Program for testing usb flash drive speeds

D

da233

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 3, 2007
Messages
303
Could somebody point out a (free) program that I could use for testing the read/write speeds of my usb flash drive?

Thanks ^_^
 
Looking through google, I've come across one called SiSoftware Sandra. For those of you who have used this program and HD Tune or HD Tach, which one would you recommend?
 
IIRC, Sandra isn't free, HD Tune (the non Pro version) and HD Tach are. Plus, they're just easier to use and straight-to-the-point benchmark tools.
 
Ah okay then, well between HD Tune and HD Tach, which would you recommend then? :p
 
Just try both and see what you think. I don't know what exactly you want out of these programs in terms of functionality or ease-of-use, though personally, I prefer HD Tune.
 
I just went ahead and tested the speed of my flash drives and the read speed came out at around HALF of what I've seen other people report (using HD Tach). 14 mb/s for me, 30 mb/s is what other people reported.

The thing is, I have a pretty old computer (Intel P4 3.2 ghz, 1 gig ddr1 ram and running Vista). Is it possible that my system is somehow bottlenecking the read speed of the flash drive? If not, does that mean I got a defective flash drive?
 
are you running SP1? i think Vista had USB and file transfer issues for a long time. a few updates fixed it and were eventually included in SP1. 30mb/s is really fast for a flash-based USB drive. most are less than 15, and the fastest drives from a year ago like the 4GB models of the Xporter XT and Voyager GT are only about 18-22. i havent been keeping up, but 30 seems REALLY fast.
 
Sandra has a free version, but realistically it's a big complicated package of all sorts of crap and the OP just wants something to test a USB stick, so HDTach or HDTune will be perfect as that's precisely what they are written to do.
 
Somnambulator said:
are you running SP1? i think Vista had USB and file transfer issues for a long time. a few updates fixed it and were eventually included in SP1. 30mb/s is really fast for a flash-based USB drive. most are less than 15, and the fastest drives from a year ago like the 4GB models of the Xporter XT and Voyager GT are only about 18-22. i havent been keeping up, but 30 seems REALLY fast.
Click to expand...

Yeah I'm running SP1. Here's the HD Tach benchmark someone took with the same usb flash drive:

http://www.brian1.net/computers/misc/sandisk_cruzermicro_sdcz6-4096rb.png

My average read speed is 14 mb/s :(

So, it's not possible that my system is bottlenecking the transfer speed?
 
USB flash drives tend to be on the slow side, so I wouldn't count on it. What's the make and model of your flash drive? Usually the market is separated from the basic flash drives (the cheap kinds) and the performance segment, which can get to 25-30MB/s sustained, but nothing much faster than that due to USB's limitations.
 
SanDisk Cruzer Micro 8GB

The exact model name is SDCZ6-8192, not sure if that's of any importance to you. I tried looking on google for some other people's benchmark but I could only find one, and that guy was getting around 30 mb/s read speeds, which is double what I'm getting.

By the way, do HD Tune/Tach both only test for read speeds? How do I test my write speed?
 
The Sandisk Cruzer line I would classify as "midrange" in terms of performance, I have a Sandisk 4GB Contour myself, and those are their more "premium" range flash sticks, here's an example benchmark of my stick run on HD Tune Pro:

HDTune_Benchmark_SanDisk_U3_Contour.png


Really, if all you have going is just one benchmark, then I would consider it suspect if he's getting double the speed of your drive. You could try plugging the flash stick into another computer and test it there, or plug it into the rear USB ports; some cases don't have high quality secondary USB ports and I've heard of issues with USB hard drive s and the like due to the case USB ports not offloading proper voltage or whatever.

If performance really is an issue, consider getting a faster flash drive, such as the Sandisk Contour series or any of the other of the competition's "performance" grade sticks as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top