Kingston SSDNOW V200 Is Having Serious Performance Problems

No, I have a V200 128GB and was offered a V+100 128GB in exchange, so it was for the same capacity. If they offered me a V+100 256Gb for the v200 128GB, I would take the offer Still undecided on what to do..

 

I was under the impression they were swapping a 128gb V200 with a 128gb V100. If that's the case, why not get your money back for the V200 and buy the V100 yourself for a lower price.

 

I agree with Syberia. Just get the refund and then buy whatever SSD you want (Kingston is not preferable).
And tell them what are you doing... tell them you are taking the refund because with the same money you can BUY the SSD they offered to you, and with the change buy yourself a pizza + cold beer.
By the way, today I mailed my V200 to Kingston. Hoping to receive my V+100 in a month (or more).
I am still confused what is Kingston going to do really about this problem? They will sell the V200 hoping that the buyers won't complain, and if they do they'll offer them exchange?

 

well update... wait fools didnt even call me. so last night i had to do tweaks to the ssd

and got this



na guys returned the ssd and got myself a patriot Pyro 120GB. Kingston seems to not really care about there customers

 

Nice! How much did you pay?

 

i got it for 216.00 otd at frys. very good ssd worth the money.

 

Excellent. I asked for a refund and I found this Patriot Pyro SE here for $159.99 after MIR which is how much I had paid for the V200. I'll lose 8GB but hopefully I will get what I paid for in terms of performance.

 

Kingston V200 SSD 128GB $100 AR AC - Slickdeals.net

probably a bad time to point out that the V200 128GB is only $100 after rebate/coupon right now...

1) get one
2) get kingston to RMA you a new/HyperX/V100/V+100 if you have problems? (V100 128GB for $100 still worth it)
3) profit?????

 

Well long story short, I tried to get an RMA with Kingston but it looks as if my issue doesn't qualify as defective. They advised me to go back to the original buyer and request a refund/credit. That'll be the last time I ever buy a product from them period.

Just did a quick search on best rated SSD on newegg and got 2 Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1 2.5" 64GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive as raid 0. Reran WEI and got my 7.9. Thanks Crucial and a big F.U. to Kingston.

 

Kingston Hyper X 120GB SSD SATA III **Newegg ** $122 AR AC! - Slickdeals.net

Kingston HyperX 128GB for $122 AR/AC

though possible Sandforce problems

 

The folks at Kingston have apparently become aware of the problems reported by the forum members here at NBR.

I was just contacted by Kingston's support team and they asked me to share this official statement from Kingston here in the forums:

We've recently discovered a sequential write slowdown affecting our V200 series drives. We have identified the issue and are diligently working on a fix. While performance benchmarks may be slow in certain environments, real world drive performance still reflects that of an SSD with swift application loading, quick boot times and shutdowns. It's important to note that the drive's data integrity remains uncompromised and is unaffected by this slowdown. We apologize for any frustration this issue has caused and we intend to resolve it as quickly as possible. We greatly appreciate your patience while we resolve this matter.

If you have questions or concerns related to this issue, we encourage you to contact our Technical Support Team at 1 (800) 435-0640.

As soon as the V200 Firmware Update becomes available, it will be located here:products

 

I bought the 64GB V200 yesterday and after a long Win7 64-bit install etc, and ran the CDM, the results are pathetic (attached).

Agreed it is not the fastest computer (Dell Dimension 9150, 4GB PC2-5300 DDR2DRAM, Pentium D 2.8 dual-core). But AHCI is supported and listed, SATA is working well. I think the 7200RPM Hard Disk was running faster.

Should I return or wait for update from Kingston?

 

Return it pronto.

Your 7200RPM HDD was running faster - it is not your imagination.

If/when Kingston actually addresses this issue, you can try your luck with them again.

Until then, keep your money where it belongs: in your pocket or with a manufacturer who delivers a solid product.

