SSD Kingston UV500 - King of Upgrades
Some hotheads are firmly defending the idea that a modern SSD should be NVMe and full stop. Undoubtedly, the world would be more beautiful, if some kind of witch happened, and each device had a full M.2 port with support for PCI-Express drives per night. But we have no such magic, and therefore the need for SATA III drives has not gone away. And Kingston found something to satisfy her once again.
Two years ago, we already had a review of the drive from this line - at that time we disassembled the 480 GB UV400 in detail . In 2018, the UV-series fired three SSDs at once, not all: they are all called UV500 and are embodied in different form factors. Classic packaging, equipment - too, no frills. The main thing, the main thing - stuffing. And with her there is a complete order.
SATA is an old standard, and therefore it has countless implementations (well, here we exaggerate, numerical) set. Classic 2.5 "drives - please. Strict metal case, standard sizes (7 mm thickness - even fit into ultrabooks with such a drive format). Most modern M.2, which you can connect almost anything?
With the SATA Express key - easily. The standard size 2280 is used in both desktops and most laptops. Does the ultra-compact Intel NUC nettop (or some other device five years ago) require a strange drive format? . This option also has a UV500.
With all the undeniable advantages of the new connection protocol, NVMe drives do not always outperform classical solutions in real-world problems. Firstly, SATA drives consume significantly less energy (and their controllers heat less) - this is noticeable in thin ultrabooks. Secondly, there are a lot of non-linear problems in which the algorithm would gladly have rested both at the throughput of ~ 550 MB / s and at low random access rates. But they are either waiting for the solution of another task, or user input, or some other thing that simply does not allow acceleration to the stop. So if you're not a programming maniac,
Yes, SATA III will not allow to set speed records, this is understandable immediately. The standard is old, there is no undocumented ability to exceed its throughput, the AHCI controller can’t teach new tricks, so the maximum linear speed and random access time are quite predictable. How fast NAND-chips do not put, but there is one "bottleneck" - connecting the drive to the system. However, there are many vendors on the market for a reason. What makes each SSD unique - the controller and its firmware - allows you to achieve the best results in different usage scenarios, and it also affects the price, reliability, temperature indicators and other things.
Inside the Kingston UV500, a Marvell 88SS4074-BSW2 controller is installed. At first glance, there is nothing remarkable in its specifications: 4 channels of NAND memory, support for the SATA 3.2 standard ... But there are some features. Built-in encryption AES 256-bit encryption and full support for the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Opal 2.0 technology is rare. Accordingly, all the variety of software that works with TCG Opal and protects corporate data from leaks is turned “out of the box” and does not require the installation of proprietary crutches. But then - for offices and cryptomaniac.
For simple users, the most important thing is support for the third generation LDPC system, which can work with MLC / TLC chips and 3D NAND memory, which is installed in the UV500. By themselves, error correction codes based on a low-density code are not new, but the most up-to-date implementation allows you to bring the planned life of 3D NAND memory cells to that of the MLC: that for old controllers would be a “dead” iron, new ones can continue exploit to record data by matching the right parameters to each specific bank.
Iterative reading in multi-level NAND chips fits perfectly with the LDPC operation algorithm, but correcting the errors found requires significant computational resources, so Marvell 88SS4074 can begin to actively warm up in the course of work with time: true, after five years you may have changed all the iron, yes and 1 TB of a fast drive will probably cost ridiculous money by that moment.
Test hardware is standard: good old Intel in conjunction with fast RAM, separate SSD for the system, so that the benchmarks are not influenced by unpredictable factors, good power and cooling of the system.
CPU: Core i7-7820X
RAM: DDR4 Kingston HyperX Predator 3000 MHz 4x8 GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080
SSD 1: Kingston KC1000 480 GB
SSD 2: Kingston UV500 2.5 "
SSD 3: Kingston UV500 M.2"
A set of testing software is also standard: ATTO Disk Benchmar and CrystalMark. Testing technique - 5 runs of one test in a row + control after 10 minutes, the choice of the result as close as possible to the arithmetic mean. A break between tests is half an hour. All drives were filled with half different files: a set of photos in RAW-format, several heavy toys and software package from Adobe.
The M.2 format drive works with the SATA controller somewhat differently than the version installed in the “classic” connector - on the ASUS motherboard, only two SATA connectors are directly connected to the processor controller, the rest are controlled by an additional microcircuit. The universal slot M.2 allows you to install both PCI-Express drives and SATA, and in both cases the SSD will be controlled by the processor controller, and the results will be higher.
UV500 inherited the best features of the previous series (optimal price / performance ratio), but it works on more modern hardware: switching to 3D NAND memory reduced the cost of one gigabyte, and the smart controller pulled the resource to the best drives based on more expensive technologies. The SATA III protocol is used at the limit of capabilities, but in many tasks even such speeds are abundant, because the main thing is instant access to data, and not linear read speed. And here the UV500 reveals itself to the full. Excellent upgrade kit for any computer or laptop.
SSDs Kingston UV500 is now available. Search in Kingston partner stores:
- in the DNS network ( more );
- In Onlinetrade ( more );
- in Yulmart ( more );
- in Fcenter ( more info ).
