Ssd kingston uv400 120gb technical specifications. Kingston Digital Introduces UV400 SSD

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine a modern personal computer without a solid-state drive. Even in budget assemblies they try to include a model with a small amount of memory, designed to load the operating system. The most popular are still drives with a SATA interface, since this connector is present on all motherboards, including those based on old system logic. Thanks to the SSD, the system's responsiveness increases noticeably and spending time on the computer becomes much more comfortable. Today we will look at a device from one of the most well-known manufacturers of RAM, whose range also includes various models of solid-state drives. We are, of course, talking about the Kingston company, which can be easily identified by its expressive logo.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: Kingston;
• Series: UV400;
• Model: SUV400S37240G;
• Capacity: 240 GB;
• NAND Flash: Triple-Level Cell (TLC);
• Controller: Marvell 88SS1074;
• Read speed: 550 MB/s (ATTO);
• Write speed: 490 Mb/s (ATTO);
• Drive form factor: 2.5";
• Connection interface: SATA 6Gb/s;
• MTBF: 1 million hours;
• Operating temperature: 0°C to 70°C;
• Dimensions: 70 x 7 x 100 mm;
• Weight: 58 g;
• Warranty: 36 months;
• Price: 5300 rub.

Positioning

First, let's look at the manufacturer's range, which includes: RAM, solid-state drives, USB drives and memory cards. SSDs are divided into several segments, among which there are lines aimed at ordinary users: A400/UV400/V300/Fury/HyperX Savage. The capacity of the models varies from 120 to 960 GB. In addition, there are also devices with PCIe and M.2 support. The UV400 series under consideration is budget, has decent characteristics, but to reduce the cost, it is built on TLC memory chips. In this segment we have to compete with solutions from SanDisk, Smartbuy, OCZ, Crucial, Patriot, Silicon Power, Samsung, ADATA. So if you need a fast, capacious drive, then one or two models from Kingston will probably come into your field of vision, especially since the price segment varies markedly depending on the line.

Packaging and equipment

The device comes in a brightly designed package, where the storage capacity is indicated on the front side, and there is also a three-year warranty mark. Oddly enough, technical specifications are not given here. The reverse side describes in general terms the purpose of SSD drives.

The frame is made of cardboard, and a transparent blister is used to protect the case. The manufacturer tried to make the packaging as compact and light as possible. Apart from the drive, nothing else is included in the kit.

It should be noted that the UV400 series is represented by three models with capacities of 120, 240 and 480Gb. In addition, devices are supplied in various configurations, starting with OEM and ending with an extended kit, including: a SATA cable, an adapter from 2.5"->3.5" and a plate to increase the thickness from 7 to 9.5 mm.

Appearance

A distinctive feature of the Kingston UV400 240GB is its aluminum body. On the front side we are greeted by the company logo, which in appearance is somewhat reminiscent of figures from Easter Island. In fact, this logo symbolized a person inserting a memory into his head. Moreover, this individual head is named Rex. On the back side in a small area there is a sticker with a QR code, model number and volume.

The dimensions of the drive are quite standard and correspond to 70x7x100 mm. Taking into account the thickness, this model will easily fit not only personal computers and laptops, but also ultrabooks.

The manufacturer has taken some measures to make access to the board more difficult. Not only is one of the bolts equipped with a blocking seal, but also a six-pointed star is used as a thread. To remove the bolts you will need a Torx T6 screwdriver.

Before moving on to a more detailed consideration, it should be noted that despite the presence in stores of a large number of various SSD models, they often differ slightly. The problem lies in the fact that many companies do not have sufficient potential and production capacity to independently develop and release their own product, where both the memory and the controller belong to the desired brand. That is why companies such as A-DATA, Corsair, Patriot, Silicon Power, Transcend, etc. use ready-made developments from third-party OEM manufacturers. This approach allows us to tighten competition and gain a certain market share. The most commonly used controllers are solutions from PHYSON, Silicon Motion and Marvell. As for memory, as a rule these are chips from Micron, less often from Intel, Toshiba, Samsung or Hynix.

But let's go back and look at what is located on our board. The controller is a four-channel Marvell 88SS1074. This is a proven solution that guarantees good performance. The main volume of TLC memory is allocated to sixteen Kingston chips labeled FT16B08UCT1-0F, 16 GB each. The final size is 256 GB, where 16 GB are allocated for the needs of the controller and service information. The final picture is complemented by a 256 MB DDR3-1600 cache memory manufactured by Nanya.

Software

For UV400 series drives, Kingston offers its proprietary SSD Manager utility. The lower part provides current information about the partition status, key SMART parameters, cell life, and operating temperature. On the top there are tabs:

• Firmware- indicates the firmware version, device serial number, model and path to the disk. To update the firmware, you should download the updated version of the utility.
• S.M.A.R.T.- the log shows the status of the hard drive based on monitoring of key parameters. Also, using this table, the remaining resource is calculated.

• Security- Secure Erase function, which guarantees complete clearing of information from memory without the possibility of its recovery.
• Events- device event log.

Test bench configuration

• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (4000 MHz);
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 7;
• Cooler: ;
• Thermal interface: Cryorig CP15;
• Memory: 4 x 4 GB DDR4 3400, ;
• Video card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 Strix;
• SSD drive: Kingston UV400 240GB (SUV400S37240G);
• Fan rotation controller: Schyte Kaze Q-12;
• Power unit: ;
• Case: NZXT Switch 810;
• Monitor: SAMSUNG U32E850R;
• Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.

