USB 3.0/3.1 Flash Drive Write Speeds

[vark]

Greetings! I was trying to find the best place to talk about USB Flash Drive transfer speeds (particularly Write speed) and decided that AnandTech was it, so here we are. This issue no doubt arises with some frequency, but I didn't see a (very) recent post, hence the new thread. First, the particulars:

Board: ASUS Z97-E USB3.1 (about a year old, works perfectly)
O/S: Windows 10 Pro-64bit (Build 1511, I never opted for the 1607 "upgrade")

Flash Devices on hand:

Corsair Slider Voyager USB3.0 64GB
Corsair Slider X1 Voyager USB3.0 32GB
Patriot Vex USB3.1 32GB
SanDisk Cruzer Glide USB2.0 16GB

Most of the usage is to copy video files (mkv, avi, mp4) onto the drive(s) to plug into my Samsung 720p TV. I've happily been doing this for years.

Now the deal. My Corsair 64GB was beyond awesome, especially for the price. Though only a year old, it started to act up just before Christmas (random read problems both from the TV and PC, even after reformatting in NTFS and a clean "error check"), so I decided to replace it with it's little brother, the 32GB model. Disgusted with the write speed of the replacement, I got the Patriot 32GB and it's Even Worse. I'm including the old Cruzer as a benchmark (it's three years old and still works fine).

The Corsair 64GB typically has (had) sustained write speeds >100MB/sec with peaks >140MB/sec. (which is generally better than moving files on my SATA HDD). There's the odd file that confounded it and the speed would drop, but never, ever less than about 40MB/sec. Read speeds were even more astounding, but I rarely read from it. I used one of the two front panel USB 3.0 slots (both work equally well).

The Corsair 32GB model never starts it's write speeds >60MB/sec (usually ~40MB/sec) and rapidly drops to <12MB/sec, often bottoming out at ~4MB/sec. I've used the same USB3.0 slot(s) as it's big brother, as well as trying the back panel slots just to see if there's a difference (there isn't).

The USB 3.1 Patriot 32GB never starts >40MB/sec and rapidly drops to <10MB/sec, usually bottoming out around 6MB/sec. Additionally, it has this strange sawtooth pattern to it's writing, up and down between 4 and 12MB/sec. I've used both the dedicated USB3.1 slots and every available 3.0 slot with the same result.

The old Cruze 2.0 generally writes between 4 & 6MB/sec. No idea how many writes it's had, but it's A LOT, and it's still fine.

All of the Win drivers are up to date insofar as the driver search indicates that I'm using the most recent versions available. I've been through every USB related item in Device Settings and checked them all, just to be extra certain.

So, any idea what the [insert expletive] is going on, here? The usual answer is along the lines of "oh, well, USB is crappy and if you're getting better than 4MB/sec, consider yourself lucky" variety. Which hardly explains the sheer aweseomeness of the Corsair 64GB 3.0 model and it's blazing fast speed. It certainly doesn't explain why the new Patriot 32GB 3.1 unit is so dog slow.

Warmest regards from coldest canadaland!

 

[UsandThem]

Try these steps, and see if one of them fixes the issues:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...r-speeds/a5e1eebb-74bb-4777-8902-5131f3e8ec3e

If no luck with one of those steps, read through this article and see if one of their tips help:

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/optimize-data-transfer-speed-external-drives/

 

[FFFF]

Most USB 3.0/3.1 flash drives are only UP TO X speed, rarely achieving those speeds in real world scenarios. You can usually tell by their low price, my Kingston HyperX Savage 64GB that cost me almost $50 actually reaches those high speeds of 170MB/s write and 330MB/s read.

In most cases, the difference is in the controller inside them that usually is quite poor with few exceptions like that of my Kingston.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Yeah, sometimes "budget" or "cheap" USB3.0 drivers are JUST AS SLOW as their USB2.0 counterparts.

I've been buying nearly exclusively, the AData UV128 drives, USB3.0, 8/16/32GB sizes, and have been very happy with them. I don't copy extensive movies or anything, but I use them for OS install boot drives, for Linux and Windows. They write fairly fast, and boot fast, even in a USB2.0 port.

 

[cfenton]

Some of the problem is just that those aren't very good drives. Most USB flash drives use slow controllers and are small enough in capacity that they don't benefit much from parallelism. This means you will always see a drive advertise its read speed, but almost never its write speed (unless its good). When a package says 'Up to 100mbps' that's read speed under the best possible circumstances. The write speed is always lower than the read speed, and usually much lower. I have a 128GB Sandisk Cruiser Fit drive (it's small like your Patriot) that reads at about 150mbs, but only writes at about 15mbsps, for example. If you want fast write speeds, you need to buy higher-end drives. I have a 64GB Sandisk Extreme that writes at about 150mbps, for example, but it cost twice as much as the 128GB Cruiser Fit.

As for the up and down performance, that might be a problem with your system. More likely though, I think, is that the drives are throttling from overheating. It's pretty common for speeds to drop significantly if a drive overheats, and small drives (like the Patriot) in particular are vulnerable to this. As it cools down the speed will go up, and as it heats up the speed will go down. That could explain the sawtooth pattern.

