Not all USB flash drives are made alike. There are reasons why you can find el cheapo knockoff brand drives in the bargain bin, as well as seemingly similar flash drives for much more money. And this goes well beyond just having more storage.
And that’s where we find ourselves today. In this USB flash drive shootout, we take a look at the difference between USB 2.0 and USB 3.0, as well as the difference between having quad-channel and 8-channel. To help minimize other variables, we’ve stuck with just one brand: Patriot Memory.
Introducing the Competitors
So, what products are participating in this little competition?
Representing the contemporary USB 2.0 side of the equation is the Patriot Rage Xporter XT USB flash drive. For the USB 3.0 side of the equation, we have two entrants. We have the Patriot Supersonic 64GB USB flash drive with quad channel technology, as well as the Patriot Supersonic Magnum 64GB USB flash drive with 8-channel technology.
Patriot Rage XT 32GB USB 2.0 Drive
Easily the most affordable of the bunch is this USB 2.0 drive. You might remember our Patriot Rage Xporter XT review some time back.
As a quick refresher, you get quad channel technology, a slide-out USB connector (no lost caps!), and a rubber coated housing that will protect the drive against minor daily abuse. The 32GB model used for this shootout sells for $69.99, while the 64GB version retails for $129.99.
Patriot Supersonic Quad-Channel 64GB USB 3.0 Drive
The first of our USB 3.0 competitors is the Patriot Supersonic 64GB USB flash drive. Like the Rage XT, the Supersonic boasts quad channel technology, but it takes on an entirely different form factor. Of course, USB 3.0 is also a sizable upgrade over USB 2.0.
Rather than use the rubber coated housing of the Rage, the Supersonic comes with an aluminum housing for shock resistance. It’s quite thin and it uses a traditional cap, but the cap can’t be clicked into the other end of the drive when not in use.
The 64GB Patriot Supersonic quad-channel USB 3.0 drive retails for $179.99.
Patriot Supersonic Magnum 8-Channel 64GB USB 3.0 Drive
Last and certainly not least is the Patriot Supersonic Magnum USB drive. It does the USB 3.0 thing and, like the Patriot Supersonic, it is also backwards compatible with USB 2.0. Unlike the Supersonic, though, the Magnum has 8-channel technology for faster read and write performance.
It also has an aluminum housing, but the Magnum is about twice as wide as the Supersonic. This can be problematic, since it’s quite possible for this drive to block other ports on your computer. I guess that’s the tradeoff for faster speeds.
The 64GB Patriot Supersonic Magnum 8-channel USB 3.0 drive can be had for $199.99.
Test System Setup
Design and form factor are important considerations when buying USB flash drives, but who are we kidding? We want speed. And so, I pit these three drives up against one another with CrystalDiskMark 3.0 using the default program settings. Tests were run using an AMD 890GX platform on an MSI 890GXM-G65 motherboard running Windows 7 Professional. We used the USB 3.0 ports for all the tests.
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark for the Rage XT
First up is the Patriot Rage Xporter XT USB 2.0 drive. The official marketing materials claim a read speed of up to 27MB/s and a write speed of up to 25MB/s. Interestingly, the sequential speeds for a 1000MB packet are actually faster, as reported by CrystalDiskMark. With five iterations (default), CrystalDiskMark recorded a read speed of 29.92MB/s and a write speed of 25.24MB/s. The read speed only drops slightly to 28.91MB/s on the 512K test, but the write speed really takes a dip down to 1.42MB/s.
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark for the Supersonic
Patriot Memory seems to be understating the performance of their drives. Just like the Rage XT, the quad-channel Patriot Supersonic outperforms its claimed read and write speeds. You’ll also notice a huge jump thanks to the USB 3.0 connection.
The claim is for read speeds up to 100MB/s, but the 1000MB sequential test in CrystalDiskMark recorded a speed of 119.1MB/s. Similarly, the claimed write speed is up to 70MB/s, but this drive was able to do 76.55MB/s on the write test. The 512K test results exhibit a similar trend as the Rage drive, understandably, dropping to 94.98MB/s and 1.367MB/s for the read and write speeds, respectively.
CrystalDiskMark Benchmark for the Supersonic Magnum
Seeing how both the Rage XT and the Supersonic were able to outperform their claimed read and write speeds, I had some high hopes for the Patriot Supersonic Magnum. Then again, the claimed speeds here are 200MB/s and 120MB/s for read and write, respectively.
Unfortunately, the trend of understated speeds comes to an end with the Magnum. On the bright side, it’s still blazing fast and it is faster than the quad-channel Supersonic. The sequential 1000MB test on the 8-channel Magnum revealed a 128.6MB/s read speed and a 93.41MB/s write speed. The read speed on the 512K random test is faster than the Supersonic at 107.2MB/s, but the write speed is actually slightly slower at 1.008MB/s. That’s a very marginal difference, to be sure, but it is worth mentioning.
Magnum Wins in Speed, But Do You Want It?
We can come to at least two conclusions based on this USB flash drive shootout. First, USB 3.0 is a heck of a lot faster than USB 2.0. That is undeniable, though it’s interesting that the read speed on the USB 3.0 Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex hard drive is lower than the Patriot USB 3.0 flash drives, but the write speed is higher on the Seagate.
Second, quad-channel technology is generally outperformed by 8-channel technology on these Patriot USB 3.0 flash drives. The Magnum beats the regular Supersonic, but the difference in speed isn’t quite as huge as Patriot may claim in its marketing materials.
Before you rush out to buy the Magnum, though, you have to realize that the 64GB version is still two hundred dollars. That’s not exactly cheap. I also dislike the wider form factor that can block other ports; if that’s an issue for you too, the regular quad-channel Supersonic (especially if you can find it on sale) might be the better buy.
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Patriot Memory Flash Drive Shootout – USB 2.0 vs. USB 3.0 Quad Channel vs. USB 3.0 8-Channel – Photo Gallery