Testing

To prepare the drive for testing, you should create a partition; for this we will use the EASEUS utility.

The leveling process should then be performed if this has not been done previously. Let's use the Paragon Alignment Tool for this.

To start, S.M.A.R.T. from the CrystalDiskInfo plate, the data indicates support for NCQ and TRIM. The drive is completely new, as evidenced by the total operating time.

Let's test the Kingston UV400 240GB in the most popular test packages.

Anvil's Storage - This application includes a variety of tests to measure performance. You can test sequential read/write speed, or take a full test. In the program settings, a number of parameters are set, including the degree of data compression.

AS SSD Benchmark - in addition to the main test, it also includes Copy Benchmark and Compression Benchmark.

Thanks to the presence of the Silicon Motion controller, the speed of the device remains constant and does not depend on the possibility of data compression, which is confirmed in the Compression Benchmark test.

Copy Benchmark shows the time spent copying data under various operating scenarios.

ATTO Disk Benchmark - the results obtained sometimes exceed those indicated on the Kingston website 550 MB/s for reading and 490 MB/s for writing. Most manufacturers rely on ATTO DISK Benchmark readings due to the fact that this test uses well-compressed data, which allows them to compensate for the drop in speed parameters in the case of poorly compressed data.

CrystalDiskMark - based on the results, it should be noted that the speed is constant regardless of the type of data used (poorly/well compressed).

To increase the information content, I will present the results from the HD Tune Pro test package; testing took place when the drive was full.

Conclusion

Kingston UV400 240GB (SUV400S37240G) is an inexpensive but powerful solution that is perfect for a gaming build or laptop. During testing, no significant negative aspects were recorded. Some may note that using TLC type memory is not the most positive thing. However, this move is very typical for the budget segment, and if you do not plan to record large amounts of data daily, then the resource will last you a long time. The advantages include design, performance, stable operation with any type of data, noiselessness, low consumption, support for proprietary software and a warranty period of 36 months.

Pros:

• Nice design;
• Good performance;
• Constant speed when working with any type of data;
• Economical consumption;
• Quiet operation;
• Warranty period 36 months;
• Availability of proprietary SSD Manager software.

Minuses:

• No significant ones were identified.

Nowadays, it is difficult to imagine a modern personal computer without a solid-state drive. Even in budget assemblies they try to include a model with a small amount of memory, designed to load the operating system. The most popular are still drives with a SATA interface, since this connector is present on all motherboards, including those based on old system logic. Thanks to the SSD, the system's responsiveness increases noticeably and spending time on the computer becomes much more comfortable. Today we will look at a device from one of the most well-known manufacturers of RAM, whose range also includes various models of solid-state drives. We are, of course, talking about the Kingston company, which can be easily identified by its expressive logo.

Specifications

• Manufacturer: Kingston;
• Series: UV400;
• Model: SUV400S37240G;
• Capacity: 240 GB;
• NAND Flash: Triple-Level Cell (TLC);
• Controller: Marvell 88SS1074;
• Read speed: 550 MB/s (ATTO);
• Write speed: 490 Mb/s (ATTO);
• Drive form factor: 2.5";
• Connection interface: SATA 6Gb/s;
• MTBF: 1 million hours;
• Operating temperature: 0°C to 70°C;
• Dimensions: 70 x 7 x 100 mm;
• Weight: 58 g;
• Warranty: 36 months;
• Price: 5300 rub.

Positioning

First, let's look at the manufacturer's range, which includes: RAM, solid-state drives, USB drives and memory cards. SSDs are divided into several segments, among which there are lines aimed at ordinary users: A400/UV400/V300/Fury/HyperX Savage. The capacity of the models varies from 120 to 960 GB. In addition, there are also devices with PCIe and M.2 support. The UV400 series under consideration is budget, has decent characteristics, but to reduce the cost, it is built on TLC memory chips. In this segment we have to compete with solutions from SanDisk, Smartbuy, OCZ, Crucial, Patriot, Silicon Power, Samsung, ADATA. So if you need a fast, capacious drive, then one or two models from Kingston will probably come into your field of vision, especially since the price segment varies markedly depending on the line.

Packaging and equipment

The device comes in a brightly designed package, where the storage capacity is indicated on the front side, and there is also a three-year warranty mark. Oddly enough, technical specifications are not given here. The reverse side describes in general terms the purpose of SSD drives.

The frame is made of cardboard, and a transparent blister is used to protect the case. The manufacturer tried to make the packaging as compact and light as possible. Apart from the drive, nothing else is included in the kit.

It should be noted that the UV400 series is represented by three models with capacities of 120, 240 and 480Gb. In addition, devices are supplied in various configurations, starting with OEM and ending with an extended kit, including: a SATA cable, an adapter from 2.5"->3.5" and a plate to increase the thickness from 7 to 9.5 mm.

Appearance

A distinctive feature of the Kingston UV400 240GB is its aluminum body. On the front side we are greeted by the company logo, which in appearance is somewhat reminiscent of figures from Easter Island. In fact, this logo symbolized a person inserting a memory into his head. Moreover, this individual head is named Rex. On the back side in a small area there is a sticker with a QR code, model number and volume.

The dimensions of the drive are quite standard and correspond to 70x7x100 mm. Taking into account the thickness, this model will easily fit not only personal computers and laptops, but also ultrabooks.

