Kingston KC2000 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD

W1zzard · Jun 12, 2020

Last year, we found a bug in Kingston's SSD firmware, which inflicted a significant performance penalty. Now, a software fix is publicly available, and it makes a big difference. The Kingston KC2000 is now the fastest SSD we have ever tested; it even manages to beat the Samsung 970 Pro.

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gamefoo21 · Jun 12, 2020

Thanks for the great review.

I think holding back until the firmware is public is a good idea.

Seems the 8200 Pro is still king when it comes to the price though it seems and it packs a 'heat spreader'.

W1zzard · Jun 12, 2020

gamefoo21 said:
I think holding back until the firmware is public is a good idea.

The firmware is public, I updated my drive for testing using the public Kingston Disk Manager software

gamefoo21 · Jun 12, 2020

W1zzard said:
The firmware is public, I updated my drive for testing using the public Kingston Disk Manager software

I ment how you didn't release the review until it was or is.

I should have explained better.

Sorry!

W1zzard · Jun 12, 2020

gamefoo21 said:
I met how you didn't release the review until it was or is.

it's in the queue to be posted later today

gamefoo21 · Jun 12, 2020

W1zzard said:
it's in the queue to be posted later today

Well then yay!

Has HP made the EX950 firmware public yet?

W1zzard · Jun 12, 2020

gamefoo21 said:
Has HP made the EX950 firmware public yet?

No idea

Metroid · Jun 12, 2020

gamefoo21 said:
Thanks for the great review.

I think holding back until the firmware is public is a good idea.

Seems the 8200 Pro is still king when it comes to the price though it seems and it packs a 'heat spreader'.

I'm waiting for the samsung 980 pro then I will compare and decide.

R-T-B · Jun 12, 2020

My Mushkin SSD in my system specs shares the same controller, and was made circa 2019 (ironically, I bought it on amazon before it was launched, somehow). Any idea if it has the same bug?

Darksword · Jun 12, 2020

Seems like a good drive, but is hard to justify over PCI-E 4.0x4 drives for $199.99 with a heatsink.

apoklyps3 · Jun 13, 2020

Very expensive

boidsonly · Jun 13, 2020

Personally, that price is too high.

Space Lynx · Jun 13, 2020

@W1zzard If I were you mail you my WD Black SN750 1Tb (made in may 2020 it says on the drive itself) (i have not opened it yet) and am not in any rush to use it (waiting for Ampere in September) would you want to review it or no? I got it for $129, and it regularly hits that price. So I am curious from a value stand point if it would beat this Kingston (especially in Steam Pre-Load) since the Kingston has taken top spot

(though I am curious because windows 10 2004 seemed to change a lot of way storage was done, I believe HDD saw a big boost thanks to win 10 2004 updates on how storage is handled by the OS), so perhaps all your drives would score faster now, I don't know

Nater · Jun 13, 2020

gamefoo21 said:
Seems the 8200 Pro is still king when it comes to the price though it seems and it packs a 'heat spreader'.

I've felt pretty good about dropping $290 on the 2TB version last year. I never did install the heatsink that came with it...was still on the fence if it ACTUALLY helped back then...there was a lot of debate it seemed if it was wise to cool ALL the chips, or just the controller. (let the NAND get warm as it works better that way) Just never revisited, and now it's sitting under a Noctua NH-D15, and I really don't want to pull that off after getting it on.

A year in I'm sitting at 860GB used, 1TB+ free.

Deleted member 193792 · Jun 13, 2020

I'm glad I got ADATA SX8200 Pro 6+ months ago, since it was a lot cheaper back then.

It's a shame that DRAM/NAND prices have increased so much and I reckon they will increase even more with the next-gen console releases.

Makaveli · Jun 13, 2020

Metroid said:
I'm waiting for the samsung 980 pro then I will compare and decide.

That drive is PCEi 4.0 and using MLC memory it not even remotely in the same price bracket.

utmode · Jun 13, 2020

is 15nm width of the each cell? too low?

