Kingston KC600 1TB SSD Review

Rating: 8.0.

The latest drive to join Kingston's stable of SSDs is the KC600, a SATA based 2.5in drive that features a four-channel controller and 96-layer 3D TLC NAND.

The Kingston KC600 line-up comprises three capacities (at the time of writing), the entry 256GB model, 512GB and 1TB (the drive we are reviewing here). Arriving very soon will be a fourth, 2TB flagship model. At the heart of the drive is a four-channel Silicon Motion SM2259 controller which looks after Micron 96-layer 3D TLC NAND. The drive comes with XTS-AES 256-bit hardware encryption, TCG Opal and eDrive support to help keep your data secure.

Kingston rate the KC600 with up to 550MB/s and 520MB/s for Sequential read/writes respectively for the 512GB, 1TB and 2TB models. The 256GB drive has the same read performance but writes at 500MB/s. Random 4K performance is listed at up 90,000 IOPS for reads and 80,000 IOPS for writes.

Power-wise the drive is rated as 0.06W idle, 0.2W average and a maximum of 1.3W for reads and 3.2W for writes.

Kingston state that the TBW endurance figure for the 1TB drive is 600TB and back the drive with a 5-year warranty.

Physical Specifications:

• Usable Capacities: 1TB.
• NAND Components: Micron 96-layer 3D TLC NAND.
• NAND Controller:  Silicon Motion SM2259.
• Cache: 1GB DDR3L.
• Interface: Serial ATA (SATA) 6Gb/s (SATA III).
• Form Factor: 2.5in 7mm.
• Dimensions: 100.1 x 69.85 x 7mm.
• Drive Weight: 40g.

Become a Patron!