The manufacturer has taken some measures to make access to the board more difficult. Not only is one of the bolts equipped with a blocking seal, but also a six-pointed star is used as a thread. To remove the bolts you will need a Torx T6 screwdriver.

Before moving on to a more detailed consideration, it should be noted that despite the presence in stores of a large number of various SSD models, they often differ slightly. The problem lies in the fact that many companies do not have sufficient potential and production capacity to independently develop and release their own product, where both the memory and the controller belong to the desired brand. That is why companies such as A-DATA, Corsair, Patriot, Silicon Power, Transcend, etc. use ready-made developments from third-party OEM manufacturers. This approach allows us to tighten competition and gain a certain market share. The most commonly used controllers are solutions from PHYSON, Silicon Motion and Marvell. As for memory, as a rule these are chips from Micron, less often from Intel, Toshiba, Samsung or Hynix.

But let's go back and look at what is located on our board. The controller is a four-channel Marvell 88SS1074. This is a proven solution that guarantees good performance. The main volume of TLC memory is allocated to sixteen Kingston chips labeled FT16B08UCT1-0F, 16 GB each. The final size is 256 GB, where 16 GB are allocated for the needs of the controller and service information. The final picture is complemented by a 256 MB DDR3-1600 cache memory manufactured by Nanya.

Software

For UV400 series drives, Kingston offers its proprietary SSD Manager utility. The lower part provides current information about the partition status, key SMART parameters, cell life, and operating temperature. On the top there are tabs:

• Firmware- indicates the firmware version, device serial number, model and path to the disk. To update the firmware, you should download the updated version of the utility.
• S.M.A.R.T.- the log shows the status of the hard drive based on monitoring of key parameters. Also, using this table, the remaining resource is calculated.

• Security- Secure Erase function, which guarantees complete clearing of information from memory without the possibility of its recovery.
• Events- device event log.

Test bench configuration

• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700K (4000 MHz);
• Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-Gaming 7;
• Cooler: ;
• Thermal interface: Cryorig CP15;
• Memory: 4 x 4 GB DDR4 3400, ;
• Video card: Asus GeForce GTX 950 Strix;
• SSD drive: Kingston UV400 240GB (SUV400S37240G);
• Fan rotation controller: Schyte Kaze Q-12;
• Power unit: ;
• Case: NZXT Switch 810;
• Monitor: SAMSUNG U32E850R;
• Operating system: Windows 10 64-bit.

Testing

To prepare the drive for testing, you should create a partition; for this we will use the EASEUS utility.

The leveling process should then be performed if this has not been done previously. Let's use the Paragon Alignment Tool for this.

To start, S.M.A.R.T. from the CrystalDiskInfo plate, the data indicates support for NCQ and TRIM. The drive is completely new, as evidenced by the total operating time.

Let's test the Kingston UV400 240GB in the most popular test packages.

Anvil's Storage - This application includes a variety of tests to measure performance. You can test sequential read/write speed, or take a full test. In the program settings, a number of parameters are set, including the degree of data compression.

AS SSD Benchmark - in addition to the main test, it also includes Copy Benchmark and Compression Benchmark.

Thanks to the presence of the Silicon Motion controller, the speed of the device remains constant and does not depend on the possibility of data compression, which is confirmed in the Compression Benchmark test.

Copy Benchmark shows the time spent copying data under various operating scenarios.

ATTO Disk Benchmark - the results obtained sometimes exceed those indicated on the Kingston website 550 MB/s for reading and 490 MB/s for writing. Most manufacturers rely on ATTO DISK Benchmark readings due to the fact that this test uses well-compressed data, which allows them to compensate for the drop in speed parameters in the case of poorly compressed data.

CrystalDiskMark - based on the results, it should be noted that the speed is constant regardless of the type of data used (poorly/well compressed).

To increase the information content, I will present the results from the HD Tune Pro test package; testing took place when the drive was full.

Conclusion

Kingston UV400 240GB (SUV400S37240G) is an inexpensive but powerful solution that is perfect for a gaming build or laptop. During testing, no significant negative aspects were recorded. Some may note that using TLC type memory is not the most positive thing. However, this move is very typical for the budget segment, and if you do not plan to record large amounts of data daily, then the resource will last you a long time. The advantages include design, performance, stable operation with any type of data, noiselessness, low consumption, support for proprietary software and a warranty period of 36 months.

Pros:

• Nice design;
• Good performance;
• Constant speed when working with any type of data;
• Economical consumption;
• Quiet operation;
• Warranty period 36 months;
• Availability of proprietary SSD Manager software.

Minuses:

• No significant ones were identified.

Kingston never ceases to delight with new products in the SSD market. Moreover, it cannot be said that this is typical only for one sales sector. For example, both productive solutions and budget ones are produced. Now we will focus on inexpensive devices, because the fairly new UV300 line (we talked about it recently) has already been replaced by UV400, with which several innovations came at once. In this review we will look at the Kingston SSD UV400 480 GB.

