cfe-b card performance test

[John Navitsky]

UPDATED 2023-04-11 added Sabrent Rocket w/USB Reader
UPDATED 2023-03-31 using KC011 PCIe to CF Express Card reader

all numbers WRITE

#1 -- 1666.42MB/s Lexar Diamond 128GB (est 25fps) [SSD Review=1683.23]
#2 -- 1629.71MB/s Nexstorage B1 Pro 165BG (est 25fps)
#3 -- 1541.40MB/s Prograde Cobalt 650GB (est 23fps) [SSD Review=1420.52]
#4 -- 1527.24MB/s Delkin Black 650GB (est 23fps)
#5 -- 1543.18MB/s Delkin Black 512GB (est 23fps) [SSD Review=1412.97]
#6 -- 1482.37MB/s Sabrent Rocket 2230 512GB ****with Lexar 2x2 USB reader****
#7 -- _824.59MB/s Lexar Pro 128GB (est 12fps) [SSD Review=1015.75 (512GB)]
#8 -- _489.02MB/s Prograde Gold 512GB (est 7fps)

see post #52 for details

For comparison points:

XX -- 4921.14MB/s -- Samsung 980 Pro NVME in Gen3 slot (est 75fps)
XX -- 2113.70MB/s -- OWC Envoy Pro FX on thunderbolt (advertised as fast thunderbolt + USB drive) (est 32fps)
XX -- 2100.40MB/s -- Macbook Pro HDD (est 32fps)

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[Charles Loy]

Thanks for the effort and post. I've seen many, usually the black Delkin is high on the list.
To me, it's a lot to be nothing as I never hit any limit while shooting and I off load while doing other tasks. And usually it's not the card that is the slowest in the chain of measure event.

 

[John Navitsky]

As an aside, that built in disk speed for the Macbook isn't that fast. My old Samsung 980 Pro 2TB M2 NVME in my pc is 4867MB/s write and that's PCI3 and an older model drive

 

[Alistair]

Great post John. Thanks for doing this, I have been thinking about the same topic too recently.
The transfer speed of card and reader is rather important IMO, especially now that cards have become so fast, there is no practical penalty to culling and even editing straight from the card.
The READ speed has therefore been of more interest to me as the only writing to the cards I do is generally done in-camera.
A few thoughts and observations to add as data points to your testing:

1. To those unfamiliar with the evolution of the USB protocol, an understanding of the generations, their speed and names is useful. Especially since the USB consortium recently retrospectively renamed the 3.x generation protocols.
   
2. It is noteworthy that USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, supporting a theoretical 2500MB/s compared with USB 3.2 Gen 2 1250MB/s, is probably required to avoid the USB connection becoming a bottleneck . Further, that thunderbolt 3 or 4 which both support a theoretical 5000MB/s are probably not essential but could be useful in the future.
3. Many, if not all Mac M1 equipped devices have problems achieving USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 speeds. The ports specified as USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 perform more like Gen 2. Not sure if this was fixed in the M2 machines or any further details but a search will make it clearer to those it concerns.
4. I have been looking to find the fastest card reader. To date I have tried two: Angelbird USB USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 and Prograde thunderbolt. I use mainly use CrystalDiskMark but also Black Magic and AJA. Results are fairly consistent across the benchmarking tools. Here are 3 sets of results; the first is my internal C: drive ( Samsung 990 PRO) , the second is an Angelbird 1785MM/s 1Tb card on the Angelbird reader and the third is the same card on the Prograde reader. The first line is comparable to the Black Magic test (kind of).
5. 
6. 
7. 

The results baffle me. Especially the Prograde thunderbolt reader write speeds. I suspect a faulty reader and returned it.

I did lodge a "please explain the read speed" support request with Angelbird and post their response below. It sounds mainly BS to me. In-camera I am very happy with the performance of these Anglebird cards in-camera but am getting more interested in fast read speeds once they are inserted in a reader and will keep on looking into this as time permits.

