We finally had a bit of time today to put together a system that we could install the Vantec 2-Port SuperSpeed USB 3.0 PCI-e Host Card.
One of the first things we did was to test the read and write speed of some USB 3.0 storage devices that we have here.
One device is the 16 GB Super Talent Express Drive USB 3.0 flash drive.
When the drive gets plugged into a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 port we see the following:
The Super Talent has a burned-in “CD-ROM” partition with a few help files and this as shown on an XP Pro workstation:
There are some instructions out there on how to remove that partition but they are not too clear on the process as it is burned right into the stick.
We ran a number of read and write tests to the Super Talent to see what we would get for performance.
Read Performance
This is our average read speed:
- 5 GB file copy Read: Average 58.0 MB/Second
Given that our 4 GB and 8 GB OCZ ATV Turbo USB 2.0 flash drives read and write at 35 MB/Second the above is a decent step up in overall read performance.
Write Performance
We were disappointed in the following though:
- 5 GB file copy Write: 34.9 MB/Second
Ouch. That write speed is about the same as our OCZ ATV Turbo USB 2.0 drives.
The cost on the Super Talent was about the same as the price on the 4 GB version of the OCZ ATV Turbo drive too.
Conclusion
Between the CD-ROM partition and the not-so-great write performance we will be taking a pass on any further Super Talent Express Drive USB 3.0 drives.
With native USB 3.0 support a ways off on server and desktops with a few exceptions, we have some time to look out for products that will fully utilize the speeds that USB 3.0 has to offer.
Philip Elder
MPECS Inc.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists
Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book
*Our original iMac was stolen (previous blog post). We now have a new MacBook Pro courtesy of Vlad Mazek, owner of OWN.
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