Kingston UV400 - Features Overview

It is not known for certain what prompted Kingston to release a new budget SSD series, which will obviously claim a certain market share. It is important to note that UV300 also sells well and has good combinations of characteristics. Judging by the manufacturer's English-language website, the UV300 is no longer among the list of current models, which may indicate that this line has been replaced by a new product. Interestingly, both drives are built on different platforms. While the UV 300 is based on the popular Phison platform, the new product will use a Marvell chip. Both drives are built using TLC memory, although the UV400 uses newer 16 nm chips. To continue, perhaps let’s compare the stated speed indicators:

Developer Specifications

We don’t pay attention to linear speeds, since they are, in fact, within the same limits, but if we turn to IOPS, there are interesting comments. The new UV400 should boast improved recording operations. Please note that for a 480 GB disk, up to 90,000 read IOPS and up to 35,000 write IOPS are stated, while the UV300 could boast 95,000 read IOPS (5,000 more) and 26,000 IOPS (9,000 less). It is important to note here that there are already no problems with read speeds, that is, 90K and 95K are high values, while “extra” IOPS for writing will come in handy.

The second important note will be the addition of a 960 GB model to the line. Many manufacturers are starting to update their lines to such values ​​“without compromising” speeds, and even vice versa. In particular for UV 400, the more capacity, the higher the speed. It remains to clarify the manufacturer's pricing policy. The third is a modified design, but we'll talk about that later.

Despite the fact that the discs are new and have recently appeared on sale, their price is already at a fairly low level. More precisely, it does not exceed the lower limit; it can be compared with the most inexpensive solutions, although the difference in this class is traditionally small. It’s also quite interesting that we can now purchase an SSD drive with a capacity of 480 GB for about 8,500 rubles or even a little cheaper. At the same time, popular “mid-rangers”, such as the Samsung 850 EVO, for example, are priced at an average of 12,000 rubles on the market. The difference is noticeable. Well, the upper segment is presented in the range of 16 – 18,000 rubles, some models, for example Intel 730, reach 25,000 rubles.

Appearance and features of Kingston UV400 480 GB

Like many other Kingston drives, the device arrives sealed in a blister. Simple packaging and the absence of any impressive delivery kit nevertheless allows you to save money. As you know, many disks have extended delivery options, but they will cost more.

As for the appearance, there is a lot to say. Usually, when we talk about budget-class Kingston drives, we mean traditional performance. Traditional case, color, sticker on the top cover. Now it's a little different. The body of the device is silver in color, the information sticker is small in size and located on the back side.

But on the top cover there is now a stylized logo and the name of the manufacturer. Otherwise, the drive is not much different from other devices of this 2.5” form factor. The interface port supports a transfer rate of 6 Gbit/s, the thickness of the case is around 7 mm.

Kingston UV400 controller

Finally, about the filling. As already mentioned, the drive comes with 16 nm memory produced using TLC technology (three cells per bit). Well, the controller is Marvell 88SS1074. This microcircuit has been known for a long time, although the product is essentially new. And SSD manufacturers are increasingly paying attention to it. This controller is four-channel, which theoretically leaves a certain “imprint” on its performance. On the other hand, it is quite obvious that budget SSDs will not have such capacities, and therefore manufacturers will move further and further away from eight-channel solutions within inexpensive drives.

On the positive side, everything that Marvell solutions have is omnivorous, adequate speed performance, full support for all popular types of memory, technologies (including cleaning systems) and much more. In other words, there are no complaints, all that remains is to check the real speed indicators.

Kingston UV400 480 GB review – speed testing

The SSD-Z utility still knows little about this disk, except for the standard set of commands and technologies. A preliminary conclusion on arbitrary speeds in the built-in test gives hope for high performance.

Kingston UV400 - CrystalDiskMark

Excellent speed performance was demonstrated in the CrystalDiskMark test. At the same time, both sequential speeds look good (512 MB/s read and 483 MB/s write) and in the 4K column, where the result was 34 MB/s. As a rule, budget drives demonstrate around 26-30 MB/s for this indicator.

We are again conducting newfangled testing, which is exactly the most interesting for TLC discs. The “established” recording speed of such SSDs may not be at such a stable level as we would like. The larger the file is written, the more likely the speeds will decrease. For example, two screenshots, on one a UV 400 with a capacity of 480 GB, on the second a simple, budget SSD based on TLC memory with a capacity of 120 GB.

As you can see, the small drive recorded only a tiny bit at full speed (around 1 GB) at 400 MB/s, after which the speed dropped to the level of a slow hard drive. As for our new product, there is no reason to worry, UV 400 writes at least a test file of 8 GB at full speed (370 - 390 MB/s), with second-by-second “failures” of up to 200 MB/s. Good result.

Kingston's new budget SSD does not have any problems with random access speeds. They are quite high, although special “scenarios” can heavily load the device, and it can “sag” relative to a number of expensive competitors.

Based on the results of comprehensive testing in the PC Mark 8 utility, performance indicators were identified above the average level. This is a good result for a budget model, because among the competitors there were many who performed worse.

conclusions

The new line of inexpensive Kingston UV400 SSDs fully lives up to its purpose and even delivers beyond that. These drives are offered much cheaper than a number of mid-range competitors or expensive series. Nevertheless, good performance indicators are presented, which will be more than enough for most users. In addition, we cannot help but note the change in design and hardware of the device (relative to previous series).

In any case, based on the overall combination of characteristics, the Kingston UV400 drive receives the Cost Effective award, so it can be an excellent choice for many users, gamers and professionals.

We thank Kingston for providing the SSD for testing.

