Kingston A2000 500GB NVMe SSD - 35x faster than 7200RPM HDD

Today, we have the Kingston A2000 500GB SSD review. It is an NVMe PCIe SSD priced at PHP 4,790.

Kingston A2000 NVMe SSD

Unboxing/Accessories

How fast is it?

The A2000 SSD came in a pretty simple cardboard package similar to the Kingston KC600. It was easy enough to get the A2000 out as well. The SSD stick itself is very small measuring at just 80 x 22 x 3.5 mm and weighing in at just 6.8g.

Size compared to my hand

The board itself is blue with gold pins at the end for connecting via PCIe. There is a branding/warranty void sticker covering the SSD's board as well. It also comes with an Acronis True Image HD Software Activation Key for cloning your existing HDD with OS.

Installation for me is a bit complicated in my end. I have an Acer Nitro 5 laptop that has a PCIe NVMe slot. However, to upgrade it, you have to fully dismantle the laptop's bottom side.

This is a simple process, to be honest, but I have to void the warranty since a sticker is covering a screw hole. Now, with the laptop's warranty voided, I just had to line up the PCIe pins, press down the SSD, and screw it in. Trust me, this upgrade is more than worth it.

If you have a desktop motherboard supporting an NVMe SSD then it is a much simpler process.

Performance

This is what you align on your PCIe NVMe port

As a reference, my Acer Nitro 5 laptop has an Intel Core i5-8300H, NVIDIA GeForce 1050 Ti 4GB GPU, 8GB 2400Hz DDR4 RAM, and a 1TB 2.5-inch 5400RPM HDD. Adding the 500GB A2000 NVMe SSD will definitely be a huge upgrade.

I usually use this laptop as my mobile workstation, photo editing machine, and secondary gaming machine.

The A2000 SSD uses the NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 interface. It also uses 3D NAND technology that allows it to reach up to 2,200/2,000 MB/s read and write speeds. It also utilizes XTS AES 256-bit encryption, TCG Opal, IEEE 1667, and eDrive for data security.

My laptop's 5400RPM HDD (left) vs Kingston A2000 SDD (right)

During my benchmark, the A2000 SSD destroyed my laptop's original 5400RPM HDD.  My HDD had a read/write speed of 62/86 MB/s while the A2000 clocked in a 2260/1963 MB/s read/write speed. That is more than a 3,545.16 percent difference in speeds. That is just bonkers on paper.

In gaming, I loaded Fallout 4 from the HDD with 86 mods including better textures. It took me 2 minutes and 46 seconds to load my save. Walking around still showed some texture pop-ins as well.

Loading the same game from the A2000 SSD, it only took 38 seconds with no stutters and texture pop-ins. It is definitely a huge improvement in terms of loading times as well as loading up huge maps in games such as GTA V and Witcher 3.

My workload also improved once I used the SSD, especially in photo editing. I transferred my source files in the SSD and it loaded faster in Lightroom and Photoshop.

One thing I would like as an addition is a dedicated thermal guard for the A2000. It could potentially heat up when installed on a laptop since airflow is quite limited in these machines.

Pros - Small size, simple installation, extremely fast performance

Cons - Lack of dedicated thermal guard

Kingston A2000 500GB NVMe SSD specs

Interface: NVMe PCIe Gen 3.0 x 4 Lanes

Capacity: 500GB

Sequential Read/Write speed: up to 2200/2000MB/s

Security: XTS-AES 256-bit encryption, TCG Opal, IEEE 1667, eDrive

Others: Limited 5-year warranty, free technical support, free Acronis True Image HD Software

Dimensions: 80 x 22 x 3.5 mm

Weight: 6.8 g

Price: PHP 4,790

Verdict

Kingston A2000 500GB NVMe SSD solidifies how big of an improvement an NVMe SSD makes. The extremely fast performance is both heaven-sent for both work and gaming situations. 

If you have PHP 4,790 to spare and in need of a fast SSD, look no further.

What do you guys think?

from GIZGUIDE | Your Gadget Coach https://ift.tt/30hoGdz