Kingston HyperX 3K 240 GB

Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB and SSDNow V+200 240GB Review

After the success of its SF-1200 (1222) controller, virtually every SSD maker was eager to climb aboard the SandForce express. That bandwagon continued trucking through last year, as the second-gen SF-2200 (2281) powered many of 2011's noteworthy flash drives -- OCZ's Vertex 3 among them. Even Kingston, which previously used Toshiba chips, adopted SandForce's SF-2200 starting with last year's HyperX line. With so many drives using the same parts, shopping for an SSD was tough last summer. At the time, the HyperX and Vertex 3 offered virtually identical performance for the same price. Although the market is still dominated by SandForce-based drives, things are getting interesting as, among other changes, OCZ has finally begun utilizing its own Indilinx controllers and SandForce was acquired by LSI in January for $370 million. It's unclear when SandForce's next controllers will arrive, but in the meantime, companies seem to be making the most of its second-gen chips. Kingston, for instance, has released a pair of new SF-2281-based drives said to emphasize speed and affordability: the HyperX 3K and the SSDNow V+200.