Angelbird response:

QUOTE
If you read your cards on the computer, the write speed will generally be lower than on your camera.
There are several reasons for this.
On the one hand, both your camera and the card are PCIe based, which simplifies the implementation of performance in the camera.
If the access is via an external drive, the data must first be converted.
In addition, most card readers (as well as ours) have security mechanisms designed to protect your data.
These also slow down access.
And last but not least, it also depends on your computing power.
Our SE cards can achieve a max read speed of 1785 MB/s in your camera, but not in your computer.
Here the performance will be somewhere between 500 and 800 MB/s, depending on the computer performance and the data being transferred.

Please let us know, if this did help you and if we can help you any further.
END QUOTE

 

[John Navitsky]

@Alistair , what computer are you using?

yah, you open the rabbit hole i’ve been down lately wrt usb, but kind of skimmed over in my post

i will say i haven’t seen 3.2 gen 2x1 go over 1000MB/s

i’ll also mention i have a prograde usb reader that was slower than my sony reader.

i also bought an anglebird reader because it was 3.2 gen 2x2, but i didn’t bother using it because i noticed the computer had 3.2 gen 2.1 when at first i thought it was a 2x2

i will say not many computers/devices do 3.2 gen 2x2. most seem 3.2 gen 2x1.

it does seem like the reader matters

i have a thunderbolt m2 nvme enclosure coming and i plan to test the sabrent rocket in there to compare against the cfe reader

 

[Alistair]

@Alistair , what computer are you using?

yah, you open the rabbit hole i’ve been down lately wrt usb, but kind of skimmed over in my post

i will say i haven’t seen 3.2 gen 2x1 go over 1000MB/s

i’ll also mention i have a prograde usb reader that was slower than my sony reader.

i also bought an anglebird reader because it was 3.2 gen 2x2, but i didn’t bother using it because i noticed the computer had 3.2 gen 2.1 when at first i thought it was a 2x2

i will say not many computers/devices do 3.2 gen 2x2. most seem 3.2 gen 2x1.

it does seem like the reader matters

i have a thunderbolt m2 nvme enclosure coming and i plan to test the sabrent rocket in there to compare against the cfe reader

My computer is a newly built intel machine based on the Asus Z790 Creator board. It has a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port as well as thunderbolt 4 USB 4 compliant ports. The above tests using the Angelbird reader plugged into the 2x2 port.
That homemade card sure looks interesting and I will be most interested to see how fast it reads on the thunderbolt enclosure via thunderbolt. What is the fastest card you have found in that 2230 format? I am assuming the CFE enclosure has no electronics, it is just a physical manipulation of the pinout?
How easy is it to remove and replace the card from the reader shell? It would be tempting to dispense with USB and thunderbolt readers altogether and take a PCIE riser straight to a PCIE M.2 expansion card.

 

[John Navitsky]

My computer is a newly built intel machine based on the Asus Z790 Creator board. It has a USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 port as well as thunderbolt 4 USB 4 compliant ports. The above tests using the Angelbird reader plugged into the 2x2 port.

nice. i’m very frustrated i don’t at least have a 2x2 port.

That homemade card sure looks interesting and I will be most interested to see how fast it reads on the thunderbolt enclosure via thunderbolt. What is the fastest card you have found in that 2230 format?

it is difficult to get benchmarked numbers, but i think the cards i’m using, the sabrent rocket 2230 are probably the fastest in this small form factor.

the following review shows these cards are no joke:

Sabrent Rocket Gen 4 2230 1TB M.2 SSD Review – Is this the Smallest and Fastest Storage Combination in the World? - The SSD Review

The theme of the day with respect to solid state storage seems to be form factor; the smaller the be

www.thessdreview.com

however, some gotchas. cfe-e is only using two pci3 lanes instead of all four pci4 lanes.

I am assuming the CFE enclosure has no electronics, it is just a physical manipulation of the pinout?

correct

How easy is it to remove and replace the card from the reader shell? It would be tempting to dispense with USB and thunderbolt readers altogether and take a PCIE riser straight to a PCIE M.2 expansion card.

it’s decently constructed, but it has small screws and isn’t going to hold up to repeated reassembly even if you were inclined to take the time to do it.

i put blue locktite on the screws because i want to make sure nothing comes loose while it is in the camera. further i thermally bonded the card to the shell via a thermal paste which i think is prudent for performance and reliability

 

[soundbyte]

A simple test of a Sony CFexpress Tough 128GB type B card with what is described as a PCIe to USB3.2 Type-C Host Controller IOCrest model IO-PCE3242-1C, a Thunderbolt 3 cable and a no name reader from eBay.

