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I just picked up a Samsung MP4 500GB 2.5" drive and a Patriot Gauntlet USB 3.0 2.5" external enclosure, so I figured I'd give the drive a quick HDTune run to put it through its paces. I would have taken pictures, but I'm feeling lazy tonight. NewEgg links will have to suffice.
Samsung MP4 500GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152236
Patriot Gauntlet:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817826001
Accessories included:
The Gauntlet includes a USB3 full-size cable and a 5v USB power cable (for use with USB 1.1 connections). It also includes PC Clone EX Lite backup software.
The Test:
HDTune 4.60 Read and Write benchmarks
Measurements:
Sequential Read AVG/MIN (MB/s)
Sequential Write AVG/MIN(MB/s)
Access Time (ms)
Other Factor:
ASRock X-Fast USB software - Proprietary software offered by ASRock to enhance USB3 speed.
Results:
Conclusion:
In terms of read/write speeds, USB 2.0 is a definite limitation, as anyone who has ever used an external HDD can surely attest. USB 3.0 allows the hard drive to spread its wings, matching SATA II speeds. X-Fast did not add much to the equation, offering identical results to that of the vanilla USB 3.0. I did notice that CPU usage went down significantly though. I did not expect it to do much, if anything, since the drive was already performing as it should.
I'd be happy to run additional benchmarks if requested.



Samsung MP4 500GB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152236
Patriot Gauntlet:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817826001
Accessories included:
The Gauntlet includes a USB3 full-size cable and a 5v USB power cable (for use with USB 1.1 connections). It also includes PC Clone EX Lite backup software.
The Test:
HDTune 4.60 Read and Write benchmarks
Measurements:
Sequential Read AVG/MIN (MB/s)
Sequential Write AVG/MIN(MB/s)
Access Time (ms)
Other Factor:
ASRock X-Fast USB software - Proprietary software offered by ASRock to enhance USB3 speed.
Results:
Conclusion:
In terms of read/write speeds, USB 2.0 is a definite limitation, as anyone who has ever used an external HDD can surely attest. USB 3.0 allows the hard drive to spread its wings, matching SATA II speeds. X-Fast did not add much to the equation, offering identical results to that of the vanilla USB 3.0. I did notice that CPU usage went down significantly though. I did not expect it to do much, if anything, since the drive was already performing as it should.
I'd be happy to run additional benchmarks if requested.