
Kingston's HyperX division has begun selling its Savage line of solid state drives that we first spied at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this year. These drives combine a SATA 6Gbps interface with the Phison S10 quad-core, eight-channel controller for high read and write speeds, though clearly HyperX is also hoping to win consumers over with aesthetics.
The drives sport a red steel and aluminum case that looks somewhat aggressive, though unless you have a case that's capable of showing off SSDs, it becomes a see-it-once-and-forget-it kind of deal. Nevertheless, maybe blinged out SSDs are the future -- remember Intel's 730 Series with a skull graphic?
Getting to what matters most, here's a look at capacity and performance options:
- 120GB: 520MB/s read, 350MB/s write (100,000 random 4K read IOPS, 84,000 random 4K write IOPS)
- 240GB: 520MB/s read, 510MB/s write (100,000 random 4K read IOPS, 89,000 random 4K write IOPS)
- 480GB: 520MB/s read, 500MB/s write (100,000 random 4K read IOPS, 88,000 random 4K write IOPS)
- 960GB: 520MB/s read, 490MB/s write (99,000 random 4K read IOPS, 89,000 random 4K write IOPS)
Not the fastest we've ever seen in SATA 6Gbps territory, though still peppy.
The 7mm-high drives are available now, both as standalone offerings and in upgrade bundle kits. Pricing on Kingston's website is set at $130 (120GB), $219 (240GB), $444 (480GB), and $929 (960GB). Word to the wise -- prices are significantly cheaper on the street
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