SSDs have been dropping in prices at such a fast-pace nowadays that SSDs have now shifted from competing with mechanical hard drives to competing with themselves on who can bring the best price-per-gigabyte ratio. In the bench today is Kingston’s mainstream entry into the competitively-priced SSD market with their secondary line of HyperX-branded solid-state drives: the HyperX Fury SSD.
The Kingston HyperX Fury bears much resemblance to the Kingston SSDNow V300 in which both units bear the same SandForce SF-2281 controller but with the HyperX Fury using ONFi 3 NAND ICs. Kingston sets aside a portion of the maximum capacity of the Fury SSDs for overprovisioning hence the 120GB and 240GB designation. Its yet to be seen if Kingston has any plans of releasing higher capacity variants to go head to head with the many entries in this price point most notably Crucial’s MX100 product line which we’ll also be taking a look at.
Features
- SandForce SF-2281 controller with SATA Rev 3.0 (6Gb/s) performance
- Fast — read/write speeds of 500/500 MB/s to boost overall system responsiveness and performance
- Improved gameplay — dramatically reduces games and levels loading time to get faster into the game
- Slim — 2.5-inch drive available in 7mm to fit in more systems (even slimmer notebooks)
- Reliable — cool, rugged and durable drive to push your system to the limits
- Guaranteed – three-year warranty, free technical support
Closer Look
Like SSDNow V300, the Kingston HyperX Fury SSD is packed in a simple plastic shell with a cardboard backing. The packaging is similar to what’s used by the HyperX DataTraveler. The back of the box enumerates details in features but ultimately nothing noteworthy.
Kingston keeps the inclusion simple with the HyperX Fury SSD to keep costs down. The package includes the HyperX Fury SSD itself, a large HyperX sticker and a spacer bracket for 9mm drive slots for compatibility purposes.
The HyperX Fury SSD’s most notable difference compared to the HyperX 3K and original HyperX SSD is its shell. Whereas the premier SSD line of the HyperX Family features a stylized case with a signature top shell bearing the broad X insignia, the HyperX Fury is a simply sticker label with the HyperX Fury name printed. The belly of the SSD doens’t hold any label stickers unlike its big brother.
At 7mm thin, the HyperX Fury SSD adopts the modern standard set for compact storage devices. This makes it highly flexible for both desktop and notebook usage. The included spacer is attached to the SSD to allow a snug fit for 9mm drive slot in devices that have allotments for only 9mm to stop them from wiggling around and getting dislodged.
[section label=”Performance Testing”]Performance Testing
Test Setup
Processor: Intel Core i7 4770K
Motherboard:Â Biostar Hi-Fi Z87W 3D
Memory: Kingston HyperX Beast DDR3-2400
Storage:Â Kingston HyperX Fury SSD 240GB
PSU:Â Corsair AX860i
Maximum Potential Performance
Write Performance
Crystal DiskMark
AS SSD
Real World Copy Tests
Performance at a glance:Â While ATTO paints an incredible 500/500MB read/write performance for the HyperX Fury SSD, real world applications show a more average write performance of around 200MB/s.
[section label=”Conclusion”]
Conclusion
Kingston is pushing its HyperX branding hard this year and we’re seeing more HyperX products out of the pipe than we’re seeing more mainstream products from the company. The HyperX Fury SSD is a direct response to the growing market of SSD adopters who are looking for a more affordable option. Let’s break it down further:
Performance. While Kingston promises some very good numbers, you’ll be hard pressed to see the write figures appear in real life. You still do get some very good read speeds as advertised and handsome small file writing performance but with the way the HyperX Fury SSD was made to save costs, the real-world write speeds will be just around 200-300MB/s. These are still good performance figures and if you’re looking for an SSD, chances are you want it for a boot drive to load your OS and programs from or a game drive. Unless you’re planning on using it in a write-intensive environment like a database server, cache disk or an UltraHD 4K recorder you won’t be missing much.
Build Quality. Nothing special about the build quality although in a more technical note Kingston could’ve opted for another controller to at least bump up the write performance. On a more physical observation, the Kingston HyperX Fury SSD is well-made and feels solid.
Functionality. As we’ve mentioned, the HyperX Fury SSD is fit for more read-intensive applications like the OS boot drive or your games installation drive. Large games with heavy textures that load in real-time will benefit greatly from the improved file reads versus mechanical hard drives.
Bundle. Kingston keeps it basic so nothing special in this segment.
Value. Some e-tailers list the HyperX Fury SSD 240GB at $250, some price it at $150. Looking around though we can see a universal price drop which puts the HyperX Fury SSD 240GB at a handsome $120. While this is attractive given its price point, do consider it is going up against a ton more products and you’ll more likely be overwhelmed by the number of offers available.
As stated, there are plenty of products to go through when you’re shopping for an SSD right now. The Kingston HyperX Fury SSD isn’t really a stand-out product but if you can get it at such a low price, it’d be hard to pass up. If this is your first SSD purchase and your primary goal is to use it as a boot drive or games drive, then the HyperX Fury SSD is a good choice especially for high-resolution games with large texture files like Titanfall, Battlefield 4 and such.
Ultimately, the Kingston HyperX Fury SSD is a young product and will most likely see an evolution in a few months time. If you’re in this price segment and are really having a tough time deciding, our advise is to go for the brand you trust as nearly all in this price point will perform roughly the same. The Kingston HyperX Fury SSD is a solid choice and will easily give you that instant boost in disk performance over mechanical HDDs.
Kingston backs the HyperX Fury SSD with a 3-year warranty. We give the Kingston HyperX Fury SSD our B2G Recommended Award.
