When most people think about upgrading their computer they think about the flashy and the sexy parts that they can justify quickly: a new processor, a new video card, and possibly even new RAM. The truth of the matter is that the single most impressive thing that you can do to make your computer noticeably faster for the least amount of money is install your operating system on a Solid State Drive (SSD). While the price range for the size of the drive might shock some people at first, the simple upgrade in speed will undoubtedly make up for the difference.
In terms of performance, Kingston managed to leap through every hoop I could throw at it as if was nothing, making the Intel SSD I have kicking around look slow and dated by comparison (and that isn’t even bringing up simply how much cooler it looks). The pricing on the drive is rather enjoyable as well falling into the normal range of pricing for solid state drives. Considering that the drive is stable, durable and fast it is hard to find a negative on the mechanical side of things. This unit was also reliable; it never failed and install was easy as can be. And just as another side note about Kingston, we reviewed many of their products here on myGamer over the years and they are still going strong. Kingston even offers a great warranty on all their products.
I also can’t help but point out that the drive comes with a copious amount of extras ferreted away inside. Sure, it isn’t uncommon for a company to throw a sticker or two inside of a box for people to plaster on their computer—Kingston managed to outdo them all by the inclusion of a neat pen sized screw driver. It is small and kind of forgettable in the grand scheme but Kingston always things of their customers first and foremost. It also comes with an external hard drive enclosure kit, which I mocked at first, but proved itself to be amazingly useful when I was transferring my old Windows profile off of another SSD. Kingston put more thought into the packaging of their product than some companies do for the product itself.
For the price range, there isn’t really a faster or more reliable drive on the market. From the moment that the box is opened, to the point that it is destroying load times in Farcry 3, it is hard to have a bad time with the device. The only problem with it is that after installing it there is suddenly a focus on the other bottlenecks on my computer.
SSD Specifications:
Model Number: SH103S3 (240 gig model reviewed)
Read Speed: 555MB/s
Write Speed: 510MB/s
Full Data Sheet can be found here on Kingston’s site.
To learn more, click HERE.