KINGMAX SME Xvalue 240GB 2.5" SATA III SSD for $139 Including Shipping @ Mwave

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jackau on 31/03/2014 - 17:01 mwave.com.au (210 clicks)
Last edited 31/03/2014 - 17:09 by 1 other user

All right, where should I begin, I have stated in past posts that 2014 is the year SSD come mainstream with the same prices of 2013 paid for 12x getting doubling in capacity.
This drive is just one such example.

Kingmax is sort of ok in RAM products and some USB drive products… Little known for SSDs but in this field even Seagate and WD are newcomers and Samsung is the King of the hill… so everyone is on fairly equal ground.

This drive is powered by a lesser known company's controller: SMI SM2246EN
It was still in prototype stage back in 3rd quarter 2013, now mass production product is out for grabs.

As for how well the controller performs? My google skill don't get me much beyond prototype testing data which sounds reasonable.
and as for how the kingmax drive scores… my google skill gets me even LESS.

So yeah how reliable it is? I don't know… I am pretty sure there is no software package like that from Samsung, Intel, even Adata which has their own software to perform TRIM, therefore this drive relies on Win8s Default TRIM.

It is 139, price speaks for itself.. risk? No idea, high risk high return.. ?

Still for the size.. it is sort of a bargain given drives at 2XX level RRP 18X-2XX just 2013.

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  tonyjzx on 31/03/2014 - 17:05

  Sequential Read
  240GB up to 540MB/s
  Sequential Write
  240GB up to 300MB/s

  ok specs for the money

  • 

    jackau on 31/03/2014 - 17:08

    It is a new controller, we expect this level of performance by 2014 minimum.
    I assume this drive is on par with M500 but that drive is on the way out and M550 is already being unleashed. (M500 and 149 + shipping 5)

    A lot of drives at 2XX to 5XX level will be paired with this controller hence we can expect 500 or 512 gb drives from likes of Kingmax / galaxy at under 290 AUD level second half of this year.

    I have no idea what sort of NAND apart from MLC is used, I didn't find solid information on the maker of the chips.

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  hippyhippy on 31/03/2014 - 17:19

  +1

  People put way too much emphasis on performance graphs and numbers. In real world usage you would not notice the difference between an intel/samsung drive and the cheap ssd drives.

  I would be more worried about reliability of ssd rather than performance which is why samsung and intel are best if you can afford.

  But this is a great price, and its great that prices are dropping. I wish 1TB drives were cheaper :(

  • 

    jackau on 31/03/2014 - 17:23

    +1

    agree, the price premium is always there.
    I personally used a number of brand of SSDs, you cant tell the difference if you are on SATA 2 and as the specs of all the drives should peaked its theoretical SATA2 transfer limit.

    Even with SATA 3 you can hardly tell between Sandforce gang apart from Samsung.

    If data lost is not a big concern, or you want a secondary drive that is fast, this drive is worth considering. After all it covers with the mighty Aus consumer law then on paper a 3 year warranty.

    • 

      fufufu on 31/03/2014 - 21:32

      If data lost is not a big concern, or you want a secondary drive that is fast, this drive is worth considering. After all it covers with the mighty Aus consumer law then on paper a 3 year warranty.

      What…when is data loss not a concern?

      Also, with lost data warranty doesn't really help you get the data back.

      I know you can backup data but that's not the point here. ie. what if you were working on something that was saved on the drive at the exact time of failure? Time wasted troubleshooting or getting back your OS should the drive fail. etc.

      M500 was about this price shipped from Amazon a few weeks back. I know this is local stock but I see absolutely no reason why someone would buy this based purely on that considering how Amazon is pretty good with returns and the fact that you would get a well known brand drive with known good reliability.

      Lastly, are you a rep OP? You sound like one.

      • 

        mycosys on 31/03/2014 - 21:57

        +1

        Data loss is not a big deal when you are a sensible user and keep regular backups and this is not the backup drive.
        Are you sure you aren't from an opposition (amazon?) company because you sure sound like it…. and something else less flattering

      • 

        fufufu on 01/04/2014 - 00:34

        Let me ask you a question: How is this a bargain exactly?

