Kingston HyperX Savage SSD 480Gb Storage Review

Introduction

Kingston have always been manufacturers of RAM memory and flash devices, and in more recent years storage manufacturers. Why? Well until the advent of SSD’s, Kingston did not manufacture large storage hard drives, in fact we don’t recall them ever creating an old school HDD. That means they were newish to large storage when they ventured into SSD territory. Let’s jump ahead and enter the HyperX Savage range, their top SSD drive in their consumer range. Taking aim at the likes of Samsung and Crucial, the HyperX Savage range has some stiff competition.

So what does it all mean? For us, the consumer, a fantastic development race between some of the greatest semiconductor and transistor designers and manufacturers. An ever increasing maturity in products, for example, the HyperX Savage uses the Phison S10 controller, with Samsung, Crucial and Intel using three other types, Samsung 3-core MCX controller, Marvell 88SS9174 and the SandForce SF-2281.

It doesn’t stop there, with these controllers rapidly being outdated by their replacements, the memory technology is developing at a rapid pace with TLC and MLC NAND plus any number of features you want to include.

Today we are reviewing the Kingston HyperX Savage SSD 480Gb Standalone Kit, and once we are done with it, we are giving it away. In the office we only use SSDs for our main builds, gaming or general office rigs, we wouldn’t consider using anything else. We use a number of HDDs in our Server, and one or two for hot back ups, but that’s it. We are always interested in testing a new SSD that we have never used, so let’s get on.

Technology

• Form factor: 2.5″
• Interface: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) – with backwards compatibility to SATA Rev. 2.0 (3Gb/s)
• Controller: Phison PS3110-S10
• 560MB/s Read and 530MB/s Write
• Power Consumption: 0.39W Idle / 0.5W Avg / 1.4W (MAX) Read / 4.35W (MAX) Write
• Storage temperature: -40°C~85°C
• Operating temperature: 0°C~70°C
• Dimensions: 100.0mm x 69.9mm x 7.0mm
• Weight: 480GB — 96g
• Vibration operating: 2.17G Peak (7–800Hz)
• Vibration non-operating: 20G Peak (10–2000Hz)
• Life expectancy: 1 million hours MTBF
• Warranty/support: 3-year warranty with free technical support
• Total Bytes Written (TBW): 480GB: 416TB 0.81 DWPD4
• Performance — incredible speeds for enhanced productivity
• Unique design — stunning red casing to give an edge to the latest PC hardware
• Slim — 7mm thickness to fit in most desktops and notebooks
• Fast and easy migration — all-in-one kit available with premium HyperX accessories, including a handy multi-kit screwdriver and USB 3.0 enclosure for easy installation
• Guaranteed — three-year warranty and free technical support

Fast speeds and tiny power consumption, the trademarks of Solid State Drive technology, oh, and no moving parts!

Product Shots

The Savage is packaged in a very nice foam presentation brace.

A mounting kit, screws and a self adhesive backed fitting are included, enough to get most up and running.

The foam has the HyperX logo carved into it, and it’s almost too nice to put away. A case badge would have been nice, not our normal call, but we like the HyperX styling enough to put it on the outside of our gaming rigs.

It is a very good looking drive, feels very sturdy in the hand and has all the right gaming colours!