It is now quite difficult to imagine the configuration of a powerful system without a solid-state drive. The presence of an SSD in many cases becomes a litmus test that reflects the capabilities and level of responsiveness of the system. SSDs invariably replace traditional hard drives in situations where the maximum speed of the disk subsystem is needed, and it is practically always needed. The difference in the cost of data storage on HDD and SSD still remains, but is decreasing at a rapid pace. As an argument for skeptics who complain about the high cost of flash drives, Kingston recently introduced a new line of affordable models - the Kingston SSDNow UV400. Let's see what the 480 GB model, which is offered for $125, can do.

Kingston SSDNow UV400

The manufacturer positions the new line of drives as the most affordable SSD models, offering significantly greater performance than hard drives. Despite the low cost, the drives have quite good characteristics.

The series includes models with capacities of 120, 240, 480 and 960 GB. Versions up to 480 GB are already on sale, while SSDs with a capacity of 960 GB will be available a little later.

Kingston SSDNow UV400 drives are based on a 4-channel Marwell 88SS1074 controller. This is an entry-level platform that allows you to work with flash based on both MLC and TLC. In the case of the SSDNow UV400, new 15-nanometer chips with TLC cells from Toshiba are used.

Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB (SUV400S3B7A/480G)

It can already be said that it is traditional for Kingston, drives are offered in two versions. In the first case, the SSD is supplied without additional options, in the second, an expanded set of accessories is included with the device for convenient upgrading of the drive in a PC or laptop.

The specific version is easy to determine by the device designation. For example, for a 480 GB drive, SUV400S37/480G is a version in a plastic blister, SUV400S3B7A/480G is a version with an extended configuration. This is exactly what we tested.

In this case, the drive comes in a medium-sized box, which has a photo of the drive and the name of the series, the SSD capacity is indicated in large font, and a 10-fold advantage over hard drives with a spindle speed of 7200 rpm is stated. In addition, in the upper right corner there is a sticker indicating that we are dealing with an extended kit.

The delivery includes the SSD itself, an external box for connecting a 2.5-inch drive via USB, a corresponding USB cable, a metal bracket and a set of screws for securing the device in the 3.5-inch drive bay. In addition, the kit also includes a spacer to increase the thickness of the SSD to 9.5 mm, as well as a SATA interface cable and an adapter with a Molex connector for connecting power to the SSD. Another useful bonus is a coupon with a serial number to activate the Acronis True Image HD utility.

A mounting bracket may be needed if the desktop case does not have a separate mounting space for installing 2.5-inch drives. In relatively new cases, this option is often provided, but since the case is one of the components that rarely changes during an upgrade, the bracket may well come in handy. In this case, the SSD is attached directly to the metal profile, after which the adapter is installed in a slot in the basket for “large” 3.5” hard drives.

In what cases can a box for connecting a USB drive be useful? For example, when replacing a hard drive in a laptop. Often in this case there is only one slot for the drive, so the ability to install a second 2.5-inch drive in a mobile system is rather an exception for fairly large laptops. If you have an external “pocket,” the issue of transferring the system partition from the HDD to a solid-state drive is easily resolved.

Initially, the SSD is installed in an external case and connected to the system. Then, using the appropriate software, you can clone the system partition or the entire hard drive and restore it to the SSD. After this, the SSD is installed in the laptop and used as the main drive, and the hard drive can be placed in an external box, used as auxiliary storage for backups and data that does not require high access speed.

Kingston has radically changed the appearance of the new series of drives. Instead of the usual graphite-colored case with a large sticker on the front panel, we see a sort of vintage design of the outer shell. The body is made of aluminum alloy and has a characteristic silver color. On the front panel there is an embossed dimensional logo, which is painted black. It seems simple, but it looks really impressive. Note that the case halves are fastened with screws, one of which is hidden under a protective sticker. It is not recommended to violate it; in this case, the right to warranty service will be lost.

On the reverse side there is a sticker with additional information - model name, volume, serial number, firmware version and the country in which the drive was assembled (Taiwan).

Case thickness – 7 mm. This can already be called standard for devices of this class, allowing the use of SSDs in thin and light mobile systems.

Connection interface - SATA 6 Gb/s. Backward compatibility with SATA 3 Gb/s is maintained, but in this case the performance will be limited by the capabilities of the channel.

As for performance, the 480 GB Kingston SSDNow UV400 claims linear read/write speeds of 550/500 MB/s, as well as 90,000/35,000 IOPS when working with 4K blocks.

For the 480 GB version, the guaranteed written data capacity (TBW) is 200 TB. The TLC resource is slightly lower than that of chips with MLC cells, but the available supply is more than enough for a typical home system.

After connecting and formatting under the NTFS file system with default settings, the available storage capacity is 447 GB.

Performance

We started an express test of the drive's performance with the ATTO Disk Benchmark application, the results of which are taken by the manufacturer as the basis for determining the maximum throughput of the SSD for read/write operations.

Indeed, in operations with large blocks, the linear transfers of the drive are not inferior to those of top-end SATA drives. Read speed reaches almost 550 MB/s, write speed – about 517 MB/s.

The results in CrystalDiskMark 5.1.2 are also very optimistic. Linear ones are actually at the declared level - 543/517 MB/s. The read speed of 35.2 MB/s when working with 4K blocks is more likely to correspond to higher-level drives, while the write speed of 115 MB/s on the same fragments is closer to the performance of a mid-class SSD.