 

Thanks! Just made the image backup to my server, will format the drive now and get the Samsung 830 SSD (64GB - supposedly with SF controller, I have a corsair 128 on my laptop for a year now, running flawlessly, hopefully no issues with the Samsung SSD and the Dell I have)...

 

Samsung uses their own controller not Sandforce but supposed to be pretty good. If you want Sandforce go with Kingston's HyperX SSD.
Did you run AS SSD, curious what the total drive score was. Yep the sequential write score is slow but theres more to performance than just that. Randoms rule in my opinion.

 

Hey guys I found this Forum when I was searching for other people that had the same problem as me, I bought a V200 64Gb last week at NCIX. I was getting 18-35 MBs write 250 MBs read and a 5.9 WEI score and the drive was just SLOW. I returned the drive and got a V100 64GB for $10 less, and the V100 works perfect, 100+ MBs Wite 250+ MBs Read and 6.9 WEI score. I can't believe Kingston would sell such a defective product as the V200. Anyone who is stuck with the V200 should return it ASAP as defective (The drive doesn't perform to the numbers indicated on the box) and any store should honor returns of defective products.

 

see the site admins post a few days ago, looks like Kingston is working on a fix

 

Hap, 'randoms' don't rule by themselves.

A storage sub-system needs to be balanced and sub 50MB writes are throwing us back to the stone age (4200 RPM drive circa ~a decade ago).

Even with Kingston working on a fix, if I had bought a V200 drive now and could get it returned I would - I can always buy it again if it proves worthwhile.

The only people to consider pinning their hopes on Kingston actually fixing this SOON are the ones who are now stuck without any return/exchange (different model) privileges. Even if I was in this latter group, I would raise such a noise that I would get my money back - this is worse than vapour ware - people have given real money for a product that doesn't exist (in law, this is called fraud).

 

I bought the V200 and was very upset when it didn't work so why would I want to keep a product because the company might fix it later, thats ridiculous. I have to agree with tilleroftheearh, people never have to keep a defective product, I think alot of people may not even know there drive is defective if they never used an SSD drive before. But anyways, ya kick up a stink and bring the drive back to the computer store and throw it at the salesman's head and demand a refund!!!!

 

Tiller and Bravo, totally agree on both counts the drive is not up to advertised speeds. Definitely take it back I'm sure Kingston or your vendor will do the right thing.

However regarding the sub 50MB writes though, remember the 40GB that Intel released using their original controller a few years ago? Just 40MB writes a second with great randoms and that was a good low cost SSD. I still use one in my desktop and it works great. Yes when I need to copy a large chunk o data from drive to drive via SATA I want fast sequential bandwidth but how often is that?

 

I have a few of these too. For "normal everyday use" (whatever that entails) they feel super snappy, unlike any HDD.

The big issues with the V200 are, of course, failure to get even near the advertised speeds*, and didn't someone notice system hanging/pausing? That harkens back to the dark days of the first Jmicron controllers.

*I just wanted to point out that many people will NEVER get the advertised write speeds. The reason is that most of the published benchmarks (by manufacturers and reviewers) are with a brand new and empty drive. When most people benchmark their SSD, it is at least with Windows installed on it. That can affect write speeds. HOWEVER, that being said, write speeds should be within the ballpark, not a tiny fraction.

 

i think we should sticky the thread so more people can report issues. And with the complaints hopefully Kingston will do something for everyones troubles.

 

The difference with the Intel is that it performed at the advertised speeds - nobody was lying to anyone.

If anybody has a current system and puts in the V200 and doesn't notice a (huge) drop in performance of their system (not just when transferring files), then maybe they shouldn't be buying SSD's?

It's the same with a video card: I don't game, but when I saw the huge performance difference (in everyday, general use) between the lowest end gpu and a 'modern/moderate' level gpu in Win7x64; all my systems soon had that slightly higher end gpu - even with no gaming involved - the performance difference was that noticeable.

 

Well based on the comment posted by the admin it looks like Kingston realized it and is going to fix it.

