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Kingston HyperX Savage 240GB SSD Review

SKYMTL

HardwareCanuck Review Editor
Staff member
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
12,840
Location
Montreal
Partial and Full Drive Performance

Partial and Full Drive Performance


<i>While it is important to know how a drive will perform under optimal conditions, more realistic scenarios are just as important. Knowing if a solid state drive will behave differently when partially or even nearly full than when it is empty is very important information to know. To quickly and accurately show this crucial information we have first filled the drive to 50% capacity and re-tested using both synthetic and real world tests. After the completion of this we then re-test at 75% and 90% of full capacity. </i>

Synthetic Test Results

<i>For our synthetic testing we have opted for our standard PCMark 7 test.</i>

<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/HyperX_Savage/data_pcm.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>


Real World Results

<i>For a real world application we have opted for a modified version of our standard Windows 7 Start Up test. Unlike our standard Windows 7 image this image is based on a working system that has been upgraded numerous times of the past few years and represents an even more realistic real world test.</i>

<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/HyperX_Savage/data_boot.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></div>

Finally we can see the reasoning behind such strict load balancing. This may not be the fastest drive when empty but it quickly climbs the charts once data is put on it. The end result is an SSD that is almost as good as what OCZ or Intel has to offer. Considering it took Indilinx and Intel <i>three</i> generations to do what Phison has done in <i>two</i> is rather impressive.
 

SKYMTL

HardwareCanuck Review Editor
Staff member
Joined
Feb 26, 2007
Messages
12,840
Location
Montreal
Conclusion

Conclusion


Kingston’s HyperX Savage is an interesting SSD that endeavors to provide a cost-friendly high performance storage solution alongside something other companies have struggled to achieve: long term performance endurance. In many ways it succeeds in doing exactly that but most benchmarks simply won’t show that.

When potential buyers are looking for SSDs, one of the last things they typically think about are the controllers being used in various solutions. They put raw speed, read / write endurance, pricing and warranty length on a “must have” list but the Savage proves why controller selection should be a major deciding factor as well. While Indilinx, Intel, SandForce and others are well regarded, Phison is a relative unknown but the relative strengths of their new PS 3110 controller are noteworthy. The Savage takes a back seat to other potentially less expensive SSDs when fresh out of the box but outside of a completely virgin state, the PS 3110’s abilities truly begin to shine through. As it fills up with data the Savage was able to overtake some of the best drives available today. Considering no one buying an SSD will let it sit there with a modicum of data wrapped into its pretty metal frame, this is a huge deal and it should matter to you as well.

With that being said the HyperX Savage is not an across the board success and it will really come down to what your particular needs are before choosing it over a comparable drive from OCZ, Crucial, or even Intel. The reason for this is twofold. First and foremost with basically only one core dedicated to end-user I/O requests the controller is best suited to extremely shallow queue depth scenarios. While these situations are the bread and butter of home-use environments, there were plenty of times where the PS3110 could have used a second or even third core to boost performance. If you only plan on running one major application at a time this issue won’t apply to you but multi-taskers or folks editing large volumes of content may be negatively affected.

One of the major issues we see with the Savage is price. Even excluding the better overall value Upgrade Bundle kit, and instead just focusing in on the barebones version this drive is $25 more expensive than a MX200 and is treading dangerously close to OCZ Vector 180 territory. This drive is good, but at nearly sixty cents per gigabyte of space, there are some heavy-hitting alternatives that tend to best it again and again.

The end result of all this is a new SSD series which is very innovative, and boasts superlative long-term performance, but one that may not find traction at its current price point. As it stands, the Savage is worth keeping a close eye on provided it goes on sale or gets attached to mail in rebates but it would not necessarily be the most optimal solution for all mainstream consumers.

<div align="center"><img src="http://images.hardwarecanucks.com/image/akg/Storage/HyperX_Savage/di.png" border="0" alt="" /></div>
 
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