Kingston SSDNow V+ 64GB
Under the hood
Published: 4th December 2009 | Source: Kingston | Price: £133.40 |
Under the Hood
It's a very simple procedure to open up the outer casing. Four simple screws are quickly removed and the top slides off without latches or strange plastic attachments.
The first thing that you see upon removal of the top are 2 of the 8 Samsung K9HCGZ8U5M SCK0 MLC NAND chips. As you can see from the photograph these look quite lonely in the centre of the board on the 64GB model but there is plenty of room for the additional chips used in the larger capacity models. This modular design helps to keep costs down as the boards are interchangeable throughout the entire range. Anything that helps reduce the cost of SSDs is always a good thing.
Turning the board over reveals the other 6 memory chips, alongside the Samsung S3C29RBB01-YK40 controller and the Samsung K4X1G323P0-8GC6 128MB cache chip, more on those below.
The Samsung NAND memory chips are very popular, being used in many SSD solutions. They are 48-pin multi-layer ICs rated at 2.7-3.6V and 25ns speed. By being lead-free they are RoHs compliant, ensuring that having been environmentally friendly during their life with low power requirements, they will also be safe to the planet when finished with.
Time to take a closer look at the Samsung controller, the heart of the Kingston SSDNow V+ drive.
The Samsung S3C29RBB01-YK40 controller is rated to a theoretical write speed of 200 MBps and a speed of 220MBps. Heady numbers indeed and it's clear why this is one of the most popular solid state controllers in the mid-range SSD market..
Most importantly the Samsung controller comes with a feature Samsung call "Self-Healing". This is very similar to the "Garbage Collection" that has recently appeared in some OCZ firmware. MLC NAND chips require the OS to clear the space before the data can be written if you're over-writing a previously written block, otherwise the drives gradually grind to a halt. The Samsung controller cleans these deleted portions automatically without an OS request, ensuring speedy drive operation even after years of use.
The Samsung K4X1G323P0-8GC6 128MB chip which is used for the cache is rated at 1.8v CL3 and in combination with the controller has proven itself to eliminate the stuttering that plagued early SSDs as they couldn't hand the data as fast as they were asked to.
In case this all seems a little familiar the combination of the S3C29RBB01 YK40 controller, K4X1G323P0 8GC6 cache and K9HCGZ8U5M SCK0 NAND chips are also available in the Samsung PB22-J, the OCZ Summit and the Corsair P series of SSDs. This means we already know that it should provide very good speeds indeed, good reliability and be free from the aforementioned stuttering problems.
With the Kingston drive coming in about £20 cheaper than the other three drives it could prove interesting if the main parts of the unit can attain the same performance level for a much lower price point.
In fact its theoretical performance is such that it could be the perfect balance between performance and price that will ensure we all seriously consider the move across to SSD.
Time for a look at the Kingston technical specifications and the test system we'll be using today.
Most Recent Comments
Very nice review mate, after reading;
"Luckily you aren't the type who want the quick answer otherwise you'd have skipped on to the conclusion", I decided to continue reading as I am the kind of person referred to that skips on !
I do agree that an SSD is the best performance upgrade for a PC, however the price is still way too high and unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be dropping soon. That said, I know I will have one/three soon ! Good job.
"Luckily you aren't the type who want the quick answer otherwise you'd have skipped on to the conclusion", I decided to continue reading as I am the kind of person referred to that skips on !
I do agree that an SSD is the best performance upgrade for a PC, however the price is still way too high and unfortunately it doesn't look like it will be dropping soon. That said, I know I will have one/three soon ! Good job.
damn tempting for Red October Mk2... really want something a bit bigger, but £130 for a fast as hell drive is tempting, and I imagine 64gb is enough for Windows 7 and a handful of games... damn you, I want this now!
Still, those write speeds are very impressive, anyone know how much the 128Gb model costs?
Still, those write speeds are very impressive, anyone know how much the 128Gb model costs?
Nice review VB of a decent budget drive, it would deffo make a nice boot drive
I'm managing to resist buying anything until the new year becasue I think once the sata3 ssd's arrive the sata2 tech should drop in price.
I'm managing to resist buying anything until the new year becasue I think once the sata3 ssd's arrive the sata2 tech should drop in price.
going on play.com for £120... is that the same drive?
