Rerview USB 3.0 vs. External Hard Disk Drives Page 2

Computer Hardware & Software |Rerview USB 3.0 vs. External Hard Disk Drives |Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G2

• Capacity: 32 GB
• Interface: USB 3.0
• Specified sequential read speed: 100/30 MB/s (USB 3.0/2.0)
• Specified sequential write speed: 70/30 MB/s (USB 3.0/2.0)
• Dimensions: 22.2 x 16.1 x 73.7 mm
• Weight: 20 g

The second-generation USB 3.0 product from Kingston doesn't differ from its predecessor externally except for the G2 mark in its name but its specifications are different. The new drive is about 5 grams lighter while its specified read and write speeds are 20 and 10 MB/s higher, respectively. Its power consumption is lower which is indicated by the lack of a USB splitter cable in the box. And finally, it doesn't get as hot at work at its predecessor, even though it was hotter than the rest of the tested flash drives during our tests.

The Kingston DataTraveler Ultimate 3.0 G2 is priced like its first-generation cousin and costs 50% more than the other two flash drives included into this review.

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex STAA750201

• Capacity: 750 GB
• Interface: USB 3.0
• Dimensions: 89 x 22 x 132 mm
• Weight: 286 g

This external HDD from Seagate offers as much as 750 gigabytes of storage at a relatively cheap price (it is slightly more expensive than the 32-gigabyte Kingston USB 3.0 flash drive).

The exterior design of this model is typical of its class. It is a flat box with rounded-off corners. The case is black and the indicators are white.

The key distinguishing feature of Seagate's GoFlex series is that you can replace the interface cable. You can buy adapters to transform the drive into a FireWire 800 or eSATA one.

Testbed and Methods

Our testbed was configured as follows:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (3.30 GHz, 4x256 KB + 6 MB)
• Mainboard: ASUS P8Z68-V (Intel Z68)
• Hard disk drive: 1-terabyte Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS 5900 RPM (SATA)
• System memory: 2x4 GB Kingston HyperX KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX (PC12800, 1600 MHz, CL9)
• Graphics card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6970 (Radeon HD 6970)
• Power supply: XFX Black Edition PI-850B-NLG9 (850 W)
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1

We installed the latest drivers from the manufacturers of our components. The tested disks were NTFS-formatted with the default cluster size.

The tested USB drives were connected to the mainboard’s back-panel USB 3.0 ports based on an ASMedia ASM1042 controller.