Flash memory card speed

http://www.crucial.com/uk/library/flash ... rating.asp

I have heard about flash memory cards having speed ratings, anyone know how quickly the MPC1k can read from a flash card? Planning to use my 1k live and therefore need quick load times. Are the high speed cards worth the extra cash or does the drive in the mpc limit them?

Good question, I should imagine that the speed of the card should also tally up with the mpc, being that the cards are always getting faster but the readers themselves dont change. However they always advertise the READ SPEED on them cards and never the WRITE SPEED. Anyway the bigger your sample the longer it takes to load. Type II cards are quite fast though. This is not much help cause its a trial and error thing really, you will just have to find what works best for you in the end.

Penfold wrote:... Type II cards are quite fast though. This is not much help cause its a trial and error thing really, you will just have to find what works best for you in the end.

I don't know about the read/write speeds, I'm about to invest in a card soon, so I would like to hear any experiences. Anyway, the different types (I/II) of compact flash has nothing to do with speed afaik.

Quoted from (http://www.compactflash.org/faqs/faq.htm)

The only difference between CF Type I and CF Type II cards is the card thickness. CF Type I is 3.3 mm thick and CF Type II cards are 5mm thick. A CF Type I card will operate in a CF Type I or CF Type II slot. A CF Type II card will only fit in a CF Type II slot. The electrical interfaces are identical. CompactFlash is available in both CF Type I and CF Type II cards, though predominantly in CF Type I cards. The Microdrive is a CF Type II card. Most CF I/O cards are CF Type I, but there are some CF Type II I/O cards.

CompactFlash cards are designed with flash technology, a nonvolatile storage solution that does not require a battery to retain data indefinitely.

The CompactFlash card specification version 2.0 supports data rates up to 16MB/sec and capacities up to 137GB.

HEY U SCIENTIST! JOKE!

Thanks for that man!

Penfold wrote:HEY U SCIENTIST! JOKE!

Thanks for that man!

Fraid I have to wash my coat now, accelerated cf stains all over it, but I'll try joking later. Sounds interesting.

I'm about to order a 2GB Compact Flash card.
-I've read that there are problems with Sandisk and IBM Microdrive, so i wont buy that.
-Both Type I and Type II suits in the MPC1000, and they are identically inside.
-What matters, is the speed:

I will have as high transfer speed as possible, but avoid buying something that is too fast for the MPC1000. Both the MPC1000 and the CF card has a speed, and it is the slowest speed of those two which decides what speed you get.

So my question is: How fast are the read and the write on the MPC1000?

I've been through whole the forum, and can't find any exact answer. So if none of you can answer directly, I know how to find it out with some help from you with fast cards:

1. Put a large file on the CF (i.e. 50 MB)
2. Find a stopwatch and find out how many seconds it takes to transfer it from the CF to the MPC1000.
3. Delete the file on the CF card.
4. Find out how many seconds it takes to transfer the same file from the MPC1000 to the CF card.

Then you are finished. You just have to tell me those times (in seconds), how big the file was, and EXACTLY which Compact Flash card you used.

Thanking you in advance!

---

For those who wonder how i calculate the speed:

CF Cards uses the same benchmark values as CD-ROM. 150 KB/S = 1X
I tested the 16MB card that followed the MPC, and got those results with a 10000 KB Wav:

........................................TIME

READ.........CF -> MPC:.......7,0 Seconds
WRITE.......MPC -> CF:.......33,5 Seconds

Read speed: 10000/7,0 = 1428,6 KB/S
Write speed: 10000/33,5 = 298,5 KB/S

Benchmark speed:

Read: 1428,6/150 = 9,5X
Write: 298,5/150 = 2,0X

The speed are ofcourse much more than those, but after (hopefully) a lot of answers, we may find the roof. (I.e. when a 60X card is just as fast as a 70X card).

What problems have you heard about the scandisk? Becuase thats what I have been using since I got my mpc1k and it works just fine. Its the 512mb one, and its about time for another.

Tiger Vomitt at http://www.mpc-forums.com/viewtopic.php?t=8864&start=0

Which Sandisk do you have?

Can anyone please help me?

when its fast its not quite fast enough I myself think they run fast enough maybe u should start designing some to your liking

hi,

i know how it feels when it seems like no one even understands the question.

so i'd like to reassure you-- i get what you're saying.

however im too lazy today to do the test

maybe someday soon i'll be bored and do it.

for now I'll just say, for me it's medium fast. a little slower than i'd like, but reasonable.

This is the scandisk cf card that I own. its a type 1

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/4286/4286793_sa.jpg

Everyone with a other CF than the original, can help, and it takes max 5 minutes.

If you are lazy, take a (i.e.) 10 MB file instead. Everything helps.

Thanks!

If its USB 1.1, then its 15 MB/S on both read and write (10X). Does this sounds right?

If thats right, the answer is:


Through the USB: 1X (0,15 MB/S) read/write
Cardreader: 10X (1,5 MB/S) read/write

"does the drive in the mpc limit them"

No. The fastest cards commonly available are only about 1.5 MB/sec sustained (about 10x). You will typically see the misleading "burst transfer" rates advertised for cards.

This speed is well below the rate of the MPC's controller subsystem.