Whether you’re bringing movies to watch to stay mentally alive or working out a bit of a Costa del Altformye sun lounger, it can be a good idea to bring a small and quick storage tool. But do you need the world’s fastest memory stick?
Who knows, maybe you have something that could do the trick?
This is how we tested
Performance tests were conducted with Crystal Disk Mark 8.0.4, and to the extent possible, the same USB port was used, which is essentially the 3.2 Gen 2 on the X570 Master’s gigabyte motherboard for those with a USB-A plug. For devices with a USB-C plug, the USB-C port was used on the same motherboard. Both ports are on the same bus and controls, and so should be as comparable as we can get.
Speed
There is a lot that needs to be done for a memory stick or external hard drive to be described as fast. First, the storage medium itself must be able to provide the required speed, and so must the controller chip that controls everything. Second, the transfer standard – ie USB2, USB3 or whatever each device is present – should also be able to provide a good speed. However, it doesn’t help much if the cable (if the device needs a cable) doesn’t support this speed either. Finally, the computer or device that you will be using the storage tool with must also have a port that supports this maximum speed.
By the way, it is important to note that theoretical speed is just a theory. You rarely or never get a unit up to a theoretical maximum speed, and if you come close at all, you should be happy with it. Often times, the reading speed will also be much faster than the writing speed, just so mentioned.
PNY Attachment 4 USB 2.0 32 GB
This is a completely ordinary memory card, one of the cheapest that can be found in regular stores at the moment. This cost fifty dollars several years ago, and it still costs him. This was obtained – as well as 14 others purchased at the same time – to be able to easily provide images to those lining up as models. USB 2.0 has a theoretical transfer rate of 60MB/s, but that’s hardly anywhere near it.
performance: That’s not fast, not even with homesickness and the wind in the back. This specification says 25 MB per second in read speed and 8 MB in write speed. Not much in the first place, and even if it’s not that far in our test, you should have plenty of time when writing to it.
price: Five in Elkjøp.
Benefits: Cheap price, can be given to friends and family if needed.
Negatives: Cheap and, you know, you get what you pay for. You shouldn’t hope for this to be strong, fast, or permanent.
conclusion: Slow but cheap. Worth the five, but not much more than that.
Western Digital Elements Portable 500GB USB2.0
Old portable hard drive from root tray. This has USB2.0, and had to be researched for a while before the correct type cable came out. Although this spin speed is 7200 rpm, we don’t have high hopes for performance.
performance: slow issues. very slow. USB2 isn’t anything fast by today’s standards, although it was a nice leap when it was first introduced.
price: Five to six hundred dollars while it was on sale – Something long gone.
Benefits: Cheap if you already have one. If not – fine. Hard drives are a more permanent backup solution than memory cards, but they are far from ideal.
Negatives: Hard disk drives can handle less roughness than SSDs and are always slower as well. If you have this, you should have plenty of time and treat it carefully – or cross out everything. Another solution is to use it for backup and put it in a dry, protected place until you need it. Remember to attach the correct cable…
conclusion: Despite low expectations, this one is disappointing. Buy something new instead of actively using it. This should be left in the drawer as a last resort to save family photos if you have to pour coffee into your computer one day.
Kingston Datatraveler HyperX 3.0 128GB
With USB3.0 and the specification stating a read speed of 225MB/s and write performance of 135MB/s, one would think this was a solid leap. But then no.
performance: No matter what we do, we never reach more than one-eighth of said speed. Although we can’t find anything wrong with it, it was in the drawer for a long time, and it is certainly possible that he did not benefit from our stay.
price: About 1,600 kroner – ten years ago.
Benefits: If it works properly, this is a perfectly fine memory stick.
Negatives: Well, it’s not very strong. The other parts of the stroke are loosened at the soldering points between the plug and the circuit board, because there is no structure outside the soldering points that hold the plug in place.
conclusion: If you have one that still manages the mentioned speeds, it’s OK to use it. Ours didn’t quite exist, to say the least, and sun signs would be crossed out after all.
Lite-On LMT-256M3M mSATA SSD + USB 3.0 Case
This is an SSD that was picked up from a Samsung laptop before Samsung pulled out of the PC market in Norway. Since then, they have come back. The battery corroded and destroyed the rest of the computer, but some parts could be saved, including my ten-year-old mSATA SSD.
performance: An SSD has a theoretical transfer rate of 6 Gbps. USB 3.0 should theoretically handle 5Gbps. As far as we’ve been able to find out, this small cabinet has been set at around 200 megabytes per second, which equates to 1.6 gigabits per second. We don’t know where the seller got that number from, because he can handle twice that number.
price: It’s hard to say how much this cost, but it’s relatively cheap because it’s a redundant part of a clutter drawer. The USB box was bought from Ebay for about 150 kroner, and besides the four months it took to get from China to Norway, it was all expensive lately.
