Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD Review

[AkG]

Vista Start Up / Adobe CS5 Load Time

Vista Start Up

When it comes to hard drive performance there is one area that even the most oblivious user notices: how long it takes to load the Operating System. While all the other tests were run with a Windows 7 operating system, this particular test uses another older test bed's “day to day” OS (copied over to our new testbed) which has accumulated a lot of crud over the months from installs and removals. We chose the Anti-Virus splash screen as our finish line as it is the last program to be loaded on start up.

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It appears that any synthetic edge the Kingston HyperX had over Vertex 3 and vice versa, is not noticeable in operating system load times. So far the increased longevity of the Intel branded 25NM has no real negative side-effects performance wise. In either case, the HyperX posts some great numbers that only a 240GB Vertex 3 MaxIOPS drive can beat.

Adobe CS5 Load Time

Photoshop is a notoriously slow loading program under the best of circumstances, and while the latest version is actually pretty decent, when you add in a bunch of extra brushes and the such you get a really great torture test which can bring even the best of the best to their knees. Let’s see how our review unit faired in the Adobe crucible.

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As with the operating system load time, the Kinston HyperX 240GB posts an Adobe load time so low only one drive is able to beat it and that really is saying something.

 

[AkG]

Real World Data Transfers

Real World Data Transfers

No matter how good a synthetic benchmark like IOMeter or PCMark is, it can not really tell you how your hard drive will perform in “real world” situations. All of us here at Hardware Canucks strive to give you the best, most complete picture of a review item’s true capabilities and to this end we will be running timed data transfers to give you a general idea of how its performance relates to real life use. To help replicate worse case scenarios we will transfer a 10.00GB contiguous file and a folder containing 400 subfolders with a total 12,000 files varying in length from 200mb to 100kb (10.00 GB total).

Testing will include transfer to and transferring from the devices, using MS RichCopy (set to 1 file depth) and logging the performance of the drive. Here is what we found.

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As with every other test result, the Kinston HyperX posts numbers that are right up there with the best of the best of the best.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

Conclusion

The Kingston HyperX 240GB SSD is one impressive SSD. Everything from its competitive price to the bleeding edge performance numbers it displayed was absolutely top notch and put this drive in enviable company. Some may think that OCZ’s Vertex 3 MaxIOPS holds a slight edge in overall performance; the HyperX has its own set of appealing features.

Kingston offers two different SKUs at two distinct price points in order to better fit anyone’s needs. One is just the bare bones drive with a generic 2.5” to 3.5” adaptor plate and the other includes everything one could possibly want when buying their first SSD. We have always felt that a “one size fits all” approach to such a large and important purchase was never an optimal solution. Granted, most people won’t need the “Upgrade Kit” but we like having it as an alternative.

One of the most beneficial features of the HyperX is Kinston’s inclusion of longer life cycle NAND. Most of the other SF2281 240GB drives on the market use modules which are good for about 3,000 erase cycles but the ones on this drive are good for about 5,000. Granted, the vast majority of consumers will never get to 3,000 cycles much less 5,000 but it is still nice to have this safety net in place.

We are not engaging in needless rhetoric or hyperbole, when we say that the Intel 25nm NAND is superior to the 25nm Micron branded modules found in most other drives. Due to their close relationship with Intel, Kingston is one of the few companies with the ability to use these leading edge chips for their SandForce SF2281-based enthusiast lineup. The result is an SSD which has all the longevity of an Intel branded drive, with a controller that is simply unmatched – in TRIM environments at least – by any Intel consumer SSD on the market today.

When you couple great customer service with enhanced life expectancy and then add in cutting edge performance numbers the end result is simple to sum up: the HyperX 240GB SSD is a Dam Good drive. In addition, Kingston’s drive costs less that many of its Toggle Mode NAND-based competitors yet still has the same long life expectancy. In a market that is quickly becoming saturated with a homogenous mass of SF2281 drives, the HyperX stands out as a beacon of innovation and takes a well-deserved place near the very top of our SSD recommendation list.


Pros:
- Very Fast for a 25nm based drive
- Great accessory options via different SKU’s
- Reasonable price for this market niche
- Great Looks
- 5K not 3K erase cycle NAND
- Upgrade Kit version includes everything you could imaginably need


Cons:
- Upgrade Kit SKU is pricey
- USB enclosure included with upgrade kit is USB 2.0 not USB 3.0 enabled
- While this drive has the life expectancy similar to that of a Toggle Mode NAND drive, it does not have the performance of one

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