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REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS
In taking a close look at the Kingston DataTraveler Hyper X Predator 512GB USB 3.0 flash drive, a number of thoughts come into play and the first deals with performance. I will admit that I am an absolute lover of the ‘LSI SandForce Driven’ SuperTalent Express RC8 and it is with me always. It was the first to really spoil us with performance in a flash drive and I have to wonder why Kingston wouldn’t have done similar here, considering their long standing relationship with LSI SandForce.
The reason has to do partially with costs savings (the Phison controller being much cheaper than the LSI SandForce), but also, we think that Kingston was trying to create a specific high capacity flash drive for a specific user and thats what the Predator does. The Predator was built to store those large files, files that would normally fill up any lesser flash drive very quickly. It is only those files that can appreciate the high sequential performance of 240MB/s read and 160MB/s write, that performance which moves large files very quickly.
Where we can run a complete system off of the LSI SandForce Driven’ DataTraveler Workspace that we recently reviewed, you won’t see the Workspace pushing 512 or 1TB storage anytime soon. The Predator was built for storing large files quickly and Kingston kept the price low by simply matching the controller with the workload.
We knew you might catch that interesting statement of ‘keep the price low’. The 512GB Kingston DataTraveler Hyper X Predator is selling right now for $800 which, only a week or two since release, is less than half of that first listed. The 1TB version will cost considerably more. The Predator is not a flash drive for your typical everyday user (unless of course that user can afford it) and is meant for a specific slice of the tech world. It is the first of its kind and, even with the price, it’s pretty amazing.
Kudos to Kingston as we love to see companies pushing the line in the sand and, more importantly, we love to see absolute quality in the final product which they have shown consistently. The Kingston DataTraveler Hyper X Predator is deserving of our Innovation Award!
That’s one beautiful flash drive. =D
in 2011 my team and I built a 512GB and 1 TB version using LSI controller at Irvine Sensors Corp. We had slightly better performance than Kingston’s HyperX mainly due to the LSI controller.
Hey John, Picked up your Linked In response as well and tried to do some checking into your drive. Is it, or was it ever made available for purchase by the consumer?
Hi Les,
Yes it was sold commercially to specialty markets. I don’t know if they are selling it now for the company changed and is cyber focused. I left the company last year. I recommend you contact them directly.
That is some classy retail packaging, consistent with their other HyperX offerings.
you should had test this with the asus USB3.0 boost software, to see the difference
man would love to have few of those
hai this HD Predator when sale in Indonesian
this will remain a beautiful USB drive…
If God save it from chinese people in order not to be copied.
is should be useful as live recording cctv..
Vould ypu please advise on dissasembly process? Thank you