Kingston Intros Its First SandForce SSD, the HyperX

Kingston has been pretty successful in the value and mainstream SSD market, and now the company is looking into expanding its business into the enthusiast sector with the introduction of its first SandForce-based drive, the HyperX SSD.

This new Kingston solid state drive uses the same SF-2281 controller as that found in OCZ's top of the line Vertex 3 model, and pairs it together with 25nm NAND flash cells manufactured by IMFT.

As a result, the HyperX SSD is capable of reaching sequential read/write throughputs of 525 and 480MB/s, respectively, and its 4K random performance is rated at 40,000 read IOPS and 60,000 write IOPS.

Like most other SF-2000 SSD models, the HyperX connects to the system via a SATA 6Gbps interface, and Kingston has also added support for configurable over provisioning, enabling users to increase the drive's speed and performance at the expense of overall capacity.

The drive will be available in 120GB and 240GB configurations, and just like most of Kingston's other SSDs is also available in a kit form.

Besides the drive itself, this kit includes a 2.5" to 3.5" adapter, an external USB enclosure, the Acronis imaging software, a SATA cable and a screwdriver.

“This launch is very exciting for us at Kingston. The SandForce controller allows us to deliver the high-end performance that is needed for power-users, gamers, and enthusiasts,” said Ariel Perez, SSD business manager, Kingston.

“Integrating a final production quality controller and firmware, and undergoing extensive testing has been an exacting process, but well worth the wait.

“By pairing SandForce’s latest controller with Intel 25nm compute NAND (P/E 5K), we have built an SSD that meets the requirements set by true enthusiasts,” concluded the company's rep.

The Kingston HyperX SSd will start shipping on July 11, 2011 and is backed by a three-year warranty.