Today we look at a portable SSD from HyperX, compatible with the Xbox One and PS4 to be used as an additional games drive as well as the PC for fast, convenient storage.
Product on Review: HyperX SAVAGE EXO 480GB
Manufacturer: HyperX
Street Price: 480GB – GBP £126.56 / USD $134.60. 960GB – GBP £242.58 / USD $249.99.
Are you running out of capacity in your Xbox One or PlayStation 4? Or Perhaps you move large amounts of data around regularly and require more speed than your typical USB pen drive? HyperX may have the solution for you.
The HyperX SAVAGE EXO uses 3D NAND and the USB 3.1 Gen. 2 protocol to present speeds approaching 500MB/s in sequential reads and 480MB/s writes. The USB 3.1 Gen. 2 connection is catered for in both Type-C and Type-A, depending on your use-case. HyperX claim the drive can reduce PS4 and Xbox One game loading times by as much as 20%.
The sleek outer shell is thin and light, weighing only 55g, making the device perfectly portable and easy to hide behind the PS4 or Xbox One.
480GB or 960GB are your capacity choices, which is ample storage space to carry around with you; a typical console game takes up around 50GB. The drive is also supported by a 3-year warranty and comes with free technical support. Today we’re investigating the 480GB model so lets take a look.
HyperX on the SAVAGE EXO Portable SSD:
The HyperX SAVAGE EXO SSD uses 3D NAND technology to deliver SSD speeds more reliably and efficiently than 2D NAND so you can get your games patched, installed and booted faster. Slash load times with a drive that’s up to 20% faster than today’s game systems1. The SAVAGE EXO is easy to connect, works with both Mac® and PC, and can be used on your PlayStation® 4 or Xbox One™ via the USB 3.1 Gen 2 connection2. Weighing in at a trivial 56g, the super-compact SAVAGE EXO is the perfect solution for lightning-quick storage and transfer on the go.
Technical Specifications
Interface: USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C
Capacities: 480GB, 960GB
NAND: 3D TLC
Sequential read/write: 480GB-960GB – up to 500/480MB/s
Power consumption: 5v 900mA
Dimensions: 123.82mm x 48.61mm x 10.24mm
Operating temperature: 0°C~70°C
Storage temperature: -40°C~85°C
Weight: 56g
Vibration operating: 2.17G peak (7–800Hz)
Vibration non-operating: 20G peak (10–2000Hz)
Life expectancy: 1 million hours MTBF
Warranty/support: Limited 3-year warranty with free technical support
Capacities: 480GB, 960GB
NAND: 3D TLC
Sequential read/write: 480GB-960GB – up to 500/480MB/s
Power consumption: 5v 900mA
Dimensions: 123.82mm x 48.61mm x 10.24mm
Operating temperature: 0°C~70°C
Storage temperature: -40°C~85°C
Weight: 56g
Vibration operating: 2.17G peak (7–800Hz)
Vibration non-operating: 20G peak (10–2000Hz)
Life expectancy: 1 million hours MTBF
Warranty/support: Limited 3-year warranty with free technical support
Packaging, Bundle & Closer Look
In a bright white box is where you’ll find the HyperX SAVAGE EXO when looking for it on the shelves. There’s speed and compatibility information on the front but no mention of the capacity.
The rear gives more information as well as the capacity of the drive through a small window in the box.
Alongside the portable SSD you get a pair of USB cables, one is Type-C at both ends, the other Type-A and Type-C. A small metallic HyperX sticker and a welcome note from HyperX.
The SSD is enclosed inside a thin metal enclosure, providing strength but also remaining light, at only 56g.
The flip-side largely mirrors the front, save for a sticker giving all of your serial numbers and capacity information etc.
Finally, end on, the drive features a USB Type-C port with a small indicator LED next to that.