The AS SSD Benchmark test application largely repeats the previous results, although the speed of working with 4K blocks is slightly lower here. Even when using a 64 request queue, the stated 90,000 IOPS cannot be achieved. The application registers about 80,000 IOPS. Although, in general, the indicators are at a decent level, which is confirmed by the conditional final 1044 points. There are no questions about the general access time. 0.040 ms for reading and writing is good.

In the test for copying within one section, the situation is twofold. The drive handled the ISO and Program patterns very well, but 208 MB/s on the Game track is not the best indicator. Often at this stage you can see more than 250 MB/s.

The speed performance of the drive is practically independent of the degree of data compression.

Anvil's Storage Utilities 1.1.0 app essentially replicates previous results under a variety of load conditions. Judging by the results, the drive falls somewhat short of the declared IOPS, but the overall score of almost 4600 points is on par.

4905 points in the PCMark 8 drive test is a good, but not outstanding result. This is also evidenced by the Storage bandwidth of 206 MB/s. However, it would be strange to expect that an entry-level SSD will leave top-end models, which are noticeably more expensive, out of business.
To increase the performance of flash memory drives with TLC architecture, a fairly effective technique with a conditional SLC buffer is used. Part of the storage capacity is used for data caching, which allows you to increase write speed. In many situations, this trick can actually compensate for TLC memory performance. Manufacturers do not explicitly indicate the buffer capacity. It may differ depending on the capacity of the drive itself. The peculiarity of using a conditional SLC buffer is that the drive's write speed will decrease after the cache runs out. During pauses, the buffer is cleared and is again ready to support high recording speeds, but this takes time. When streaming, when the volume of recorded information exceeds the buffer limits, the speed noticeably decreases. Moreover, this is not a feature of a specific SSD model, but a typical reaction of TLC-based drives with SLC caching. This method of increasing write speed is increasingly used in drives based on chips with a three-cell flash architecture.

Experimentally, it was possible to establish that for the Kingston SSDNow UV400 with a capacity of 480 GB, the capacity of the SLC buffer is about 9 GB. After continuous recording of such a volume, the transfer decreases and remains at a level of about 100 MB/s. In actual system use conditions, such loads are extremely rare. Unless you often have to copy significant volumes of BD Remux from one SSD to another. In other cases, continuous recording streams larger than 9 GB are difficult to encounter. Under typical asynchronous workloads, the drive always has time to clear the SLC buffer, maintaining high write speeds. Pros: Extraordinary design; good performance in its class; price; minimum cost of data storage; extended delivery set

Minuses: Features of the SLC buffer

Conclusion: Kingston SSDNow UV400 480 GB is an entry-level solid-state drive with good speed characteristics and a very attractive volume/price ratio. In some cases, performance may be limited by the operation of the SLC buffer, but in everyday tasks such nuances are not felt. The Kingston SSDNow UV400 will be of interest to those who would like to get into solid-state drives at a minimal cost. In the niche of inexpensive SSDs, Kingston has more than enough competitors. Therefore, trust in the brand, warranty and service support from the manufacturer will certainly have their weight. In some cases, extended equipment for a convenient upgrade can tip the scales.

The current generation of solid-state drives has largely reached the limit of its capabilities. Increasingly, when choosing an SSD, what comes to the fore is not the peak speed of reading/writing information, which is similar for most models, but the stability of the disk with different types of files, the warranty period and, of course, the cost of the device itself. Regarding the latter, a real price war broke out between manufacturers. Just six months ago, with a budget of $120-130, a user could count on buying a storage device with a capacity of 240-256 GB, but today for the same money it is quite possible to pick up an SSD with twice the volume. The main reason for this reduction in price is the active use by developers of inexpensive TLC NAND flash memory, which has firmly established itself in the budget segment of the market. Despite some specific features of their operation related to the presence of an SLC buffer, devices based on it demonstrate an acceptable level of performance and allow you to fully experience all the benefits of owning an SSD.

Kingston Corporation introduced its first solutions based on tri-level NAND cells in the second half of 2015. Then the SSDNow UV300 line was announced as an affordable replacement for the classic hard drive, capable of increasing the speed of the operating system by approximately 10 times. Its successor, SSDNow UV400, received identical positioning and occupied the entry level in the Californian company’s product line.

A number of important changes have occurred in the layout of the SSDNow UV400, relative to the same SSDNow UV300: the place of the Phison PS3110-S10 controller has been taken by a four-channel controller from Marvell - 88SS1074, the installed flash memory chips are now made using a 15-nanometer process technology. On the one hand, this made it possible to improve the technical characteristics of the devices, increasing the random data recording speed to 35,000 IOPS. On the other hand, a more subtle technical process affected the number of cell rewrite cycles, reducing the resource declared by the manufacturer from 240 to 200 TB (for the 480 GB model in question). If we talk about the sequential speed of reading/writing information, it remains at the same level and amounts to 550/500 MB/s.

The review hero is available in two versions of the package: basic and extended. The first provides only the “solid state” itself, while the upgrade kit is equipped with a number of accessories designed to transfer the operating system from HDD to SSD while preserving all the owner’s data. We were given an extended version for testing, for which retail stores will charge an additional $15.

The front of the package shows an image of the new drive, information about the amount of free space and the warranty period, which is three years from the date of purchase.

Hidden inside is another box made of thick cardboard, designed to protect the contents during transportation.

