Kingston A400 480GB SATA SSD (SA400S37/480G)
A cheap, sensible hard drive replacement for older PCs, not for heavy write work.
The short version
- Anyone giving an older laptop or desktop a speed boost by swapping out the hard drive
- Builders who need a cheap boot or game drive for a basic PC
- You regularly write large amounts of data, such as video editing or constant downloads
- Your computer has an M.2 NVMe slot, where an NVMe drive is far faster
- You need steady performance under long, heavy writes
What owners like
- Large jump in boot and load times when it replaces a mechanical hard drive
- Sequential speeds in reviews line up with the maker's ratings
- Low cost for the capacity
Common complaints
- Random write speeds lag behind pricier TLC drives such as the Samsung 860 EVO
- No DRAM cache, which limits how consistent performance stays under load
- Endurance rating is lower than many competing drives
- Controller varies between production batches, so two units may not perform the same
Based on Kingston's A400 datasheet, Gaming PC Builder's A400 review, SSD Wiki's A400 hardware notes and the Amazon listing.
Research scores
Scored from the maker's specs and what owners report. Drew's own notes and photos will refine these.
Ownership
Drew's hands-on notes for this product are on the way. Long-term updates will be added to this timeline.
What it does
A budget 2.5 inch SATA solid state drive meant to replace the hard drive in an older laptop or desktop.
- Standard 2.5 inch, 7 mm thick drive for laptops and desktop drive bays
- Kingston rates it at up to 10 times faster than a hard drive
- No moving parts, so it is quieter and more shock resistant than a hard drive
- Kingston says it is built for desktop and notebook use, not servers
- Also sold as an M.2 2280 SATA version under part number SA400M8
A low cost way to make an older PC with a hard drive boot and load programs much faster, which is what it was built for. The trade-off is a DRAM-less design with modest endurance, so sustained writes and random write speed trail drives with a DRAM cache, and it is a poor fit for heavy write workloads.
How it compares
Specs
- Capacity
- 480GB
- Form factor
- 2.5 inch, 100 x 69.9 x 7 mm
- Interface
- SATA Rev. 3.0 (6Gb/s), works with SATA Rev. 2.0
- Rated speed
- Up to 500MB/s read and 450MB/s write (ATTO, maker rating)
- Endurance
- 160TB written (TBW)
- Memory
- 3D TLC NAND, no DRAM cache
- Life expectancy
- 1 million hours MTBF (maker rating)
- Power
- 0.195W idle, 1.535W max write
- Weight
- 41 g
- Warranty
- Limited 3 years, or until the drive's Percentage Used value is reached
Worth knowing
- Kingston states the A400 is designed for desktop and notebook workloads and is not intended for server environments.
- Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions, so usable space is less than 480GB.
Questions
Is the Kingston A400 good for gaming?
It loads games much faster than a hard drive, but it is a SATA drive, so NVMe drives load faster still. It works as a budget game drive.
Does the Kingston A400 have DRAM?
No. It uses 3D TLC NAND without a DRAM cache, which keeps the price down but makes sustained and random writes slower.
How long does the Kingston A400 480GB last?
Kingston rates the 480GB model for 160TB written and backs it with a 3 year limited warranty.
Will the A400 fit my laptop?
If the laptop takes a 2.5 inch SATA drive, it should. The drive measures 100 x 69.9 x 7 mm, and Kingston also sells an M.2 2280 SATA version.
Sources
- Kingston: A400 SSD datasheet
- Amazon: Kingston 480GB A400 SATA 3 2.5 inch Internal SSD SA400S37/480G
- Gaming PC Builder: Kingston A400 Review (120GB)
- SSD Wiki: Kingston A400
Researched 2026-10-02. We bought this product; our page is built from the maker's details and what owners report across reviews and forums. We never copy Amazon customer reviews.