For more information about Kingston and HyperX products, visit the company's official website .
Trio uv500
Two years ago, we already had a review of the drive from this line - at that time we disassembled the 480 GB UV400 in detail . In 2018, the UV-series fired three SSDs at once, not all: they are all called UV500 and are embodied in different form factors. Classic packaging, equipment - too, no frills. The main thing, the main thing - stuffing. And with her there is a complete order.
Connectors - separately, protocols - separately
SATA is an old standard, and therefore it has countless implementations (well, here we exaggerate, numerical) set. Classic 2.5 "drives - please. Strict metal case, standard sizes (7 mm thickness - even fit into ultrabooks with such a drive format). Most modern M.2, which you can connect almost anything?
With the SATA Express key - easily. The standard size 2280 is used in both desktops and most laptops. Does the ultra-compact Intel NUC nettop (or some other device five years ago) require a strange drive format? . This option also has a UV500.
Who needs SATA III in 2018?
With all the undeniable advantages of the new connection protocol, NVMe drives do not always outperform classical solutions in real-world problems. Firstly, SATA drives consume significantly less energy (and their controllers heat less) - this is noticeable in thin ultrabooks. Secondly, there are a lot of non-linear problems in which the algorithm would gladly have rested both at the throughput of ~ 550 MB / s and at low random access rates. But they are either waiting for the solution of another task, or user input, or some other thing that simply does not allow acceleration to the stop. So if you're not a programming maniac,
Measure performance
Yes, SATA III will not allow to set speed records, this is understandable immediately. The standard is old, there is no undocumented ability to exceed its throughput, the AHCI controller can’t teach new tricks, so the maximum linear speed and random access time are quite predictable. How fast NAND-chips do not put, but there is one "bottleneck" - connecting the drive to the system. However, there are many vendors on the market for a reason. What makes each SSD unique - the controller and its firmware - allows you to achieve the best results in different usage scenarios, and it also affects the price, reliability, temperature indicators and other things.
Inside the Kingston UV500, a Marvell 88SS4074-BSW2 controller is installed. At first glance, there is nothing remarkable in its specifications: 4 channels of NAND memory, support for the SATA 3.2 standard ... But there are some features. Built-in encryption AES 256-bit encryption and full support for the Trusted Computing Group (TCG) Opal 2.0 technology is rare. Accordingly, all the variety of software that works with TCG Opal and protects corporate data from leaks is turned “out of the box” and does not require the installation of proprietary crutches. But then - for offices and cryptomaniac.
For simple users, the most important thing is support for the third generation LDPC system, which can work with MLC / TLC chips and 3D NAND memory, which is installed in the UV500. By themselves, error correction codes based on a low-density code are not new, but the most up-to-date implementation allows you to bring the planned life of 3D NAND memory cells to that of the MLC: that for old controllers would be a “dead” iron, new ones can continue exploit to record data by matching the right parameters to each specific bank.
Iterative reading in multi-level NAND chips fits perfectly with the LDPC operation algorithm, but correcting the errors found requires significant computational resources, so Marvell 88SS4074 can begin to actively warm up in the course of work with time: true, after five years you may have changed all the iron, yes and 1 TB of a fast drive will probably cost ridiculous money by that moment.
Test environment
Test hardware is standard: good old Intel in conjunction with fast RAM, separate SSD for the system, so that the benchmarks are not influenced by unpredictable factors, good power and cooling of the system.
CPU: Core i7-7820X
RAM: DDR4 Kingston HyperX Predator 3000 MHz 4x8 GB
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1080
SSD 1: Kingston KC1000 480 GB
SSD 2: Kingston UV500 2.5 "
SSD 3: Kingston UV500 M.2"
A set of testing software is also standard: ATTO Disk Benchmar and CrystalMark. Testing technique - 5 runs of one test in a row + control after 10 minutes, the choice of the result as close as possible to the arithmetic mean. A break between tests is half an hour. All drives were filled with half different files: a set of photos in RAW-format, several heavy toys and software package from Adobe.
Test results
The M.2 format drive works with the SATA controller somewhat differently than the version installed in the “classic” connector - on the ASUS motherboard, only two SATA connectors are directly connected to the processor controller, the rest are controlled by an additional microcircuit. The universal slot M.2 allows you to install both PCI-Express drives and SATA, and in both cases the SSD will be controlled by the processor controller, and the results will be higher.
findings
UV500 inherited the best features of the previous series (optimal price / performance ratio), but it works on more modern hardware: switching to 3D NAND memory reduced the cost of one gigabyte, and the smart controller pulled the resource to the best drives based on more expensive technologies. The SATA III protocol is used at the limit of capabilities, but in many tasks even such speeds are abundant, because the main thing is instant access to data, and not linear read speed. And here the UV500 reveals itself to the full. Excellent upgrade kit for any computer or laptop.
SSDs Kingston UV500 is now available. Search in Kingston partner stores:
- in the DNS network ( more );
- In Onlinetrade ( more );
- in Yulmart ( more );
- in Fcenter ( more info ).
For more information about Kingston and HyperX products, visit the company's official website .