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/2358/1625/-/11924385/Kingston-SSDNow-V-Series-64GB-SSD-2-5-Internal-SATA-Hard-Drive-With-Desktop-Accessory-Kit/Product.html?searchtype=genre#
Cause if it is I might just buy one, or get Santa to get me one
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/2358/1625/-/11924385/Kingston-SSDNow-V-Series-64GB-SSD-2-5-Internal-SATA-Hard-Drive-With-Desktop-Accessory-Kit/Product.html?searchtype=genre#
Cause if it is I might just buy one, or get Santa to get me one
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='GavX'
going on play.com for £120... is that the same drive?
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/2358/1625/-/11924385/Kingston-SSDNow-V-Series-64GB-SSD-2-5-Internal-SATA-Hard-Drive-With-Desktop-Accessory-Kit/Product.html?searchtype=genre# Cause if it is I might just buy one, or get Santa to get me one |
Where are you seeing it for £130?
Great review.
All we really need now is for another company to undercut Kingston by £20 and the cycle of sanity can continue.
I do agree that the pricing of this is 'good' in comparison with it's fellow suspects, but on the whole, whilst also considering the traditional drive it's reviewed against, I strongly disagree with the 9 rating in the price category. I personally think ssds should start with a '5' rating handicap on general principle.
What does bother me is whilst it boots an OS nicely faster by some 10-15s usually, the files in consideration against the game loading are not a fair template for comparison. What I took from it is that forgiving 10-15s, the traditional harddrive is an awesome purchase, whilst ssds are what they are.
If a traditional harddrive comes out with a 128mb (or even 64mb) cache, the ssd drive will look pretty poor. This ofc will only happen with those manufacturers who don't make ssds.
All we really need now is for another company to undercut Kingston by £20 and the cycle of sanity can continue.
I do agree that the pricing of this is 'good' in comparison with it's fellow suspects, but on the whole, whilst also considering the traditional drive it's reviewed against, I strongly disagree with the 9 rating in the price category. I personally think ssds should start with a '5' rating handicap on general principle.
What does bother me is whilst it boots an OS nicely faster by some 10-15s usually, the files in consideration against the game loading are not a fair template for comparison. What I took from it is that forgiving 10-15s, the traditional harddrive is an awesome purchase, whilst ssds are what they are.
If a traditional harddrive comes out with a 128mb (or even 64mb) cache, the ssd drive will look pretty poor. This ofc will only happen with those manufacturers who don't make ssds.
All scores for pricing within reviews are taken against similar products.
Otherwise the HD5970 should get 1 because you can get a X1950 for £20. Logical fallacy.
Otherwise the HD5970 should get 1 because you can get a X1950 for £20. Logical fallacy.
That an@logy has never worked for me. I can't think of anything relevant to today that the X1950 could do better than the HD5970. Mode promote to an external tv whilst using mpclassic perhaps as the drivers are old enough and u could use an unupd8d xp.
Whereas the F1 can do what HDD's were designed for alot more than all but 1 (that I know of) single SSD can. And that's to store more pr0n, I mean data.
Whereas the F1 can do what HDD's were designed for alot more than all but 1 (that I know of) single SSD can. And that's to store more pr0n, I mean data.
It's not an analogy. It's pointing out that your argument is invalid.
HDDs are not priced comparably to SSDs, nor even are they in competition with them. The sole feature is that they both store data. Thusly HDDs are not taken into account when scoring the price.
Maybe the F1 can do what HDDs are designed to do. But in case you didn't notice this is an SSD review.
HDDs are not priced comparably to SSDs, nor even are they in competition with them. The sole feature is that they both store data. Thusly HDDs are not taken into account when scoring the price.
Maybe the F1 can do what HDDs are designed to do. But in case you didn't notice this is an SSD review.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='VonBlade'
It's not an analogy. It's pointing out that your argument is invalid.
HDDs are not priced comparably to SSDs, nor even are they in competition with them. The sole feature is that they both store data. Thusly HDDs are not taken into account when scoring the price. Maybe the F1 can do what HDDs are designed to do. But in case you didn't notice this is an SSD review. |
And u need to rethink - thinking that SSDs are not in competition with HDDs. They each have more than just the unique feature to store data.
If u also didn't notice, the F1 is used as a comparison more-or-less through-out the review.
Infact, what the fudge was the point in posting what u just posted ?
It is very difficult to justify a price tag like that on what is essentially a 64gb hard drive. Sure it's priced well compared to the competition, but the competition is priced at laughable levels.
Good review all the same
Good review all the same
Anyone seen one in stock at any reputable re/e-tailer?
me want!
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