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HyperX Predator 480GB

HyperX Predator 480GB Review – Kingston has had a tough time of it of late, with its SSDs failing to match the performance of the memory juggernauts such as Samsung and SanDisk. The Predator is the company’s latest SSD, and we’re happy to say that the company has finally released a drive that is as impressive as the HyperX brand used to be. It mightn’t be cheap, but it’s one helluva speed demon.

HyperX-Predator-480GB HyperX Predator 480GB

HyperX Predator 480GB, Kingston is back in the game

This drive uses a PCIe 2.0 x4 interface, which gives it a huge leg up over SATA 3 and PCIe 2.0 x2 drives. It’s actually an M.2 SSD mounted on a PCIe card, and removing it from said card is a cinch… but doing so will void your 3 year warranty, which is a shame. Thankfully it’s possible to buy the same drive as a pure M.2 variant. Marvell’s 88SS9293 fourlane PCIe 2.0 controller is responsible for this drive’s blazing performance, which is used to drive the popular Toshiba A19 MLC NAND Flash, which is found on several other drives in the roundup. Acronis cloning software is included in the box, just like several other SSDs.

Our performance numbers show that the Predator is aptly named, with the fastest sequential read and write performance of the group. It’s other read/write numbers are a bit of a mixed bag, but it shines once again in the 4K QD16 IOPS write test. At a cost of $1.39 per Gigabyte the Predator isn’t cheap, but it delivers unrivalled sequential performance.

Pros

  • Incredible sequential read/write performance
  • Free cloning software

Cons

  • Smaller file transfer results aren’t so glowing
  • Rather expensive ($669)

HyperX Predator 480GB Specifications

  • Capacity: 480GB (as tested)
  • Interface: PCI Express x4 (as tested); also available as bare M.2 drive
  • Form Factor: M.2-2280 (with PCI Express x4 card)
  • Thickness: Not applicable
  • Controller: Marvell 88SS9293

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