Kingston HyperX MAX USB 3.0 128GB External SSD Review

Test System

Test System

All tests were performed on an up-to-date install of Windows
7 Pro x64 with no
other applications running while using AHCI mode set through the BIOS. Synthetic Benchmarks were run with the OS loaded on a 240GB OCZ RevoDrive X2. The MSI Big Bang XPower motherboard uses an ICH10R south bridge chipset. In between every test, the drive was secure erased. As such, all results should be
indicative of optimal performance. All
components were set to their default speeds and are listed below:

Intel LGA 1366 Test Platform
Component	Brand/Model	Live Pricing
Processor	Core i7 930 (socket 1366)	Click Here
Motherboard	MSI Big Bang XPower (socket 1366)	Click Here
Memory	Corsair Vengeance 12GB	Click Here
Video Card	MSI GeForce GTX 580	Click Here
OS Drive	OCZ RevoDrive X2 240GB PCIE SSD	Click Here
Power Supply	Corsair HX1000	Click Here
Operating System	Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit	Click Here

The drive is 100% backwards compatible with USB 2.0 although the bandwidth drops dramtically.

When operating though the USB 3.0 connection, the activity LED indicator
light shines blue and when connected as USB 2.0, the LED shines green.

We’ll have a look at some synthetic benchmarks and then move on to some real world tests to show how well it performs and some differences in speed between USB 3.0 and 2.0.