price and capacity.

wywrhell
Avatar level
10

Average

3 years ago.

Elderly. Average writing and reading

Kevster5
Avatar level
8

Average

5 years ago.

Measurable fast boot up speed increase but that's to be expected with an SSD. Will do more research before my next SSD purchase as the size is a massive limitation of the value of this product.

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1071 Drives (Compared) Thousands of user benchmarks compiled into one comparison list.

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 »

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