Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe SSD Review
The answer to eliminating the bandwidth limitations of the SATA interface is PCI Express. The latest high-end solid state drives connect to a system using the PCI Express interface, which can offer up much more bandwidth than SATA in the right configuration—GB/s versus MB/s. One of the first true PCI Express solid state drives to arrive is the Kingston HyperX Predator we’ll be showing you here today. While we’ve covered a number of drives that connect to a system via PCIe in the past, most of them weren’t true PCIe devices, but rather bridged multiple SATA-based controllers to PCIe. There have been exceptions, of course, but most of them were targeted at the enterprise, and commanded big bucks, save for the recently released Intel SSD 750 we showed you here. Like the Intel drive, the Kingston HyperX Predator PCIe SSD is targeted at performance-minded PC enthusiasts and is much more attainable than enterprise-class offerings. Take a look...
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Form factor: M.2 2280 Interface: PCIe Gen 2.0 x4 Capacities: 240GB, 480GB Controller: Marvell 88SS9293 Power Consumption: 1.38W Idle / 1.4W Avg 1.99W (MAX) Read / 8.25W (MAX) Write Storage temperatures: -40°C~85°C Operating temperatures: 0°C~70°C Dimensions: 80mm x 22mm x 3.5mm (M.2) 180.98mm x 120.96mm x 21.59mm (with HHHL adapter – standard bracket) 181.29mm x 80.14mm x 23.40mm (with HHHL adapter – low-profile bracket) Weight: 10g (M.2) 73g (with HHHL adapter – standard bracket) 68g (with HHHL adapter – low-profile bracket) 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): 240GB: 415TB 1.6 DWPD 480GB: 882TB 1.7 DWPD Find The Kingston HyperX Predator M.2 PCIe SSD @ Amazon.Com |
Kingston rates the endurance of the drives at up to 415TB / 1.6 DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) for the 240GB model and up to 882TB / 1.7 DWPD for the 480GB model. The MTBF is 1 million hours and the drive carry a three-year warranty.
The Kingston HyperX Predator PCIe SSD can connect to system via an appropriate M.2 slot, but as we’ve mentioned, Kingston also offers kits with a half-height, half-length adapter card. The card is relatively simple and does little more than bridge the physical M.2 connection to a PCI Express x4 card edge, for insertion into a slot. The PCB itself is a rich, black color, with gold accents, which should look right at home in an enthusiast system. There are no heatsinks or lighting to speak of, though there is a thermal pad sandwiched between the gumstick and the PCB to help wick heat away from some of the components on the drive.
Included with the drive itself (and adapter card, if you pick up a kit) is a HyperX decal, some basic documentation, and a key for the excellent Acronis True Image software package, which can be used to transfer data from one drive to another, should you want to migrate from an existing installation to the Predator PCIe SSD. Kits that include the adapter card also come with full and half height case brackets.