SanDisk 16GB going slow

[xAPOCALYPSEx]

Hello, I just got a SanDisk 16GB flash drive (USB 2.0, atleast I believe, I don't think they even make 1.1's anymore) so I could transfer videos and games to other computer's or watch videos on my Xbox without trouble, but I have come across a problem. My transfer rate from putting files from my HDD to putting them on the stick is averaging at about 5.0mb/s, when I have read that it should be pulling about 10mb/s. I do believe I am using the USB 2.0 port on my computer. Any ideas?

 

[rockyjohn]

Which model flash drive are you using? What is the stated "speed" rating for reading and for writing?

You say you beleive you are using the USB 2.0 port on your computer. Does the computer also have USB 1.0? You should be able to check PC specs to determinie for sure if it is 2.0 - an important thing to know in trouble shooting this issue.

Have you tried different flash drives to try to determine if the bottleneck is in the system or in your drive?

Have you looked for any reviews? Many flash drives do not live up to advertised rates.

How are you measuring the actual performance?

There is a huge difference in rates depending on file size. What kind of files are you transferring?

I have some flash drives that take quite a while to read from my basic data files - word, excell, saved websites, etc. - but really hum when saving email files because those files are few with a huge amount of data in each file.

 

[xAPOCALYPSEx]

Which model flash drive are you using? What is the stated "speed" rating for reading and for writing?

You say you beleive you are using the USB 2.0 port on your computer. Does the computer also have USB 1.0? You should be able to check PC specs to determinie for sure if it is 2.0 - an important thing to know in trouble shooting this issue.

Have you tried different flash drives to try to determine if the bottleneck is in the system or in your drive?

Have you looked for any reviews? Many flash drives do not live up to advertised rates.

How are you measuring the actual performance?

There is a huge difference in rates depending on file size. What kind of files are you transferring?

I have some flash drives that take quite a while to read from my basic data files - word, excell, saved websites, etc. - but really hum when saving email files because those files are few with a huge amount of data in each file.

I can't find any stated speed,but it does utilize USB 2.0. It is a Gigaware 16gb USB Flash Drive (slider design) that is showing up as sandisk in device manager ("SanDisk Gigaware USB Device")

I thought I had both USB 1.1 and 2.0 on my system, but I just figured out otherwise.

I have looked for reviews, and all of them I could find are generally very positive about the speed.

I am measuring performance by watching the transfer rate in the little window that comes up when you copy files ONTO the flash drive (heh, sorry, don't know what it's called.)

I am transferring files of a game, so they very in size greatly but for the most part are many small sized files.

I haven't tried testing with other flash drives, but just now I tested putting on an 1080p HD movie (about 8GB total) and it started transfering first at about 125mb/s, hung for about 5 seconds between 95-115, and then slowly fell down to 17.2 -17.3 where it stayed for the remainder of the transfer. I also tried this with music files (256 kbp/s) and the transfer went even slower than the game files (about 3-4mb/s) So I guess the problem lies in the type and generally small size of the types of files I am transferring.
Thanks for the help!

 

[ubernoobie]

Well, flash drives aren't the fastest things around, but that 125mb/s claim seems blazing for usb

 

[xAPOCALYPSEx]

Well, flash drives aren't the fastest things around, but that 125mb/s claim seems blazing for usb

yeah I know, it started there but then fell FAST almost as soon as the transfer started. Seemed to be working though, cause it was transfering fast for the first 20 seconds

 

[rockyjohn]

I just googled for reviews and did not find a single reputable third party reviewer - the only ones I found were trying to sell the device - not exactly independent and objective.

Newegg carries over 20 brands of USB drive - but no Gigaware drives. I looked at the 10 or so they listed for SanDisk - and no Gigaware name.

The speed of USB drives varies over a huge range. Comparative numbers are assigned from 1 to 6 - with the 6 being 6 times faster than the 1. Most slower drives don't advertise the number naturally, usually you will only see it listed if 4 to 6. Some may be faster then the 6 and they usually report their speeds as something like 40x.

Here is one that lists 120x transfer speed - of up to 31 mb/s. It is 128mb and - because of the size and speed cost $335 - after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220406

Note that Patriot makes both of the above USB drives - they also have slower, less expensive devices for which they don't report the speed.

Fewer drives report speeds then before - maybe because shoppers did not understand or pay attention to the speed ratings. Reviews also showed that few drives even ran close to the stated speed ratings. Of course, getting accurate comparative measurements are not easy since the speed varied greatly not only by file size but type of file.

You really need to look at reviews to find the better drives - but unfortunately they are few and far between - and hard to find.

Here is the next one I plan to buy:

Patriot Xporter XT Boost 8GB Flash Drive (USB 2.0 Portable) Model PEF8GUSB - Retail
9x Winner of Customer Choice Award - USB Flash Drives - Speed 200x - Retail $25
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220252