        Data loss is not a big deal when you are a sensible user and keep regular backups

        I listed not 1 but 2 examples of why this drive failing would bring frustration and inconvenience to the end user.

        Just how many sensible users do you think pays for the same price for an inferior drive? (In the sense that the company is not well known and the drive is not tested/reviewed/bought entensively hence the reliability is unknown).

        this is not the backup drive

        Nor did I ever state this should be used as one. You should probably read posts you're replying to before embarrassing yourself.

        Are you sure you aren't from an opposition (amazon?) company because you sure sound like it

        I ask because he's posting up a deal even though he says the reliability is unknown and how he knows the brand "is sort of ok".

        There is also the fact that EVERY SINGLE POST by Jackau has been from Mwave.

        and something else less flattering

        I see now, you're 12 years old aren't you. I asked a simple question with absolutely no malicious intent and receive all this flattery from you.

      • 

        jackau on 01/04/2014 - 02:42

        wo la lol, whats going on?
        people been reading too much in to what I've posted.

        I guess mwave better employ me now LOL.

        I am just stating the facts from my own experiences.

        It is a Fact that this is a new drive power by new controller and no reviews I can source online at this stage.

        Also it is a fact that Kingmax is a brand with good track record at the ram and USB products in the past, I have two slots of their ram running in my DDR-2 PC for years. Also got a old 4GB usb stick by them. Hence base on this experiences I can said: they are OK.

        I would buy one myself to run some test if I didn't just got a Sony Shake 5.

        By the price point, I challenge anyone can source a 2XX GB drive at this price locally from a store shipped, hence, it is a bargain!
        It is always up to the customer to decide buy or not.

      • 

        mycosys on 06/04/2014 - 02:55

        pull your head out from where the sun doesnt shine.
        If you dont want to be treated like an ass dont act like one or accuse others like one.
        Many peole too the risk with sandforce drives just blanking on them for speed and economy (it happened to me with both mine a total of 3 times, exchanged them for crucial), if they were a deal then this is. Kingmax have been doing memory for donkeys years.

      • 

        fufufu on 06/04/2014 - 21:30

        hahahahahahahahaha

        If you dont want to be treated like an ass dont act like one or accuse others like one.

        Yeah OK mate. Keep accusing others of things you are guilty of.

        Where in my posts did I ever act like an ass? I asked questions and gave detailed explanations as to why those questions are valid. But what did you do besides make snide remarks and give terrible arguments?

        Many peole too the risk with sandforce drives just blanking on them for speed and economy

        Please finish primary school before embarrassing yourself any further. It hurts my head trying to read that abomination of a sentence.

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  effgee on 31/03/2014 - 17:55

  I never knew this brand existed until I came across one that failed after 2 weeks in service.
  Struggling to find reviews etc that might shed light on reliability of this drive - anyone ?

  • 

    jackau on 31/03/2014 - 18:24

    The brand as desktop and notebook ram producer is not too bad by track record, they been on the market for a long time… Just I can't find anything directly about the drive. It must be rather new.
    I do find some numbers on the controller but those are off a test prototype and a 512 mb drive which can't really compare, I suspect it is a 8 channel version.

    This controller is a 4 channel one which is on par with the sandisk ultra plus with a 4 channel controller.

    They said.. What what favor the brave… :)

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 31/03/2014 - 18:52

    I had a Kindmax SSD and it was pretty good, speed wise it was very average but couldn't notice the difference when using.
    I stopped using it because 128GB was getting too small so I moved it to my HTPC which I don't really use.

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  henrywil on 31/03/2014 - 20:55

  Found this review on SMI controller used by Kingmax SSD

  http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/silicon-motion-sm2246en-…

  • 

    jackau on 31/03/2014 - 22:43

    thank you for digging this up then since the max of this drive is 240/256 level it match the description of suspected use of mid-end three-bit-per-cell toggle-mode NAND.

    This is similar to the Sandisk's choice of (Toshiba) NAND but has better performance thanks to the controller chip