 

I don't know what to make of this announcement. I had been in touch with a very helpful tech support rep at Kingston, and as of Dec 21 afternoon, he mentioned engineering was UNABLE to find an issue. I requested a RMA for a drive performing per specs, or a refund. I got offered a refund and I took it.

I suggested to pass a note to engineering making sure they test the drives as boot drives and not as additional storage. I already posted results of the drive as attached storage, and it works fine. But, as we know, nobody buys a SSD to have it as additional storage.

As far as the issue not affecting real world usage, I disagree. Yes, even the worst of the SSDs will clobber the very best of the HDDs, but as a user who was upgrading from another SSD, the V200 is slower and feels lower. And get this, my previous drive was a Kingston ssdnow V snv425.

In fact, despite knowing that the V200 is entry level, I decided to get it as the ssdnow snv425 was rock solid, and felt very fast in daily use. I wanted to ensure reliability over speed, but I wasn't expecting a leap backwards. Now, I took the plunge and got a sandforce driven SSD instead, and let's see how I fare.


Alex

 

I agree, I was getting 30 MB/s write and 5.9 WEi score on my V200 64GB I wasn't expecting the world from an entry level SSD , just faster then my HDD. Anyways i took it back and got the V100 64 GB and I get 112 MB/s write and 240 MB/s read, 6.9 WEI score and rock solid performance everyday, thats what I wanted and expected from an entry level SSD. So ya if anyone can say 30 MB/s is ok because it's entry level shouldnt be buying SSD's

 

That's because Intel is being very conservative, to the point that they artificially cap performance (on their homebrew controller), so that their drive can always hit that performance level.

 

zippyzap,

I'd rather have Intel's method and can decide ahead of time if their product is right for me rather than have OCZ/SF's method where they basically lie to you about all the DuraCRAP 'technology' that is protecting their (not your!)drive that you simply paid big $$$ from wearing out too fast so they don't have to honour any warranty claims.

And if you complain about the non-performance in a high stress storage subsystem workload they simply tell you to run the useless ATTO benchmark to 'prove' it's working at 'specs'.

Spec's that translated mean this drive is guaranteed to do no real work and do it quickly (now, give us more of your money).

Of course Intel is holding back. Why would they give us in 2011 what they could give in 2013 when the rest of the so-called 'competition' catches up.

This is called normal business practice - I'm not friends with anyone at Intel to get the 'unlocked' version of their SSD's - and neither is anyone else, afaik.

 

Hey guys I've been reading this thread and noticed most people aren't satisfied with the write speed, but I've been noticing a huge drop in read speed as well. My first kingston v200 only had a read speed of 180 mb/s and a write speed of 6 mb/s. I RMA it immediately got my second today, but once I tested with CDM and AS-SSD the read speed was still no where near 260 mb/s advertised speed. It only got a 200 mb/s read and a write of 15 mb/s. Is this problem due to the fact im using sata ii as opposed to sata iii? I also tried plugging it into a sata iii pc build and same results.

 

Immi, what kind of mobo do you have? Are you using Intel SATA 3 ports or Marvel's SATA 3?

 

I just bought a v200 64gig

How long does it take to create a new firmware?

 

The most accurate answer: it depends. First they have to identify what is causing the issue (i think that one is covered) and then implement a fix, test it and finally release it. It could be days, weeks or months depending on how things go.

 

Or, they could pull an OCZ/SF 'fix' and pull it out of the, uhm, air and say voila! and let us continue to beta test it.

 

Ah i gave up on the v200 and asked for a v100 w/ 250mb/s read and 145mb/s write which is actually better in my opinion

 

Gah... stupid me took the local shop up on their offer to upgrade the V100 to a V200 when the V100 was out of stock.

Write speeds are substantially worse than my WD Green drive. Hope there's a firmware fix soon.

Edit: Actually seem to be all over the place. 30 MB/s one run, 110 the next, 60 the next...

 

Hello Everyone,

I can confirm that I am having the same problem that other users are experiencing in this forum with the Kingston v200 128GB SSD.

