Solved Slow USB3 transfers to Memory Stick

[pewe]

I have 4 USB3 ports on my laptop.

I also have 2 Kingston USB3 memory sticks.

If I transfer files to an external USB hard drive the rate is pretty respectable at approx 55 - 65 Mb/s

However when I transfer to the memory sticks it starts at between 40 - 50 Mb/s then after a couple of seconds drops to between 5 - 10 Mb/s.

Anyone any ideas why this happens.

 

[broe23]

It depends on the exact model those sticks are, how large the files are, what else you are doing in the background. Too many variables.

 

[pewe]

It depends on the exact model those sticks are, how large the files are, what else you are doing in the background. Too many variables.

The files being transferred to the sticks are the same files as are transferred to the hard drive.
Nothing else is running in the background,
The transfers are done consecutively.

The only variable is the speed at which they transfer.

Regarding the model of the sticks, I am not sure why that is relevant. I understand that different sticks will have different transfer rates - but what is happening here is that the transfer rate starts well then drops to about 1/10th of the speed during the transfer.

 

[brooksndun]

I sometimes have issues with this.. but it seriously depends on what you are copying..

If i copy a 3-5gig movie.. it seems to copy somewhat fast..

If I copy 200 music files.. it's slower.. and even slower with a ton of pictures..

it also could be the way your computer handles the memory while transferring.. the buffers might be getting too full and it slows down etc.. all kinds of ridiculous variables like broe23 said!

Look, the brand is relevant, I've learned this by purchasing the cheap ones and then getting some ones that everybody said on amazon were fast.. and guess what? the brand on amazon that they said were fast seem to do better than the other "cheap" brands I bought..

blah blah..

the point is, if you haven't fiddled with settings in windows yet, you probably have dirt or cheap components in your usb or even motherboard or chipset drivers that are causing problems..

even heat can slow down the transfer..

and when is the last time you formatted that usb stick??

here is my case in point, here is my transfer right now on usb 3 ... Random "brand" cause its not important right??

and I can't test your files cause I dont know what files you are transferring.. did you ever think to try Crystal Disk test on your USB drives? or a benchmarking program?

(and i'm not even happy with this stick speed.. i think it should be 50mb transfer.. but it didnt drop.. it stayed there.. but its only 1 large file dude..





**edit**

Oh and also ofcourse transferring to external hard drive is going to be faster than a usb stick for many reasons but 1 being the controller/chipset is better..

 

[Helmut]

Kingston USB3 memory sticks may have a USB3 spec interface but the speed of the memory itself is slow. That is very relevant.
I have some myself, you have to look it up for the particular model it is.

Speed looks typical for their low cost jobbies (mine are rated at 10 MB/s writing). Much slower than a USB Hard Drive.

The initial higher speed indication is not accurate, essentially a fantasy number.

 

[pewe]

Thanks for the feedback guys - much appreciated.

The problem I am having with getting my head around what has happened is that

- when I first bought the drives (3 weeks ago) I was getting average write speeds in excess of 35Mb/s average over a 500mb file.
- suddenly yesterday I noticed the average was down to less than 10. So I watched the transfer and saw an initial high speed (over 40) which dropped quickly to less than 4.

So my puzzlement is not with the speed of the drives in respect of the manufacturers standard, but more about what is different now compared to when I first got them at which point they were fast, and now - although they are still fast for the initial data transferred, but then slow to almost a crawl.

Here is an example of what I am experiencing - results of running to speed test programs.



And this example shows 2 tests (The first is shown as dotted red (read) and green (write) with the second in solid line colour.

 

[Helmut]

Mine are rated 40 MB/s Read, 10 MB/s write.
Original FAT32 formatting.
Plugged into USB 3 port. Seems sensible to me, Green read, Red write obviously:

 

[pewe]

Strange - after a windows update and re-boot I get this

 

[brooksndun]

Pewe, you are very much like me, We both don't research enough and fully understand how computers work..


click both links..


wow.. - Let me google that for you


and then more wow!..

file transfer - Why does my flash drive speed slow down when copying? - Super User

 

[Helmut]

The tests I did were under the following conditions. The only device connected to the USB 3 hub was the USB Key. Known correctly installed Drivers.
Each USB Key drive result is repeatable, reproducible and consistent.

If anything else is connected to the same USB 3 hub then you will get variable results, that is not the way to conduct meaningful tests.
The test shows that larger files are quicker to read/write than smaller files. This is well known characteristic of such drives.

 

[CountryBumkin]

Perhaps your virus scanner is reading the files and slowing things try. Try it without virus software running.
I have large movie collection, I have tell my virus software ignore the "movie folder" so it doesn't slow down things when I stream my movies.

 

[pewe]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

I had e-mailed the supplier about the problem on Monday, and yesterday in the post arrived a replacement for one of the Sticks to try (no warning, it just turned up).
I tried it last night and it was transferring the same files as I tried before - but this time at an average of 50Mb/s.

I tried it several times last night and quite a few times this morning with consistent results.
I e-mailed him this morning, and although he doesn't understand the problem or its cause, he is sending me a replacement for the second drive and told me to bin the 'faulty' ones.

So providing that performs as well, and that they continue to perform - I am happy.