Kingston SSDNow V Series 128GB SSD Review

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

Capacity

When it comes to storage capacity the Kingston SSDNow V Series 128GB drive has a free capacity of 119GB as shown above. This should be enough for many consumers, and in the server and enterprise environments many of these will be run in RAID arrays.

Final Thoughts and Conclusions

The Kingston SSDNow V Series should be of interest to consumers due to its price versus value. When we first found out that the Kingston SSDNow V Series was using the JMicron JMF602 controller we thought the drive would suffer from stutters like many of the early SSDs did with the same problematic controller. Even though the benchmarks showed some weird performance spikes and slow 4K random access writes, none of the stuttering issues were seen during our testing period. It seems that the new firmware update that was designed Kingston, J-Micron and Toshiba in the six months leading up to the launch of the V Series paid off. By implementing a firmware workaround for the stutters the performance of the drive did take slight hit. This can be seen in the performance benchmarks when comparing the V Series to the Super Talent Master Drive OX as it also uses the JMicron JMF602 controller and an older firmware that stutters. Is the drive 100% stutter free? For the average consumer it should be, but in certain scenarios and workloads it is possible that it could be seen. We didn’t go out of our way to try to break the firmware workaround, but used the drive on our Windows Vista 64-bit test system and was able to download torrents, rip a movie and surf the internet all at the same time without stuttering. Whatever they did with the firmware seemed to do the trick, so hats off to all the parties involved for figuring out an issue that gave SSDs a bad name over the past year.

Performance of the SSDNow V Series was right where we expected to see it on an entry level SSD. Sure, the cost of the SSDNow V Series is still higher than that of a traditional hard drive, but keep in mind that it wins the majority of the benchmarks, has no moving parts, uses less power, and is silent. The Kingston SSDNow V Series also comes with all the software needed to clone your old hard drive to the SSD, which is a nice touch of convenience for the average consumer.

When it comes to pricing, the 64GB SSDNow V Series is actually the lowest priced 64GB drive ($133.99) out of the 33 models listed for this capacity at Newegg. Considering that this drive with the desktop/notebook bundles and cloning software is priced lower than any brand’s bare drive speaks volumes. The Kingston SSDNow V Series really does offer great value for those looking to move to an entry level MLC SSD without breaking the bank.

Kingston SSDNow V Series 64 GB MLC SSD Bundle Kit Pricing:

• Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BD/64GB (Desktop Bundle) – $138.99
• Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BN/64GB (Notebook Bundle) – $133.99

Kingston SSDNow V Series 128 GB MLC SSD Bundle Kit Drive Pricing:

• Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BD/128GB (Desktop Bundle) – $219.99
• Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BN/128GB (Notebook Bundle) – $219.99

If you end up picking up one of these drives or already own one, be sure to visit our free forums and let us know what you think of it. For the price it doesn’t seem like you can go wrong. Just remember the firmware is not user upgradable and will not be able to support features like TRIM in Microsoft Windows 7. If that isn’t something that will cause you to lose sleep at night, then the SSDNow V Series should be at the top of your shopping list.

Legit Bottom Line: The Kingston SSDNow V Series SNV125-S2BD/128GB 2.5 inch SATA SSD is hands down one of the best bang for your buck SSDs!