External Hd or Micro sdcard

[gangolfus]

I'm still going to bring up my crazy idea of having an SSD/HDD built into a Surface dock... come on, that'd be awesome!

Why not just get a NAS?

 

[jrioux]

Why not just get a NAS?

My RT is linked to my NAS through WiFi, so I can access all my files on my RT.

 

[beq]

Just curious, is the SP2's microSDXC slot capable of fully utilizing the SD UHS-I speed (beyond Class 10)? How about UHS-II?

 

[CrippsCorner]

Why not just get a NAS?

Sure, that's one option... mine was just another idea

 

[beq]

Portable HDDs can best microSD cards on sequential read/write, though spinning mechanical platters naturally have a drawback on random access performance.

Here's my USB 3.0 HDD results on the SP2 (second graph is ATTO Disk Benchmark). Not exactly scientific, as the drives were tested in various states of capacity and sector (fragmentation) usage.

Seagate Backup Plus Slim 2TB. Around 100MB/s sequential read/write.






An original WD My Passport from 2012 (first 2TB portable on the market) is faster still. Had similar test results either full or empty, IIRC?






But strangely, a second WD My Passport 2TB (bought same time) tested slower!?






A really old 500MB laptop HDD put into a custom USB 3.0 case

 

[beq]

In comparison here are the fastest UHS-I microSDXC cards I found.

All tested with exFAT default format, using Lexar USB 3.0 microSD reader (which was slightly faster than the SP2 internal slot, although there were variations from run to run)

Samsung Pro 64GB microSDXC (advertised 90MB/s read, 80MB/s write!) [SR review]






Lexar 633x 64GB microSDXC (advertised 95MB/s read, "slower" write), includes tiny USB 3.0 reader





I haven't gotten the SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB microSDXC (advertised 80MB/s read, 50MB/s write). [SR review] Sounds like performance may be similar to Lexar above?

There's also the faster SanDisk Extreme Pro microSDXC (advertised 95MB/s read, 90MB/s write!), but it maxes out at only 16GB [SR review]


P.S. There are even faster UHS-II microSDXC cards on the horizon, such as this Toshiba!

​Toshiba has introduced the world's fastest microSD memory cards and the first in the industry to comply with the UHS-II interface standard as well as being UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) enabled.

The 64GB cards boast a maximum read and write speed of 260MB/s and 240MB/s respectively <...>

 

[beq]

For kicks, here's my Lexar Professional 1000x 64GB CompactFlash card from 2012 (advertised 150MB/s read). Formatted exFAT, using Lexar USB 3.0 CF reader.







Strangely, this CompactFlash formatted as FAT32 (from DSLR) tested slightly faster?

 

[beq]

View attachment 2214

using Lexar USB 3.0 microSD reader (which was slightly faster than the SP2 internal slot, although there were variations from run to run)

FWIW here were my microSDXC results using the SP2 internal slot:

Samsung Pro 64GB


Lexar 633x 64GB



And using a much slower USB 2.0 reader:

Samsung Pro 64GB


Lexar 633x 64GB




I can post other results if desired...

 

[scottysize]

I'm in the both worlds category, only I have USB 3.0 Mem sticks as well as a microSD card.

 

[yeewiz]

View attachment 2214
FWIW here were my microSDXC results using the SP2 internal slot:

...

I can post other results if desired...

hey @beq, did you run the numbers on a SanDisk Extreme Plus 64GB microSD on the SP2 SD slot?