X-bit labs

Roundup of USB Flash Drives with 4GB+ Storage Capacity (page 16)

Category: Memory

by Andrey Kuznetcov

[ 02/16/2007 | 02:10 PM ]

FC-Test 2.0

Now we’ll check the drives out in the newest version of FC-Test that employs an improved test algorithm.

The first diagram shows us a familiar picture: the Buffalo is in the lead and is followed by the Super Talent. The other drives are lagging far behind. The drives from Filemate, TwinMOS and SimpleTech are the slowest ones in this test.

The 4GB Corsair shows the highest speed when reading the 100x1MB file-set. And four more drives (from Buffalo, Patriot, Super Talent and ATP) have similar speeds. The three slowest devices are the RiDATA, TwinMOS and SanDisk.

The diagram with the results of writing the 10x10MB file-set shows a confident victory of the Buffalo drive. The Super Talent is second again. These drives are far ahead of their opponents, but the gap is smaller than with the 100x1MB file-set.

The 10x10MB pattern is read now, but there is no great difference from the 100x1MB file-set. The 4GB Corsair takes first place and there are the same four drives behind it with similar speeds. There is also the same trio of the slowest drives at the bottom of the diagram.

This diagram shows the speed of writing a single 100MB file, and the Buffalo is still in the lead. The Super Talent has got closer to it, though. The Patriot Xporter has sped up considerably and now occupies third place. The TwinMOS drive shows the lowest write speed in this test.

The reading of one 100MB file doesn’t change the picture we’ve seen with the 10x10MB file-set. The 4GB Corsair is in the lead and is followed by the drives from Buffalo, Patriot, Super Talent, and ATP. The flash drives from RiDATA, TwinMOS and SanDisk have the lowest read speeds in this test.