USB Flash Drive Roundup - 10/2005
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 4, 2005 11:28 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Dual Channel Flash Drives
With flash drives, the fewer chips you use, the smaller your device can be and the cheaper it can be as well. It is almost always cheaper for a manufacturer to use one 4Gbit flash device than to use two 2Gbit devices, so as long as there is a high enough density available, you would expect manufacturers to always opt for a single chip flash solution (at least for the memory). Lately, however, some controller manufacturers have offered "dual channel" controllers that allow you to read from/write to multiple flash devices simultaneously; think of it like RAID-0 for flash drives.
The performance boost for a dual channel drive over a single channel drive depends a lot on the type of flash used as well as the controller itself. In many cases, however, a dual channel drive can be up to 2x as fast as a single channel drive.
Most physically larger drives that are branded as high performance drives are dual channel solutions, even if they aren't marketed as such. The cheaper drives end up being single chip/single channel, and of course, the small form factor drives end up being single chip/single channel as well.
With flash drives, the fewer chips you use, the smaller your device can be and the cheaper it can be as well. It is almost always cheaper for a manufacturer to use one 4Gbit flash device than to use two 2Gbit devices, so as long as there is a high enough density available, you would expect manufacturers to always opt for a single chip flash solution (at least for the memory). Lately, however, some controller manufacturers have offered "dual channel" controllers that allow you to read from/write to multiple flash devices simultaneously; think of it like RAID-0 for flash drives.
A multi-channel USB flash drive; note the presence of two flash devices to the right of the OTi controller.
The performance boost for a dual channel drive over a single channel drive depends a lot on the type of flash used as well as the controller itself. In many cases, however, a dual channel drive can be up to 2x as fast as a single channel drive.
Most physically larger drives that are branded as high performance drives are dual channel solutions, even if they aren't marketed as such. The cheaper drives end up being single chip/single channel, and of course, the small form factor drives end up being single chip/single channel as well.
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sxr7171 - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Time to get a Lexar JumpDrive lightning. This may not be important to a lot of people, but a USB drive IMHO needs to have a loop for a keyring. It is the most convenient way to carry the thing and always have it with you no matter what. I guess this applies more to people living in the city and not needing a car and the big bulky car keys/remote that come with that.TheInvincibleMustard - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Speaking of, is there some reason the Lexar isn't on the RTPE? I mean, it did just win an Editor's Choice and all, so you'd hope it would be one of the drives listed in the newly-announced Flash Storage section ... :(-TIM
Pete84 - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Bummer, OCZ's dual channel USB stick didn't get in.jkostans - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Someone didn't read the article......SpaceRanger - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Are USB drives able to be made Bootable?? I know that systems can recognize USB Floppy Drives, and boot from those, but I was wondering if you could take a USB Flash Drive and make it a bootable device.Phantronius - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
depending on the flash drive and the motherboard BIOS, yes you can do it.Phantronius - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
1st!!!I love my OEM made from some pretty lady in china USB 2.0 stick, its saved my ass so many times for my work, especially in data reterival and spyware removal.
Souka - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
I've had the Memina Rocket for a couple months now....before they even announced it (thanks to NewEgg)....write spead defintly kinda bite with small files especially, but usually I put drivers and stuff there once, then read mutliple times....so its a good match for me.PQI's I got over a year ago, and completely made everyone jealous.... for once, mem were bragging theirs is smaller than someone else's. :D
I still use a SanDisk Titanium.....only a 512mb module, but still works well.
Souka - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
oopsss...typomeant to say...
PQI's I got over a year ago for my office, and completely made everyone jealous.... for once, men were bragging theirs was smaller!! :D