Kingston Fury Renegade G5 review: Excellent performance, but one big problem

Moving to AS SSD, though, and the results paint a somewhat different picture. Sequential transfers were closer to 9B/s, which is still pretty good, but not quite the “wow” we saw earlier from CrystalDiskMark. ATTO also confirmed the drive scales smoothly as file sizes get larger, which is what you’d expect from a modern controller. So yes, the Renegade G5 is fast.

With 3DMark’s Storage benchmark (which is the most intensive out of all the tests here), the Renegade G5 scored comfortably above the database average of 2,275. Breaking it down, the SSD shows strong numbers where it matters most for gamers: Battlefield V loads at over 1.2GB/s, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 at just under 950MB/s, and Overwatch at around 497MB/s. These figures translate into snappy load times, though the difference against a good PCIe 4 SSD may not always be obvious to the naked eye.

Thermals, though, were better than I had expected. With nothing more than the passive heatsink used on our test rig’s motherboard, the ASrock X870E Taichi, the Renegade G5 peaked at 52 degrees Celsius. That’s comfortably below throttle territory, but the caveat here is that a different heatsink from another motherboard might work differently for you.

Pricing makes the story a little more interesting. At the time of writing, the Renegade G5 goes for about S$390 for 1TB, S$654 for 2TB and S$1,095 for 4TB on Shopee Singapore, with the 2TB version looking like the sweet spot for most of us – big enough for games and media. But the Samsung 9100 Pro goes for S$259 for 1TB, S$399 for 2TB and S$656 for 4TB.

If I were to hazard a guess why there’s such a big gulf in pricing, it’s likely that part of this comes down to supply and distribution. Samsung has global scale, stronger channel presence in Singapore, and may be willing to price aggressively to gain share in the PCIe 5 SSD market. Kingston, meanwhile, could be factoring in smaller production runs, higher controller and NAND costs, and brand positioning under its Fury gaming line – which has historically leaned into enthusiast pricing. It’s also possible Kingston is simply slower to adjust regional prices in line with global competition. Whatever the reason, it makes the Renegade G5 a tougher sell on sheer value when the 9100 Pro undercuts it so significantly.

Final thoughts

The Kingston Fury Renegade G5 is no doubt a fast PCIe 5 SSD. Kingston wasn’t just bragging about its performance claims, but it also stays reasonably cool with the aid of a passive heatsink.

But speed alone doesn’t win the argument – and certainly not the hearts and wallets of gamers in today’s economic climate. In Singapore, the Renegade G5 is selling for S$654 at 2TB, while Samsung’s 9100 Pro goes for S$399 at the same capacity. That’s not a small difference. Some of that premium may be down to Kingston’s supply chain, the use of newer controller/NAND combinations, or simply how the Fury brand is positioned for enthusiasts.

So, I really do like the Kingston Fury Renegade G5. But in a market where the Samsung 9100 Pro is available for almost half the price and performs just as well in most real-world scenarios, it’s hard to back Kingston’s SSD unless you have a specific reason to prefer it. If future price cuts narrow the gap, the Renegade G5 would be much easier to recommend.