As mentioned above, the SSDNow UV400 package may contain many different “goodies”, namely:

• external pocket for a 2.5″ drive with a USB 2.0 connection interface;
• USB 2.0 interface cable;
• SATA 6 Gb/s cable;
• adapter for connecting power;
• adapter for installing an SSD into a 3.5″ bay and mounting screws;
• adapter 7-9.5 mm;
• Acronis True Image HD utility activation code.

How much they are worth their money, each buyer has the right to decide for himself. I’ll just note that I was somewhat disappointed by the use of an outdated USB 2.0 connection interface in the external box. Still, getting a full-fledged high-speed pocket would be much nicer, especially if we are talking about replacing the HDD with an SSD in a laptop.

As for the appearance of the drive, we have before us the first representative of a fundamentally new design from Kingston. The previously dominant black and red color scheme has been replaced by a lighter and more laconic silver and black. The characteristic large sticker covering the upper part of the case has also disappeared. Now in its place is an embossed and painted vendor logo. All technical information is collected on a small sticker on the back of the device.

The case thickness is 7 mm, which makes the SSDNow UV400 compatible with almost any modern thin laptop.

The printed circuit board has a full-size design. The total volume of 480 gigabytes is collected by 16 flash memory chips. Each of them contains two crystals with a capacity of 128 Gbit.

The chips, as usual, received their own markings from Kingston - FD32B08UCT1-10. This is due to the fact that Kingston is one of the few companies that has its own facilities for cutting and packaging semiconductor wafers, the supplier of which in this case is Toshiba.

The four-channel Marvell 88SS1074-BSW2 SSD controller is designed to work in tandem with second-generation TLC or MLC memory, made using a 15-19 nm process technology. Supports DEVSLP power-saving mode, Marvell NANDEdge LDPC error correction algorithm and AES-256 data encryption. The controller is supported by a 512 MB Nanya NT5CC256M16CP-D1 auxiliary buffer.

The structure is covered with a small thermal pad on top to remove heat during prolonged loads.

At the end of last year, Kingston also updated the proprietary software package for its SSDs. The new utility is called Kingston SSD Manager. Its functionality remains largely the same: monitoring the temperature and general condition of the device, checking and installing new firmware versions, resetting the disk by executing the Secure Erase command.

But the main reason why the program will need to be installed and looked at periodically is related to the terms of warranty service:

Test stand

Testing took place on the stand in the following configuration:

• processor: Intel Core i5-4690K (3.5 GHz, 6 MB);
• cooler: Noctua NH-U14S (NF-A15 PWM fan, 140 mm);
• motherboard: MSI Z87M Gaming (Intel Z87);
• RAM: GoodRAM GY1600D364L10/16GDC (2x8 GB, 1866 MHz, 10-10-10-28-1T);
• system disk: ADATA SX900 256GB (256 GB, SATA 6 Gbit/s));
• power supply: Chieftec CTG-750C (750 W);
• monitor: LG 23MP75HM-P (1920x1080, 23″);
• operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit.

The role of the system disk was performed by the ADATA SX900 256GB solid-state drive, which was connected to the SATA 6Gb/s chipset channel. The swap file and hibernation mode were disabled for the duration of the tests. The RAM operated at 1866 MHz with latencies of 10-10-10-28-1T. On the solid-state drive, using standard MS Windows 10 64-bit tools, a logical partition was created with the NTFS file system and standard cluster settings, occupying all available disk space. The following programs and methods were used to measure performance:

• ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46;
• Anvil's Storage Utilities 1.1 2014;
• AS SSD Benchmark 1.7.4739.38088;
• CrystalDiskMark 5.1.2;
• Futuremark PCMark 8 v2.7.613 (Storage test);
• HD Tune Pro 5.50;
• copying a set of 10 GB files.

Test participants

In the test part of the review, the SSDNow UV400 will compete with four popular SSD models reviewed in the previous article. The main attention will be focused on the direct competitor from SK hynix - the SL308 series, which is based on a similar type of TLC NAND memory and has a similar price per 1 gigabyte of available space.

Test results

CrystalDiskMark

First, let's remember about the external box and check the speed of the review hero when connected to a USB port.

The final level of performance is not at all high, although one cannot expect more from the USB 2.0 connection interface. In fact, the pocket is designed for one-time cloning of the system using the included Acronis True Image HD utility, after which it will go to a well-deserved rest “on the shelf”, from where it will be taken out only in case of emergency.

Testing the operation of the TRIM command and speed characteristics when the drive was completely filled with data showed excellent results. The disk can be safely loaded at 99% and this will not affect the system performance in any way.

Compared to competitors, the position of the SSDNow UV400 in the chart depended on the specific subtest, but special attention should be paid to the speed of reading linear data and the speed of processing 4K blocks.

Here the Kingston product managed to outperform all its rivals, including the famous Samsung 850 Pro - an outstanding performance for a budget model. The recording speed does not show any special records and is quite typical for this class of devices.

ATTO Disk Benchmark

ATTO Disk Benchmark is increasingly appearing as the main benchmark that manufacturers rely on when indicating the maximum characteristics of their new products, and looking at the test results it becomes obvious why.

In this program, you can quite easily demonstrate the full potential of memory, burying yourself in the limited bandwidth of the SATA 6 Gb/s interface. The difference between the disks in read speed was less than 1%, in write speed - 7%. As for the SSDNow UV400, it confirmed the stated parameters with a small handicap of 10 MB/s.

