HyperX 3K 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive) SH103S3/120G

  • $129.99
ORPay in 4 interest-free payments of $32.49 with . help

  • Sold and Shipped by The Best Deals For You

Seller

right
The Best Deals For You
icon-top_ratedTOP RATED

183 Reviews (95% Positive)

Reviews(892)

4.3
TOP FAVORABLE REVIEW
Great Drives at a Reasonable Price

I bought a bunch of these HyperX SSDs as boot drives for various PCs last year during the pre-holiday lead up because they were just crazy cheap.
Now almost a year later, I have rounded up all 3 of my HyperX SSDs and focused their energies to create one mega RAID 0 array on my Intel Z87-based Gigabyte Z87-X UD4H motherboard.
I now have 330GB of usable storage for a blazing fast game swap drive and photo/video editing scratch drive.
This is what 3xHyperX SSDs in RAID0 look like on a native Intel PCH with SATA6G:

***3xRAID0 Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB SATA3(6G)***
-Crystal Disk Mark
Block[Read]:::[Write]in[MB/s]
Seq.[1313]:::[401.6]
512K[938.2]:::[336.5]
4K..[26.44]:::[100.6]
4K32[288.3]:::[383.6]
-AS SSD
Block[Read]:::[Write]in[MB/s]
Seq.[1254.65]:::[322.8]
4K..[17.52]:::[82.62]
4K64[118.7]:::[375.19]
AccT[0.224]:::[0.240]in[ms]
And compared to just 1xHyperX
***1xKingston HyperX 3K 120GB SATA3(6G)***
-Crystal Disk Mark
Block[Read]:::[Write]in[MB/s]
Seq.[461.0]:::[143.7]
512K[390.2]:::[145.9]
4K..[25.69]:::[118.8]
4K32[54.79]:::[86.90]

-AS SSD
Block[Read]:::[Write]in[MB/s]
Seq.[445.8]:::[125.2]
4K..[19.86]:::[88.83]
4K64[118.7]:::[125.1]
AccT[0.211]:::[0.241]in[ms]

As you can see, much improved throughput very close to 3x the performance.
Also, to one of the commenters, Trim does work in RAID0 for SSDs now for Intel chipsets, beginning officially with 7-series but with some hacks, can work with 6-series too.
So, if you were like me and bought a bunch of these cheap and have started to replace them with bigger/faster SSDs, think about combining them to make one killer RAID0 array!

The Seq. Write numbers on this drive are much lower than you would expect for such a fast drive that uses Toggle NAND. This is a well-documented limitation of SandForce SF-2281 drives and imcompressible data, so if you need a lot of write throughput (ie. raw video capture of extremely high resolution images or 3D content) these drives may not be the best for you.

These are probably some of my favorite SSDs ever. They were a great price for high quality, excellent SATA3(6G) SSDs. They were also easy to source from multiple locations for similar price, unlike some of these SSDs seem to go on sale and vanish forever.
The widespread availability of these drives and seemingly endless supply has allowed me to accumulate 3 and build this awesome RAID0 array. Very happy with these HyperX drives from Kingston!

View MoreView Less
VS
TOP CRITICAL REVIEW
Blazing Fast... For Now

Fast. Got it for a great price during Black Friday. Did I mention it's fast? And I guess the packaging is nice, if that's your thing.

Firmware. For the life of me I can't get the firmware to update. I've used Intel SATA drivers, Windows SATA drivers, SATA III and SATA II ports, Windows XP and Windows 7, and every combination thereof. I'm not the only one who is having difficulty updating the firmware, a quick Internet search reveals. And I am indeed using the drive in AHCI mode.

Why am I so keen to update the firmware? The drive shipped with firmware 502; the latest firmware, to my knowledge, is 503, and was released August 2012. Firmware 503 fixes a sleep issue (from which I suffer) and fixes TRIM. That's correct, with the 502 firmware, TRIM doesn't work properly. Read various professional reviews of the drive with the 502 firmware; they all say (and prove) TRIM doesn't work properly. as we all know, TRIM is an important function for an SSD to operate properly. I was VERY disappointed when I received the drive, checked the firmware, and it was the old firmware, especially since it's been months since the 503 firmware has been released.

Further complicating the issue, Kingston has now pulled the firmware update from their website. Completely gone with nothing to replace it, at least as of this writing.

As others have mentioned, the connectors leave much to be desired.

Would I recommend this drive? No. I've been fiddling with this drive now for a month. I'm reluctant to move my brand-new build into production for fear that I might need to do a secure wipe on the drive once the firmware is updated, or that the firmware update will just wipe it. Yeah, I know, back it up, which I already do, but then restoring a backup is just another hassle, and then I have to worry about partition alignment.

I might just give up on this drive and get another brand of SSD that actually performs properly, eating the cost of the drive. I can't keep waiting for a firmware update that may or may not work. In my post-SSD-purchase research, I understand Crucial and Intel make good SSDs.

View MoreView Less

Warranty & Returns

Warranty

Please contact the Seller directly for warranty information. Warranty information may also be found on the Manufacturer's website.

Read full details

Return Policies

Return for refund within: 30 days

Return for replacement within: 30 days

This item is covered by The Best Deals For You Return Policy

Manufacturer Contact Info

For a directory of all our manufacturers, please click below.

Manufacturers Directory

Features & Details

  • 2.5"
  • 120GB
  • SATA III

Specifications

Model
BrandHyperX
Series3K
ModelSH103S3/120G
Device TypeInternal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive)
Used ForConsumer
Details
Form Factor2.5"
Capacity120GB
Memory ComponentsMLC
InterfaceSATA III
ControllerSandForce
Performance
Max Sequential ReadUp to 555 MB/s
Max Sequential WriteUp to 510 MB/s
4KB Random ReadUp to 85,000 IOPS
4KB Random WriteUp to 73,000 IOPS
MTBF1,000,000 hours
Features
FeaturesSustained Random 4K R/W: 20,000/60,000 IOPS Applications - Decreased load times of high-resolution PC games - Increased frame rates per second for a better gaming experience - Faster transfers of large media files - Multitasking - AutoCAD - Movie downloads, transfers and syncs
Environmental
Power Consumption (Idle)0.46W
Power Consumption (Active)2.11W
Operating Temperature0°C ~ +70°C
Storage Temperature-40°C ~ +85°C
Max Shock Resistance1500G
Max Vibration ResistanceVibration operating 2.17G Vibration non-operating 20G
Dimensions & Weight
Height9.5mm
Width69.85mm
Depth100mm
Weight97g
Package Content
Package Content2.5" SSD 3.5" bracket and mounting screws
Additional Information
First Listed on NeweggMay 03, 2019
View Moreexpand_moreView Lessexpand_less

Overview

Overview