INTRODUCTION

   We've mentioned numerous times in the past that SATA III compatible solid state drives (SSDs) have pretty much maxed out the performance limit of that standard (bandwidth limitations) and although that might be just in maximum read/write data transfer speeds and not continuous/constant ones (that would be nice to see) the end result doesn't really change. PCIe and M.2 based SSDs have surpassed that limitation both in maximum and constant read/write performance for a while now and although the first tend to cost quite a bit more compared to regular SATA III ones while the second are not compatible with older mainboards in the end these drives are a way out for people who are looking for something faster. It may have taken a while for them to do so but Kingston finally released their very own HyperX PCIe and M.2 models inside 2015 and with us today we have the top of the line Predator 480GB M.2 PCIe G2 SSD.

   Kingston Technology Company, Inc. is the world’s largest independent manufacturer of memory products. Kingston designs, manufactures and distributes memory products for desktops, laptops, servers, printers, and Flash memory products for PDAs, mobile phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players. Through its global network of subsidiaries and affiliates, Kingston has manufacturing facilities in California, Taiwan, China and sales representatives in the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, China, and Latin America.

   Just like most current PCIex SSDs the HyperX Predator by Kingston is based on a "marriage" between a PCIex v.2 x4 lanes interface card and a M.2 2280 (m-key) form factor card. This pairing allows for much higher data transfer speeds compared to the SATA III standard and even allows for future upgrades by swapping the M.2 2280 form factor SSD with other higher capacity ones. The M.2 2280 card used in this PCIex solution features the latest 88SS9293 four-lane NAND flash controller by Marvel (codename Altaplus) along with Toshiba A19 MLC Toggle NAND flash modules (8 in total) and 1GB of DDR3 RAM running at 1600MHz. Kingston gives the entire HyperX Predator line a MTBF of 1 million hours and rates their endurance at up to 882TB/1.7DWPD (Drive Writes Per Day) for the 480GB model which we have here and 415TB/1.6DWPD for the 240GB model. Kingston covers both models with a 3 year limited warranty.