Kingston HyperX Savage SSD Review (240GB)

Back in January, at CES 2015, Kingston revealed their fastest SSD yet, the HyperX Predator. Luckily for us we were able to not only review this SSD, but we were able to run two in RAID 0 and it turned out to be quite the performer. Concurrently, this M.2 form factor SSD wasn’t the only SSD being shown off by the HyperX team, during CES they also revealed a new 2.5″ 7mm form factor SATA III based SSD, the HyperX Savage.

The HyperX Savage fills the mid-range performance spot in their SSD line up. For those looking for a step up from their HyperX Fury, but who don’t want to go as far as to buy their HyperX Predator, the HyperX Savage is the SSD to look at. It is powered by a Phison S10 quad-core, eight channel controller and filled with Toshiba’s A19 NAND. These components make for a great combination and place this SSD as Kingston’s fastest SATA-based SSD with sequential speeds up to 560MB/s read and 530MB/s write!

Now, this sounds great, but it gets better. From our experience, upgrading to an SSD can be a bit daunting, even when you know what you are doing. First you need to back up your files. Then you need to find a screw driver to open your case and add in or replace your old drive with your new SSD. Then when you go to plug in your SSD you forget you don’t have any more SATA cables and you need to run to the store to get an extra or wait a few days after ordering one online. Then when you think you are set you realize you want a 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapter to place your SSD in and buy one of those as well as some extra screws. Now that you finally installed the SSD in your system you have to install the operating system, run all your updates and configure all your programs and restore your files…like we said, it can be quite daunting.

In order to make it less of a feat companies have been including cloning software and even 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapters for those who want to save some time on the migration. Kingston has taken this idea a step further by now offering a complete all-in-one update kit. Not only do they include an Acronis True Image HD key, 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapter, and 7mm to 9.5mm spacer, they give you a screw driver, extra screws, a SATA cable, and even a USB 3.0 to SATA enclosure! This is especially helpful for those who have laptops and want to clone but cannot due to the need of an adapter such as this!

SPECIFICATIONS, PRICING, AND AVAILABILITY

When it comes to specs, this 2.5″ 7mm SATA 6Gb/s SSD is up there with some of the best. The HyperX Savage is available in capacities of 120GB ($83.99), 240GB ($139.99), 480GB ($279.99), and 960GB ($559.99). If you are looking to purchase the upgrade kit, it comes at just a $10 increase for any capacity making the upgrade kit a great value. As mentioned earlier, reads and writes are rated for up to 560MB/s and 530MB/s respectively and in terms of IOPS it is rated for up to 100K IOPS read and 89K IOPS write. The 120GB model takes a slight hit in terms of write speeds, maxing out at 360MB/s for sequential write and 84K IOPS for random write.

Just as it’s higher performing brother, the HyperX Predator, the HyperX Savage offers great write endurance. The 120GB model is rated for up to 113TBW, the 240GB model up to 306TBW, the 480GB model up to 416TBW, and the 960GB model is rated for up to 681TBW. When it comes to weight, the 960GB model weighs in at 92g while the other models weigh 96g. Finally, the HyperX Savage comes with the same 3-year warranty as their other SSD products.

PACKAGING AND COMPONENTS

The packaging follows the same dark grunge look as the Predator’s. The front shows the capacity, read and writes speeds, as well as a picture of the SSD and the warranty length. The backside lists and shows the contents of the packaging. The contents are secured and well protected by a nice layer of foam and along with the upgrade kit, it also comes with a HyperX sticker.

 

The appearance of this SATA 6Gb/s SSD is like no other. The case feels like that of a quality product, it has a matte black finish all around. The front side, however, has an indent of an H/X design with HyperX in silver etched on top. On the backside is the serial number sticker where it lists the product code as well as firmware revision and that it was made in Taiwan.

 

 

 

 

A CLOSER LOOK INSIDE

Once taken apart, we can see a big thermal pad placed on the controller to help dissipate heat into the metal casing.

Overall, we can see that the HyperX Savage’s PCB is similar to that of the Corsair Neutron XT’s and Patriot Ignite’s only that this one is a bit larger due to the inclusion of eight more NAND packages.

This is the third time we have reviewed an SSD with the Phison S10 controller. It offers many features such as end to end data path protection, Smart ECC to recover uncorrectable errors, and support for TLC NAND.

This SSD, however, features Toshiba A19 64Gbit MLC NAND flash. In total there are sixteen 16GB packages that offer a raw capacity of 256GB and since this SSD is factory over provisioned, it is listed to be of 240GB capacity. When formatted offer the end user 223GB of space. They are also using 256MB of Nanya DDR3L 1600 for their DRAM cache in the 240GB model.