I have contacted Kingston support and they have issued a Return RMA for a full refund.

They are also aware of the issue but there is no ETA for a firmware upgrade for the Kingston v200 SDD.

To anyone looking to buy an SSD, I suggest you avoid the Kingston v200 model.

Good luck.

 

I got my V200 today, and I'm experiencing the same issues. Very low 4K read and write (both 5-6 MB/s) even though the sequential read write is good (sometimes)...

The main reason I was interested in this drive was the low cost and the notebook bundle.

 

Return the drive, get a refund and buy different brand drive.

 

Unfortunately the place I got it from isn't known for playing nice with returns, etc.

Best I can hope for is an RMA for a fixed drive or a firmware update. Almost not worth the hassle if the read speeds are fine.

 

Hey guys,

I was searching for V200's benchmarks then I came across this thread.

I have set up the SSD as secondary drive & ran CrystalDiskMark, here's the result:



Are the readings acceptable?

Ran the benchmarks twice (5 & 9 test runs), the results were similar.

 

See the usage, it's 0, ssd performs well when they are not used

EDIT: My statement is completely wrong, what I meant to say was" the readings may look better when the drive is empty". Sorry folks.

 

Just contacted Kingston they stated that they are beta testing a firmware upgrade, and it will be available for download earliest by Friday latest Saturday. If not something went wrong

 

Yeah I called today, they said by next week. But you know, phone reps....

 

thats aggrivating

 

And I hope by the end of this week to receive my V+200. First they promised me SVP100S2/96G but they told me they have discontinued it and they will send me "the brand new SVP200S3B/90G". Can't wait to get it and finally start using what I paid.
Overall, my first experience with (Kingston) SSDs was terrible, will not recommend them to anyone of the customers in my shop for a while

 

I am VERY happy with my new V+200 90GB which Kingston sent me as a replacement for the V200 64GB.
How do you guys like my numbers? BTW, WEI finally gave me 7.9 for my primary drive.

 

yesterday i contacted kingston to find out how much longer till the firmware comes out. i ended up talking to a lvl 2 tech who told me next week, but that the firmware they are going to release is just a temporary fix, that they would be putting out a full fix firmware later on. the one they are supposed to put out would get the write speeds to 100-110mb/sec.

later he called me and offered to email me a copy of the firmware to try out and let him know how it worked. after receiving, installing, restarting and running a new benchmark, the new firmware didnt help. i went from 40mb to 50mb. screenied the proof and sent the tech an email with all of the info. so no clue whats gonna happen now. im hoping it may have just been an issue with my drive that caused the crap write speeds cause if its the firmware then thats just depressing.


Before


after

 

Can you post that firmware for all of us to try? That way it will get a wider test.

 

ok, i need to make something clear, this firmware is for the 128gb drive only. that is what they sent me. if you have any other drive im sorry but i cant help you. if you do download this please let me know how you turn out. one last thing, when i completed the update and restarted windows, windows acted like it saw the drive for the first time and required a second restart. just a heads up cause its not in the instructions (included in the zip file)

Link Removed

Admin/Editor Note:

Dear fellow NBR forum members,

The editors at NBR were contacted a few days ago by Kingston about the unplanned "release" of their beta firmware for the V200 SSD.

We have to remove the links to this zip file from the NBR forums because the beta firmware was only released privately to a closed group of beta testers and wasn't meant for a public release. Kingston considers the beta firmware file "confidential and proprietary."

More to the point, Kingston's V200 product team has informed me that the beta firmware doesn't actually solve the performance issues long term. The team at Kingston is already prepping a new version of the firmware but the beta firmware isn't ready for the public. Kingston would rather not have this firmware be made public and further alienate customers as they may get the impression it is the cure (but it doesn't work).

As soon as Kingston releases a finished, public version of the firmware we welcome anyone and everyone to post links to the public release.

Jerry Jackson
NBR Admin and Site Editor

 

Not helping at all here...