[section_title title=”Introduction & Closer Look”]
Introduction & Closer Look
Brand: HyperX
Model: Predator PCIe x4 HHHL 240GB SSD – SHPM2280P2H/240G
UK Price: £174.61 @ Amazon UK (At time of review)
US Price: $204.99 @ Amazon US (At time of review)
Advances in consumer storage technology has been on the up since the popularisation of the Solid State Drive or SSD; super-fast response time, amazingly un-rivalled read/write speeds and of course, superior reliability. When the HDD/SSD boot drive switch came around, it provided one of the most noticeable system upgrades that could impact a systems performance. When the M.2 drive was introduced, it caused ripples throughout the enthusiast world and when PCIe connectivity was instilled into the technology, something I might add only found in data centre grade products, it would give the potential to obtain even higher speeds.
Now that this technology is “affordable”, a couple of companies have been manufacturing and producing relevant kits; today we will be taking a look at one from HyperX. Simply named Predator, this PCIe x4 240GB SSD features suggested read and write speeds which will make any proper PC enthusiast jump to get one, but are they actually any good and do they provide any benefit over a regular SSD? That’s why we had to get one and find out for ourselves…
So what’s the deal with the HyperX Predator PCIe x4 HHHL 240GB SSD? Well as you can blatantly see, it’s an M.2 style drive slotted onto a PCIe x4 adapter for use with compatible slots; the x16 lanes on your motherboard are the location this should be slotted into. HHHL stands for half-height, half-length, allows for users maximum compatibility with their setups due to the svelte and unobtrusive design.
Although the Predator PCIe x4 SSD comes equipped with a full size PCI plate, HyperX have also included a low profile bracket which can be swapped over and used in small form factor builds; maximum compatibility means more sales.
PCIe SSDs have been known to run a little hot previously and I’m under no illusion that this will be any different. One thing we do know though is that this particular model is available without the PCIe adapter allowing for use with M.2 slots on the latest Intel motherboards; some Z170 boards in the high end range even have 2 x M.2 slots.
Aside from the tracks leading to the PCIe slot, the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD has a very minimalistic look about it. This is due to the solid black PCB which not only looks great, but it beats all those garish looking green PCB drives out of the water. HyperX know about style and I can’t recall an ugly product from them in recent times; great if you are a modder or hate ugly green PCB.
HyperX state that this drive is capable of read speeds of 1400MB/s and write of 700MB/s. Are these correct and if so, what does it mean for RAID 0 configurations which SATA3 drives need to run to rival this kind of hardware. Is the Predator hunting out the competition? Let’s go and find out…
