The front of the HyperX 3K SSD box is decked out with a nice picture of the SSD itself along with some branding images. Proudly displayed is the advertised read speed of 555 MB/s, and the Write speed of 510 MB/s on the upper right hand corner. At the lower left we see a few small icons mentioning the free tech support that is available, the three year warranty, and that the 3K SSD is driven by a SandForce controller.
The two box sides have additional branding graphics and marketing slogans.
The back of the box has a multilingual statement of the faster boot times, and increased durability and reliability. Also at the bottom area of the back of the box, there is a list of included items bundled with the kit.
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Before we bust open the box, let’s have a look at the list of everything inside:
- 2.5″ HyperX 3K SSD
- 2.5″ USB Enclosure
- USB Cable For Use With Enclosure
- 3.5″ Bracket and Mounting Screws
- SATA Data Cable
- Hard Drive Cloning Software/Installation Guide (CD)
- Multi-bit Screwdriver
Lifting the lid on the box reveals the HyperX 3K SSD securely nestled in a sturdy foam bed. Beneath the SSD is all the included accessories listed above. Kingston has packaged just about as much as you can for a SSD, including a 2.5″ USB HDD enclosure. I’m not sure who would take a SSD and use it with as a USB drive, but even so, it’s there if you need it. Kingston has partnered with Acronis to provide the HDD cloning software included on the CD. As a long time user of Acronis True Image products myself, I can tell you that their cloning software is second to none and the process is extremely easy to accomplish.
The included 3.5″ mounting bracket is all aluminum and comes with all the needed screws to mount it to a 3.5″ drive bay, and the SSD to the bracket itself.
The HyperX screwdriver that is included is designed like an ink pen and has three included bits (two phillips, one flat). For all you geeks out there wearing pocket protectors, you will be happy to know this screwdriver has a clip to accommodate you and your pocket protector!
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The HyperX 3K SSD has an aluminum top and bottom, with the top being a smooth machined finish and the bottom more of a matte finish. The typical SATA power and SATA data connection points are present, along with four service pins that are of no use to the end user.
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Worth noting is the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) rating of 1,000,000 hours which is less than the 2,000,000 found on other SF-2281 based SSDs. Also worth noting is the 3K P/E Cycles; down from the 5K P/E rating found on most SSDs with the SF-2281 controller. The 3K P/E means the amount of program/erase cycles, hence the “3K” in the product naming. By lowering these two specifications, Kingston is able to reduce the price to the consumer. The good news is the vast majority of users will never get close to using up the million hours MTBF, which works out to roughly 114 years. On the 3K P/E Cycles, the math works out quite favorably as well. Under heavy usage of about 10 Gb of data per day, the life span would be over 8 years, but the average user would be substantially under that usage amount, and will probably fall in the 10 to 12 year life span.
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