 

[vark]

Thank you all very much for your input. I looked at the info on the ms and makeuseof sites (again, in the case of the ms site). Some of it was interesting and will hopefully be of benefit to others, but in this case it's most likely, as heavily indicated, an issue with the drives, themselves (being of the not dirt cheap but not terribly expensive variety). Evidently I just lucked out with the original Corsair drive, for as long as it lasted. Yeah, the Patriot is a teeny-tiny thing, which isn't what I expected and certainly not why I bought it; in fact it's a ah heck to plug into and remove from the TV, so it gets to live in the drawer waiting for an emergency. Caveat emptor. For the moment I'll just settle and fall back on the junior Corsair which is at least a little better than my old 2.0 devices (and sometimes much better). The next purchase will be something a little more upscale; if that one isn't everything and more that it claims, I'll go after the manufacturer. Thank you again.

 

[Spicedaddy]

I bought a Samsung T3 external SSD for large file transfers. It's slightly bigger than a thumb drive, but much quicker.

 

[vark]

I bought a Samsung T3 external SSD for large file transfers. It's slightly bigger than a thumb drive, but much quicker.

That's a beautiful looking device and no doubt immensely useful, but what's the likelihood of a five year old Sammy TV being able to read from it? TV's is awful stupid. As a thing unto itself, I see a 256GB model available via my usual online suspect for CDN$154, which seems pretty good. See they have up to 2TB models, as well. There's also a 256GB AData 3.0 portable on sale for ~CDN$95 which also seems pretty good. Presuming a thtoopid telly can read SSD.

 

[vark]

Most USB 3.0/3.1 flash drives are only UP TO X speed, rarely achieving those speeds in real world scenarios. You can usually tell by their low price, my Kingston HyperX Savage 64GB that cost me almost $50 actually reaches those high speeds of 170MB/s write and 330MB/s read.

In most cases, the difference is in the controller inside them that usually is quite poor with few exceptions like that of my Kingston.

My HyperX Savage 64GB drive arrived, this afternoon. CDN$45 on sale from my usual supplier. So far I'm seeing average write speeds ~150MB/sec with peaks around 170 and rare valleys around 140. No discernible difference between the 3.0 and 3.1 slots. Gotta be a racket. Thanks again one and all for the suggestions.

 

[Fernando 1]

@vark:
Have you ever tried to replace the MS in-box USB 3.0 driver by the (modded) latest Intel ones?

 

[vark]

I have whatever ASUS has available for my board plus the standard MS drivers including whatever updates might have come around. The only apparently identifiable "Intel" driver is the USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Microsoft), but as indicated that's provided by MS. There are a couple of ASMedia drivers and a slew of generic ones. I just checked the ASUS site, last month but there was nothing new, unless Intel is holding out on them. In any event, I'm fairly satisfied with the write speed of the new Kingston drive, it's in line with what I expected. I actually reformatted it to NTFS in the interim and got a 5-10% boost. No idea why it came formated in exFAT (which my TV can't read), especially as Kingston insist upon FAT32 for optimum performance (which I eschew as it can't cope with >4GB files).

 

[Fernando 1]

The only apparently identifiable "Intel" driver is the USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.0 (Microsoft), but as indicated that's provided by MS.

This Controller is managed by the generic MS Win10 in-box USB 3.0 driver, but very often it is better to use a driver, which has been developed and released by the manufacturer of the device and that is Intel. The latest Intel USB 3.0 drivers are the v5.0.1.38 ones dated 11/16/2016. They have been designed by Intel for being used just with Win7, but running fine with Win8.1 and Win10 as well. If you want to test them, please contact me or join my Forum.

 

[vark]

It's curious that a search for the version you cite yields your own website as the top-level result. Followed by some Linux pages and an awful lot of sketchy looking websites (no doubt ripping off your work), and no actual Intel pages (granted they may be buried deep down in the search results after all of the Russian and malware sites). Which is weird since you appear to have some standing here, and wouldn't try to send someone down the rabbit hole.

A search just for "Intel USB 3.0 drivers" turns up a bunch of genuine Intel drivers that are older than what I have installed.

Intel's own Driver Update Utility could only find a couple of older graphics drivers that they predict are probably obsolete in favour of newer manufacturer drivers. But nothing for USB.

So, really, unless you think that your modded drivers are going to deliver a significant increase in USB write speeds, I think I'm good with the performance of the current drivers and the new Kingston drive. Thanks for the suggestion, though.

 

[Fernando 1]

I think I'm good with the performance of the current drivers and the new Kingston drive.

That is ok. I only wanted to let you know, that the benchmark results you get after having connected different USB Flash Drives don't depend just on the maximum speed of the connected devices, but on the ability of the USB Controller to allow such data transfer speed as well..

 

[FFFF]

No discernible difference between the 3.0 and 3.1 slots.

That's because HyperX Savage stick is actually only a USB 3.0 device. The USB consortium made things confusing when they renamed USB 3.0 to 3.1 Gen 1, while the real USB 3.1 is now USB 3.1 Gen 2. So whether you use a USB 3.0/3.1 Gen1/3.1 Gen2 port, the speed should be the same and as of yet I haven't heard of any Gen 2 available on the market.