Custom PC - UK (2020-08)

T

heKC2500isKingston’s

latesthigh-performance

seriesofM.2SSDs,andit’s

settoreplacetheexistingKC2000seriesandsitabovethe

company’sslower,budget-focusedA2000drives.With

claimedsequentialreadandwritespeedstoppingoutat

3,500MB/secand2,900MB/secrespectively,it offersa

decentperformancebumpovertheolderdrive,which

couldhit3,200MB/secand2,200MB/sec.Thisalsoputs

theKC2500ata similarleveltomosthigh-performance

PCI-E3 M.2SSDs.

Availableincapacitiesfrom250GBupto2TB,theKC2500

is builtonthecompany’slatest96-layer3DTLCNAND,

puttingit inlinewithmostotherSSDsinitsclass.Thelikesof

Samsung’s 970 Proemployfaster,higher-endurance,two-

levelMLCNAND,butthebenefitsofthesepremiumdrives

areprovinglesssignificantforallbutextremeusagecases.

ThekeydifferencebetweenthatbudgetA2000drive

andtheKC2500is madeplainbytheconfigurationof

thedrives.The1TBmodelwe’retestinghereemploysa

dual-sidedPCBconfigurationwithfourNANDpackages

oneithersideoftheboard,whereasthe1TBA2000hasa

single-sidedconfigurationwithjustfourpackagesonone

side.Correspondingly,theKC2500usesan8-channelSMI

2262ENcontroller,whiletheA200usesthe

quad-channelSMI 2263 controller.

Otherwise,there’slittletonoteaboutthe

physicaldesignoftheKC2500.It sports

a mattblackPCB, 90 percentofwhichis

coveredbytheICs,anda largeblackand

whitesticker.Underthestickersitfourofthe

NANDpackagesandthecontroller,whilethe

othersidehousesthesecondbankofNAND

packagesandtwoDRAMchips.

Thedrivesupportsfullself-encryptionand

end-to-enddataprotection,viaXTS-AES

256-bithardware-basedencryption.It also

hasTCGOpal2 supportforcompatibilitywith

securitymanagementsystemsfromthelikes

ofSymantec,McAfeeandWinMagic.

Alltold,then,thisis largelya typicalmid-to

high-endSSD.However,there’soneobvious

omissioninthiseraofhigh-speedsolidstate

storage,whichis PCI-E4 support.We’veseen the likes of the

CorsairMP600pushsequentialperformance well beyond

thelimitationsofthePCI-E3 interfacealready, so if you’re

lookingfortheabsolutecreamofthecrop, this drive isn’t

quitethere.

Inourtesting,theKC2500deliveredperformance that

wasrightinlinewithexpectations.InCrystalDiskMark, its

sequentialreadandwritespeedswere3,434MB/sec and

2,871MB/sec,whichis within2 percentofits rated speed.

ThelikesoftheSeagateFireCuda 510 andSamsung 970

EvoPluspushjusta littlehigheronwritespeed, hitting over

3,000MB/sec,butit’snotuntilyoujumpup to PCI-E 4 drives

thatyoureallygeta significantincrease.The Corsair MP600

hit5,008MB/secreadand4,268MB/secwrite speeds in the

sametest.

It’sa similarstoryfor4KrandomQD32performance, where

theKC2500delivered1,284MB/secreadand 1,103MB/sec

writespeeds,whichcomparesto1,278MB/sec and 1,163MB/

secfortheFireCuda510,butcomesshortof the 1,666MB/sec

and1,489MB/secofthePCI-E4 Corsairdrive.

Conclusion

TheKC2500is a goodoptionforanyoneseeking a higher-end

drivewithoutsplashingoutfora PCI-E4 model, or one that

usesMLCNAND.However,itspricingputsit in an awkward

spot.The1TBKingstonKC2500currentlygoes for £178 inc

VAT,whileitsslightlyslowerpredecessor,the A2000 1TB, goes

forjust£135incVATfromscan.co.uk, andmakes much more

senseasa budgetNVMestoragebuy.If

youwantthefastestperformance,and

youhavea PCI-E4 motherboard,you’d

bemuchbetteroffspendinganextra

£22ontheCorsairMP6001TBinstead.

TheKC2500is a decentdrive,butits

currentpriceputsit inlimbo.

EDWARDCHESTER

REVIEWS / STORAGE

VERDICT

A decent SSD that’s fast enough for

most people’s needs, although you

only need to spend an extra £22 to

get a PCI-E 4 drive.

OVERALLSCORE

77 %%

PERFORMANCE

38 / 50

FEATURES

16 / 20

VALUE

23 / 30

SPEC

Formfactor

M.2

Interface

PCI-E 3

Protocol

NVMe

Capacities

250GB,500GB,1TB, 2TB

Controller

SMI2252EN

NAND

96-layer3DTLC

Warranty

Fiveyears

Writeendurance

150TBW(250GB), 300TBW

(500GB),600TBW (1TB),

1.2PBW (2TB)

S O L I DSTAT E

+Good overall

speeds

+Hardware

encryption

POLICESTATE

• NoPCI-E4 support


• Price a little high

SUPPLIER ballicom.co.uk

KINGSTON KC2500

/ £178 inc VAT

NVME SOLID STATE DRIVE