These are the results from the test I ran with CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4. on the Sony card.

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[Alistair]

A simple test of a Sony CFexpress Tough 128GB type B card with what is described as a PCIe to USB3.2 Type-C Host Controller IOCrest model IO-PCE3242-1C, a Thunderbolt 3 cable and a no name reader from eBay.

These are the results from the test I ran with CrystalDiskMark 8.0.4. on the Sony card.

That link is not working for me. Is there another way you can construct it?

 

[soundbyte]

@Alistair Not sure why that does not work, try this URL http://www.iocrest.com/index.php?id=2056

Hope that helps.

 

[Alistair]

@Alistair Not sure why that does not work, try this URL http://www.iocrest.com/index.php?id=2056

Hope that helps.

Apologies, I meant the link to the image showing the results.

 

[Alistair]

@Alistair I checked this one out, should be OK now, something odd with the file formatting it would seem.
If this woks please let me know and I will remove this post, I have also changed the original post.
View attachment 57011

Got it, thanks. Excellent read speed. The USB controller supports 3.2 2x2 I see. Does the card reader?

 

[soundbyte]

Got it, thanks. Excellent read speed. The USB controller supports 3.2 2x2 I see. Does the card reader?

Pretty pleased with the performance, not expecting those results.
Sorry cannot provide any definitive information on the reader, it only has one word on it CFexpress.
A bit of detective work and I found that SIVX64 indicates it may be an Asmedia ASM236X series device, that may be incorrect but all I can find at the moment.
Excerpt from the eBay description "from your CFexpress Type B card to your computer at USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds", you might check it out goto eBay.com.au and search for item number 383792594357.

 

[John Navitsky]

fwiw, i ordered the sabrent thunderbolt/usb reader and i’ll see if that performs better. but i think right now the old macbook might be a limiting factor

 

[Calson]

The card, the card reader, the computer port, the internal computer drive, and the drivers, are all factors in achieving the best possible throughput. I have tried CFexpress readers and some that provided higher data rates also were inclined to freeze before all the files were copied to the computer's internal drives. The Prograde has been the least prone to doing this and so that is what I now use.

 

[Alistair]

Pretty pleased with the performance, not expecting those results.
Sorry cannot provide any definitive information on the reader, it only has one word on it CFexpress.
A bit of detective work and I found that SIVX64 indicates it may be an Asmedia ASM236X series device, that may be incorrect but all I can find at the moment.
Excerpt from the eBay description "from your CFexpress Type B card to your computer at USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds", you might check it out goto eBay.com.au and search for item number 383792594357.

That is interesting. The reader is 3.2 Gen 2 (~1200GB/s). The combo really works well, realising close to its full potential,

 

[Alistair]

nice. i’m very frustrated i don’t at least have a 2x2 port.

it is difficult to get benchmarked numbers, but i think the cards i’m using, the sabrent rocket 2230 are probably the fastest in this small form factor.

the following review shows these cards are no joke:

Sabrent Rocket Gen 4 2230 1TB M.2 SSD Review – Is this the Smallest and Fastest Storage Combination in the World? - The SSD Review

The theme of the day with respect to solid state storage seems to be form factor; the smaller the be

www.thessdreview.com

however, some gotchas. cfe-e is only using two pci3 lanes instead of all four pci4 lanes.



correct



it’s decently constructed, but it has small screws and isn’t going to hold up to repeated reassembly even if you were inclined to take the time to do it.

i put blue locktite on the screws because i want to make sure nothing comes loose while it is in the camera. further i thermally bonded the card to the shell via a thermal paste which i think is prudent for performance and reliability

This might be interesting then John. Eliminates the vagaries of the reader and its transfer protocols:

New PCI Express PCIE X4 to CF express Type-B Card Reader Adapter | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for New PCI Express PCIE X4 to CF express Type-B Card Reader Adapter at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[John Navitsky]

that looks very interesting, but it would be very inconvenient

[edit: but i ordered one. if it works it might be the best way to benchmark]

 

[John Navitsky]

ssd review benchmarked the new lexar diamond and i think it tells me all my numbers are crap. i’m hoping the pci card will help show the performance of the cards instead of the test system

Lexar Professional Diamond 512GB CFExpress Type B Card Review - The SSD Review

Some time ago we posted an article on the latest and greatest in CFExpress Type B cards with our Lex

www.thessdreview.com

 

[soundbyte]

Following up on my device details I came across USB Device Tree Viewer which annunciates details of all USB devices connected.
This is a screenshot of a very small part of the information listed for the USB cfe-b reader I have.

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It may be worth a look if you are interested in what each USB device details are and where it is connected to the computer.
It can save reports in XML or text formats as well as screenshots of all or selected items.

 

[soundbyte]

Further investigations on my system show that the cable plays a major part in getting higher speed results.
The type of motherboard, card/s or front panel/s that are plugged in to provide USB facilities can also make a difference.
Not too sure yet on other factors like drivers, do not know a way to introduce different drivers to test that out on Windows.

Results from plugging 2 different USB3 to USB-C cables using the same reader/card combination into the same USB socket on the front panel of my system which is plugged into a USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector on the motherboard.
Note different USB detection values from the same USB port.

Name Brand 1.5metre cable, USB Version 2.1.

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No name brand Black 200mm cable, USB Version 3.2 Gen 2.

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[Alistair]

Further investigations on my system show that the cable plays a major part in getting higher speed results.
The type of motherboard, card/s or front panel/s that are plugged in to provide USB facilities can also make a difference.
Not too sure yet on other factors like drivers, do not know a way to introduce different drivers to test that out on Windows.

Results from plugging 2 different USB3 to USB-C cables using the same reader/card combination into the same USB socket on the front panel of my system which is plugged into a USB 3.2 Gen 1 connector on the motherboard.
Note different USB detection values from the same USB port.

Name Brand 1.5metre cable, USB Version 2.1.
View attachment 57181
View attachment 57184
No name brand Black 200mm cable, USB Version 3.2 Gen 2.
View attachment 57180
View attachment 57186

Do you by any chance have a 3.2 Gen 2x2 port on your computer and a device that supports that protocol? If so, I would be interested to see what USB Tree View says about it. The Angelbird reader is advertised as 3.2 Gen 2x2 but USB Tree View is reporting otherwise:

 

[soundbyte]

The MSi Z590 Gaming Force motherboard manual describes an optional "USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Connector" that can be used on the motherboard but does not explicitly mention it being 2x2, I suspect it is not.
There are 4 USB ports on the rear of the motherboard which are red so according to this web page they are USB 3.2 Gen 2×1, yet to be tested.

If the IO-PCE3242-1C is in fact a 2x2 card that is all I have at 2x2, pretty sure I do not have a device that uses that protocol.

I guess that USB Tree Viewer may not be enunciating the Angelbird device correctly.

Other web pages I have come across in my searches.
How to track down USB devices in Windows
Microsoft USB info
USB test tools These may be interesting tools to try.

 

[John Navitsky]

i think @soundbyte 's results are consistent with a decent card of era and what's possible with usb 3.2 gen 2x1.

 

[John Navitsky]

The MSi Z590 Gaming Force motherboard manual describes an optional "USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Connector" that can be used on the motherboard but does not explicitly mention it being 2x2, I suspect it is not.
There are 4 USB ports on the rear of the motherboard which are red so according to this web page they are USB 3.2 Gen 2×1, yet to be tested.

i think the way to tell is to see what speed they advertised it as. basically you'd see them advertise it as a 5Gbps or a 10Gbps.

edit, yah:

MPG Z590 GAMING FORCE

MPG series motherboards offer colorful customization with MSI Mystic Light RGB, tuned for better performance by Core boost, DDR4 Boost, Premium Thermal Solution, M.2 Shield Frozr, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, Lightning Gen4, Pre-installed I/O Shield

www.msi.com

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so you have one 2x2 port