Test Setup & Methodology
Our test system is formatted and a fresh version of Windows is installed with just drives in place – no additional applications. Windows is then updated to the latest release and the drivers are installed.Included in the list of benchmarks are the following applications:
Benchmarks
Anvil Pro
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Futuremark PCMark 8
AIDA64
AS SSD
ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
Futuremark PCMark 8
AIDA64
Test system
CPU: Intel Core i7 7700K
Motherboard: MSI Z270 Gaming M7
Graphics: EVGA GTX 1070 SC
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3200MHz DDR4
SAMSUNG SM961 256GB NVMe
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD
PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 11 650W
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Motherboard: MSI Z270 Gaming M7
Graphics: EVGA GTX 1070 SC
Memory: 16GB CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 3200MHz DDR4
SAMSUNG SM961 256GB NVMe
Crucial MX500 500GB SSD
PSU: BeQuiet Straight Power 11 650W
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit
Monitor: ASUS ROG PG279Q
Benchmarks: Anvil Pro
Anvil Pro from Anvil Storage utilities is one of the most popular storage benchmarking utilities today thanks to the large suit of tests available. You can test pretty much anything from Read/write Speed to IOPs with many variables to tweak allowing you to get either a single or host of results to compare with other likeminded enthusiasts. In our test we ran the standard suite 5 times, subtracting both the highest and lowest scores and determined the final result from the average of the remaining three results.
Benchmarks: AS SSD
AS SSD Benchmark is a straightforward tool for measuring the speed of your SSD drive.
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Simply launch the program, choose your drive, click Start, and it’ll test your SSD’s read and write speed in a variety of ways, delivering a score for each when it’s done. And if that’s not enough, there are also additional file copy and compression-related benchmarks available from the Tools menu. (The author’s support page is German only, but if you need further English explanations then there’s a thread on the program at the OCZ Technology forum.).
Benchmarks: ATTO
The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.
Benchmarks: AIDA64
With this module, we can measure the performance of the PC’s storage devices, including (S)ATA or SCSI hard disk drives, RAID arrays, optical drives, solid-state drives (SSD), USB drives and memory cards. It also allows us to perform write tests, which helps us detect fake products and errors on the devices. In order to attain reliable benchmark results we have to make sure to close all background applications.
Benchmarks: PCMark 8
We use the Futuremark PCMark 8 utility to measure storage via Photoshop performance under both light and heavy loading conditions. Accelerated (open CL) is used to perform this test. The test is measured in seconds to complete.
Conclusion
HyperX have done a valiant job of designing and presenting the SAVAGE EXO with the sleek exterior, lightweight chassis and great performance through the USB 3.1 Gen. 2 interface.The main competitor to the HyperX is the Samsung T5, another portable SSD with the same connection standards, which is also compatible with the Xbox One and PS4; however, in most of our tests, the HyperX wins out, and at roughly the same price too.
Of course, the HyperX is considerably larger, but the styling is entirely different, and in our opinion, the SAVAGE looks far better. There’s also the weight, at only 55g, you barely notice it in your pocket and it certainly won’t weigh down your laptop bag.
The two included cables, while short, are plenty thick and robust enough but they lack any kind of Velcro tie-wrap making transporting them with the drive a little less tidy. Of course, with it being a USB Type-C connection, the drive will work at each machine providing there’s a Type-C connection but they’re not quite as abundant as the Micro-USB standard just yet.
Overall, the HyperX looks good, performs really well, is available in capacious 480GB and 960GB capacities and beats the Samsung in most tests; you also get that lovely 3-year warranty with the drive for added peace of mind but the price may well put most people off.
Adding capacity to your games console doesn’t get much easier, or faster, than the HyperX SAVAGE EXO and with the PC compatibility, it’s a great all-rounder.
Pros
+ Sleek, modern styling
+ Thin and light
+ Type-A and Type-C cables included
+ Good performance
Cons
– No cable wrapping method
– Pricey
+ Sleek, modern styling
+ Thin and light
+ Type-A and Type-C cables included
+ Good performance
Cons
– No cable wrapping method
– Pricey
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