Space Lynx · Jun 13, 2020

Makaveli said:
That drive is PCEi 4.0 and using MLC memory it not even remotely in the same price bracket.

I expect it will cost $299 for the 1 TB model lol.... and it won't even be noticeable for 99% of people who just game compared to say my $129 WD Black SN750 1TB. meh hard pass

QUANTUMPHYSICS · Jun 13, 2020

If Kingston is so big and powerful, they need to get these products to us cheaper and in larger capacity. Samsung has better high capacity options.

Makaveli · Jun 13, 2020

lynx29 said:
I expect it will cost $299 for the 1 TB model lol

I think it will cost more since a 1 TB 970 Pro goes for $319 USD currently.

bug · Jun 14, 2020

Nice to see Kingston following through (even if it took a while), because, as we all know, for home usage, QD1 is what you see most of the time.

Palladium · Jun 14, 2020

jermando said:
I'm glad I got ADATA SX8200 Pro 6+ months ago, since it was a lot cheaper back then.

It's a shame that DRAM/NAND prices have increased so much and I reckon they will increase even more with the next-gen console releases.

I got my SX8200 Pro 2TB for $213 in Dec 2019 before taxes here in Singapore.

The real kicker is despite ample stock I was the only one in the entire bloody country who bothered to bought that at the price during a 24 hour long sale event, but yet there is no shortage of fools paying their due idiot taxes to Samsung for weaker Evos costing almost 2x as much. Pretty sure the 980s are going to be overpriced turds for the sucker crowd once again.

W1zzard · Jun 14, 2020

Palladium said:
The real kicker is despite ample stock I was the only one in the entire bloody country who bothered to bought that at the price during a 24 hour long sale event, but yet there is no shortage of fools paying their due idiot taxes to Samsung for weaker Evos costing almost 2x as much. Pretty sure the 980s are going to be overpriced turds for the sucker crowd once again.

Qft

bug · Jun 14, 2020

Palladium said:
I got my SX8200 Pro 2TB for $213 in Dec 2019 before taxes here in Singapore.

The real kicker is despite ample stock I was the only one in the entire bloody country who bothered to bought that at the price during a 24 hour long sale event, but yet there is no shortage of fools paying their due idiot taxes to Samsung for weaker Evos costing almost 2x as much. Pretty sure the 980s are going to be overpriced turds for the sucker crowd once again.

Thanks for generalizing. When I bought my last SSD, I too thought Samsung was overpriced. But due to a sale (go figure, Samsung can also be had on sale), I got one for about the same price as a Micron/Crucial drive.
If that makes me a fool and an idiot, so be it.

mechtech · Jun 14, 2020

"Last year, we found a bug in Kingston's SSD firmware, which inflicted a significant performance penalty. Now, a software fix is publicly available, and it makes a big difference. "

Am I the only one who things 1 year is too long?

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
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Software	Windows 10 64-bit

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Storage	Adata and Samsung NVME
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Case	Some ThermalTake
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Power Supply	Seasonic Prime something or other
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Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s)	30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software	Windows 10 64-bit

System Name	R2V2 *In Progress
Processor	Ryzen 7 2700
Motherboard	Asrock X570 Taichi
Cooling	W2A... water to air
Memory	G.Skill Trident Z3466 B-die
Video Card(s)	Radeon VII repaired and resurrected
Storage	Adata and Samsung NVME
Display(s)	Samsung LCD
Case	Some ThermalTake
Audio Device(s)	Asus Strix RAID DLX upgraded op amps
Power Supply	Seasonic Prime something or other
Software	Windows 10 Pro x64

Processor	Ryzen 7 5700X
Memory	48 GB
Video Card(s)	RTX 4080
Storage	2x HDD RAID 1, 3x M.2 NVMe
Display(s)	30" 2560x1600 + 19" 1280x1024
Software	Windows 10 64-bit

Kingston KC2000 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD

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