Kingston mS200 120GB mSATA SSD Review

By Joe Evans

Kingston SSDNow mS200 120GB SMS200S3/120G

Kingston SMS200S3/60G mSATA SSD

Now that mSATA drives are really starting to grow in popularity, we are seeing more models pop up from various SSD manufacturers. Kingston has the latest one we’ve received powered by a SandForce controller paired with Toshiba NAND. The SSDNow mS200 line is part of their ‘System Builders’ series which they state is “specifically designed for use in OEM branded servers”. What this means for most is that it’s geared toward mobile hosts with a focus on value (it comes with no accessories) and power savings while still pumping out up to 550MB/s read and 520MB/s write performance. Offered in capacities of 30GB, 60GB and 120GB, they currently retail for $47.72, $79.99 and $120.74 respectively. They offer a three year warranty to cover any defects or failures and they project that the 120GB drive we received will last up to a total of 93TB of data written. This means even if you wrote an unthinkable 25GB to the drive a day, every single day, the drive would still be viable for almost 10.5 years. This is way more than any consumer would even possibly come close to using.

mS200 Back

Kingston SSDNow mS200 mSATA SSD SMS20053 Features and Specifications:

  • LSI SandForce 2241 controller with SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s) interface
    • Twice as fast as the previous generation, yet more cost-efficient
  • mSATA interface
    • Fully compliant with industry standard, easy to fit, guaranteed to work
  • NAND Flash memory based
    • Shock-resistant with low power consumption
  • Supports Intels SRT
    • Combines capacity advantage of HDD with performance improvements of SSD in dual-storage configuration
  • Supports S.M.A.R.T.
    • Monitors the status of your drive
  • Supports TRIM
    • Maintains maximum performance on compatible operating systems
  • Guaranteed
    • Three-year warranty (two-year warranty on 30GB), free technical support
  • Form factor: mSATA
  • Interface: SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s), SATA Rev. 2.0 (3Gb/s), SATA Rev. 1.0 (1.5Gb/s)
  • Capacities: 30GB, 60GB, 120GB
  • Controller: SandForce-SF2241
  • Encryption: AES 128bit
  • Sequential Read/Write:
    • 30GB 550 MB/s / 510MB/s
    • 60GB, 120GB 550 MB/s / 520MB/s
  • Maximum 4k Read/Write:
    • 30GB up to 86,000/ up to 77,000 IOPS
    • 60GB up to 86,000/ up to 79,000 IOPS
    • 120GB up to 86,000/ up to 48,000 IOPS
  • Random 4k Read/Write:
    • 30GB up to: 7,500/71,000 IOPS
    • 60GB up to: 14,000/77,000 IOPS
    • 120GB up to: 17,000/45,000 IOPS
  • PCMARK Vantage HDD Suite Score: 60,000
  • Power Consumption: 0.4W Idle / 1.2 (TYP) Read / 1.8W (TYP) Write
  • Storage temperature: -40C ~ 85C
  • Operating temperature: 0C ~ 70C
  • Dimensions: 50.88mm x 30mm
  • Weight: 6.86g
  • TRIM: Supported
  • Vibration operating: 2.17G
  • Vibration non-operating: 20G
  • MTTF: 1,000,000 Hrs
  • Warranty/support:
    • 30GB two-year warranty with free technical support
    • 60GB, 120GB three-year warranty with free technical support
  • Total Bytes Written (TBW):
    • 30GB: 23TB
    • 60GB: 46.5TB
    • 120GB: 93TB

mS200 NAND

The MLC NAND on board is Toshiba in manufacture, carrying part number TH58TEG8DDJTA20. The architecture is 19nm and the NAND is of the Toggle variety.

mS200 Controller

This is the first time we’ve come across the SF-2241 controller from LSI SandForce which is a close relative to the familiar SF-2281 controller. The difference? It’s actually pointed out in the part number as the 2241 is a 4-channel controller while the 2281 is an 8-channel controller. This means overall performance will not be as good, especially where the controller can’t exercise the compression techniques it uses to boost performance. Ostensibly, the reason for using the SF-2241 over the SF-2281 is the former uses less power which is why we see it on mSATA drives destined for mobile hosts and not on the larger 2.5″ drives that are more used in desktops these days. It still supports all of the same technology as the SF-2281 like TRIM and the features of SandForce’s DuraClass technology.