I recently received a 120GB USB 3.0 DataTraveler from Kingston as a gift, and I was really excited about it. However, when I started transferring files, it only reached speeds of 18.2 MB/s. I'm not sure if there's something wrong with it or if this is the expected speed. I always thought USB 3.0 drives were faster. Is there a chance this drive could be fake, or is it normal for this model?
6 Answers
Unfortunately, USB thumb drives just can't keep up with SSDs in terms of speed. If quick transfer times are essential for you, switching to an NVMe SSD might be the way to go.
First off, check what USB ports you're using on your computer. If you're plugged into a USB 2.0 port, that could definitely slow down your transfer speeds! Also, think about how you formatted the drive - the speed can be affected by that too.
18.2 MB/s is still slower than what USB 2.0 typically offers, so it might be worth investigating further.
Thumb drives tend to write data slower than other types of storage media. Make sure you're using a USB 3.0 port, but even then, you'll find they don’t match SSD speeds. If you’re looking for quick transfers, you might want to consider a drive designed for speed, though they can be pricier.
Honestly, 15-20 MB/s is quite common for these types of drives when writing data, while read speeds might hover around 100 MB/s. Also, keep in mind that USB 2.0 maxes out around 30 MB/s.
It really depends on the model of your Kingston drive. There are many variants of the DataTraveler line, and some are just slower than others. Check the specifics of the model you have to see if that performance is expected.
It should mention DataTraveler Exodia on it.
The speeds can vary significantly between USB 3.0 ports. Some ports might only support lower speeds due to how they're configured on your motherboard. It's worth checking the specs of your motherboard to understand the performance you should expect.
The ports do look blue, which should indicate USB 3.0, but I’m not completely sure. I formatted it to exFAT with a 128KB allocation size.