AS SSD Benchmark

In synthetic benchmarks AS SSD Benchmark, the SSDNow UV400 outperformed the SK Hynix SL 308 by an average of 7-9%. The drive from Kingston once again confirmed that it copes well with reading and writing both linear and random data with different queue depths. A noticeable lag is observed only in the system response time when reading data.

The resulting IOPS values ​​range from 79682 to 82840 IOPS. At the same time, if the test with 4K blocks is repeated with a queue depth equal to one, then the maximum write speed will drop to 26,116 IOPS, which is slightly lower than the promised 35,000 IOPS.

When copying data within one logical drive, things are somewhat different. The SSDNow UV400 took the lead when copying an ISO image and came in second when working with a group of program files. At the same time, the gap from the SK Hynix SL 308 when duplicating files in gaming applications was a noticeable 95 MB/s, and from the GoodRAM SSD iridium PRO, which was in first place, by more than 200 MB/s.

Anvil's Storage Utilities

Depending on the compression level, the overall score of Anvil's Storage Utilities ranged from 4253.23 to 4680.55 points. Again we see that the peak value of the random data write speed, expressed in IOPS, did not reach the 35,000 mark.

Futuremark PCMark 8 (Storage)

Let's move on to simulating real everyday tasks that a user might encounter, and the Storage test from PCMark 8 will help us with this.

The final level of performance of SSDNow UV400 turned out to be not as high as in pure “synthetics”. The gap from SK Hynix SL 308 is minimal and measured at 10%. The average speed of 202.35 MB/s can be compared with the performance of the best SSD models on the old SandForce SF-2281 (such as our ADATA SX900 256GB system drive). In this regard, Marvel's budget controller hasn't gone far.

In terms of applications, it is clear that the SSDNow UV400 sometimes seriously lags behind some opponents, while in the overall standings the difference is small and is unlikely to be noticeable in real tasks. The fact is that in addition to data transfer, which takes a fraction of a second, the system will be busy with calculations, i.e. You won't get a major performance boost when upgrading to a faster drive, as these graphs show.

Copying a 10 GB file set

The test series was completed by copying the test set of files. The structure of the set corresponds to the average content that an average user stores on their drives: video files - 4 GB; audio files - 1 GB; photos in .raw and .jpeg formats - 2 GB; PDF, fb2, Microsoft Office package files - 3 GB.

The gap from its direct competitor is more than 50%, not to mention the faster SSDs in the test. Even realizing that this is a representative of the ultra-budget class, such indicators look very weak by modern standards.

Nuances of TLC NAND operation

The reason why the SSDNow UV400 is good in synthetic tests and can sag in a number of real tasks lies in the presence of a “pseudo-SLC” buffer. It is worth recalling that this operating mode concerns only the write speed and is typical for almost all modern drives based on TLC NAND flash memory. Its essence is that initially the controller pushes data into an SLC buffer, which allows you to maintain maximum write speed. When the flow of continuously written data exceeds the buffer size, the speed is limited by the bandwidth of the memory used.

The 480 GB SSDNow UV400 model has a buffer of just over 8 GB, after which the write speed drops to approximately 90 MB/s.

The result is not to say outstanding. The previously reviewed SK Hynix SL 308 250GB supports out-of-buffer recording at 250 MB/s. It is these factors that are responsible for the significant gap between the disks in the file set copying test.

On the Internet, and even on our resource, there were links to reviews from the owner, who claimed that when installing the game through the Steam service, he encountered noticeable system slowdown. Since the disk was in my hands, I decided to consider this issue in more detail. To do this, an operating system was installed on it and a series of tests were carried out.

The first thing you need to understand is that a decrease in the speed of the disk subsystem occurs only when recording a continuous stream of data. The presence of even a minimal pause will allow the controller to clear the buffer and prepare it for a portion of new information. In everyday scenarios for using the drive, it is almost impossible to fully load the 8 GB buffer. Below are two screenshots of downloading and installing the game from the Steam library, as well as installing the pre-loaded distribution of the game. As you can see, in both cases the load on the disk is minimal and lags and freezes are out of the question.

Testing was repeated with games of different sizes, and the installation time of RPG The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on SSDNow UV400 480 GB and on ADATA SX900 256 GB was compared. The difference was 2% in favor of the latter, which can easily be attributed to a possible error. Finally, the responsiveness of the system was tested when copying a 100 GB data array, when the write speed was really limited. I was unable to detect any noticeable freezes when surfing the Internet in Chrome, watching movies or playing in several applications, so the described user problems may be isolated or related to other PC components.

conclusions

When announcing the SSDNow UV400 line of drives, Kingston initially focused on its budget positioning. The main advantage of the review hero is its low price of $125, which makes it one of the most affordable “half-terabytes” on the market. If we consider the disk from the point of view of replacing a classic HDD, then it coped with its task - the increase in performance will be clearly noticeable in all applications that depend on the speed of the disk subsystem. The second advantage is the warranty period and the presence of an official representative office of the vendor on the domestic market, through which many issues related to the exchange/repair of products can be resolved.

At the same time, the SSDNow UV400 has plenty of competitors. These include the previously tested SK Hynix SL 308, OCZ Trion 150, GoodRAM CX200, Crucial BX200, and cheap models from lesser-known companies. The final choice of buyers will largely depend on the credibility of a particular brand and which of the announced models will be the most affordable offer in online stores at the time of purchase.