We took a look at RAM solutions, Audio peripherals and Mobile devices from Kingston, the most famous brand in the Memory and Flash markets. Today, we’ll analyze a product from the Storage environment:
We will test, on our bench rig, an SSD based on the brand new NGFF format (M.2), equipped on Z97 and X99 mainboards from Intel, together with few AMD 990FX motherboard. We are talking about the Kingston SSDNow SM2280S3/120G, with the 120 GB size.
Kingston SSDNow SM2280S3/120G: technical specs–>In the following table, the product technical specs, if you want to know more about it you can go on the company official website (Kingston):
The company, pointing out the drive’s performance, included a lot of values, including results obtained with ATTO, AS SSD and Crystal Disk Mark, that are 3 out of 5 programs we use for storage units. Its size is really small, moreover its power consumption is really low, and performances are not influenced by this factor. There is also a 240 GB model but today we’re going to test the 120 GB one.
As we already said, power consumption are really low and this drive is compatible with every mainboard equipped with an M.2 slot, so if you intend on buying the SM2280S3 be careful to have a Z97 or a X99 mainboard, or a 990FX mainboard with this kind of connection. With our ASRock Z97 Extreme4 we didn’t have any problem, we just screwed the drive to the mainboard and turned the system on. The NAND controller on which is based this drive is the Phison PS3108, paired up with 1GB DDR3 cache by Nanya and 4 256 Gigabits NAND modules. Since its total size is 128 GB, 8 GB are dedicated to overprovisioning, responsible for cell leveling when memory cells wear out.
Photo Gallery: Kingston SSDNow SM2280S3/120G–>Here there are few pictures of the SSD, with its package:
As you can see, there is no bundle, but it’s not a big deal, since this drive is part of the System Builder Series.
Benchmark rig and test methodology–>The benchmark rig used for the tests is composed by:
Tests are made with zero-fill formatted drives, in order to show the performance level out of the factory.
Test: ATTO Disk Benchmark–>
We begin our test suite with ATTO Disk Benchmark, to verify the performance level declared by the company:
As stated by Kingston, theoretical performances reach 555 MB/s in read and 535 MB/s in write, slightly higher than the rated values.
Test: CrystalDiskMark–>
Now, CrystalDiskMark to analyze the real performance level for the drive:
The company values are the same we found in the software, with slightly higher results in this benchmark too.
Test: AS SSD Benchmark – Copy Benchmark–>
Now, AS SSD Benchmark and its Copy Benchmark, addressed to a flash unit, with which you can deeply test performances for SSDs:
The AS SSD Benchmark is one of the most intensive benchmarks available for storage units, giving a real score that may be compared with other units. Values revealed by this test are slightly lower than what the company rates, but it’s a bunch of MB/s. Great job on the Copy benchmark, too.
This is the most complete software available on the market: it is able to test the drive with files of different sizes, both randomly and sequentially. Scores are pretty good for a 120 GB drive.
Final thoughts–> [conclusione]
[titolo]Performance[/titolo]
The performance we recorded today are comparable to a mid-range SSD, but the main difference is that SM2280S3/120G is a “shrunk” version of an ordinary 2.5″ SSD. Moreover, using the M.2 socket, you won’t have cables around the case, improving cable management and airflows. A weird thing we noticed is that performances fall down as we compress files more, and that is probably the weak spot for the Phison controller installed on the device. It doesn’t really matter, though, the SSD performs pretty good, and it candidates as a great boot drive.
[voto=”8″]
[/conclusione]
[conclusione]
[titolo]Compatibility[/titolo]
The drive is compatible with M.2 slots, equipped on few 990FX mainboard by AMD and on almost all of X99/Z97 motherboards. So, be careful when buying this drive, and ensure you can actually install it in your system.
[voto=”8″]
[/conclusione]
[conclusione]
[titolo]Price[/titolo]
The drive costs 52£ through official resellers, just like concurrents products that are, though, characterized by a 2.5″ form factor. According to its performance, we think it’s a very fair price, for what you get.
[voto=”9″]
[/conclusione]
According to what we stated before, we give to the Kingston SM2280S3/120G our Hardware Gold Award:
We’d like to thank Kingston UK for the sample we reviewed today.
Direttore responsabile di ReHWolution, con la passione per qualsiasi cosa funzioni con un processore fin dal lontano 1995, anno in cui "misteriosamente" la sua CPU avviò un processo di fusione nucleare nel case. Da allora, con impegno e imparzialità analizza hardware e software di ogni tipo, con un occhio di riguardo per l'overclock.
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