Benefits: Reusing old partitions is always a good thing, and an SSD designed for use as an operating system disk (as is) will often last longer than pure-storage SSDs. It’s also cheap, and the capacity and speed are very good.
Negatives: It can be hard to assess how “worn” a ten-year-old SSD is. mSATA is also an outdated standard that is almost no longer in use. In addition, the device is so wide that it can block other ports in the computer on either side of the USB plug. A small extension cable might be a good idea.
conclusion: It’s definitely worth both the money and the effort, but doesn’t feel like it can be trusted too much. Good for everyday use, but not for nothing important.
Older SSD and new condition
SSDs should be replaced occasionally, but that doesn’t mean they should be completely taken out of service, something the previous product demonstrated so well. The EVO 850 wasn’t anywhere near as old, but it was a good – and popular – desktop SSD for not so much from many years ago. In many ways, it still works, even if the sausage skin is not torn in any way.
performance: The SSD must support SataIII, that is, 6 Gbps. The case, in turn, contains USB 3.1 (Gen 2) which should support up to 10Gbps. Thus, it is the SSD that becomes the bottleneck, but the performance is very good nonetheless.
price: Samsung 850 Evo 1TB It cost from 3000 kr and above when it was on sale a few years ago, while Icy Box IB-287-C31 costs approx. 300 kr last week.
Benefits: 300 kr extra for good use of the SSD in the drawer, nice thing. The cabinet has a built-in cable, so you never have to wonder where to put it. It is also relatively strong.
Negatives: The cabinet has a built-in cable, so if it breaks, you can’t find another cable.
conclusion: Cheap way to repair an external SSD, if you already have an SSD. The case can also use other solid state drives, of course, in addition to traditional hard drives.
Flash Corsair Voyager GTX 512GB
Now we leave the cheap solutions. This is a relatively expensive memory card, but it is fast and powerful.
performance: As a memory stick, this was fast when it was bought once in 2019. The Corsair Flash Voyager GTX is rated at 440MB/s in both write and read speeds, and when it comes to reading, we sometimes get more than that.
price: 1700 kr for 512 GBbut is also available in smaller and cheaper versions.
Benefits: Strong, heavy, fast and solid.
Negatives: A little too strong and heavy. It may take a beating, but it’s also heavy enough to be able to hit, eg for tablets or the like that it shares a sack with. It is also large enough to block the gates next to it. Combined with the weight, this means that it may not need to be connected on a semi-permanent basis.
conclusion: A good choice if you need good speed and above average build quality. Not quite as fast as the previous solution on the list, but it’s still pretty good.
Asus Rog Strix Arion + Kingston A2000 1TB SSD
This is the most attractive solution in the test, but in fact there is not much decomposition in it, even if something is. And this can be a great thing, because it gives a clear message that the gadget is connected – or not.
performance: The cabinet itself here has USB-C with USB3.2 Gen 2, so it will handle a transfer speed of 10Gbps. Cables with USB-A and USB-C are also included at the other end. On the other hand, the SSD we have to put it in is PCIe 3.0 only, so its maximum transfer speed is 3,940 Mbps. Thus, it is he who becomes the bottleneck that limits the speed in practice.
price: Asus Rog Strix Arion It costs 600-700 kr, but is often on offer for just over half. Kingston A2000 1TB Their prices vary a lot, but recently they have been priced at around a thousand dollars or a little more.
Benefits: If you need to replace the SSD anyway, this is a good solution.
Negatives: The case is so fast that a slightly older solid-state drive easily becomes a bottleneck.
conclusion: It works but with bad taste. You can get significantly better speed by buying and inserting a faster SSD – but then all the savings are gone, so be it.
Kingston 1TB Data Traveler Max Gen 2 USB3.2
The world’s fastest memory stick, called Hexus.net, while Kingston himself suffices to say that he is unparalleled. Maybe it is, but how fast is it really?
performance: Oh yeah, that’s a burning smell! To put this in context that gets us a bit older: imagine writing an entire DVD in under five seconds, or reading a CD in less time than it takes to open the cover.
The reading speed is up to 1000MB/s and the write speed is up to 900MB/s. These are huge numbers, and in our measurements some numbers improve quite a bit. embarrassed!
price: Kingston 1TB Data Traveler Max Gen 2 USB3.2 Price 1500 kronor and above. Be careful when buying this, as some stores charge almost double the price.
Benefits: Ugly, and if you need such speed, there are not many options in the same price range.
Negatives: It’s not so powerful that it does anything, and it would have been great if it had not only USB-C, but USB-A on the other end. This would make it a little more expensive, but not by much when you consider that this is actually relatively expensive.
conclusion: Fast as the south. You can use this as a workbench or quickly and easily fill up on entertaining for a family vacation.
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