SD/SDHC Card Write Speed Tests

N

noirist

Well-known member
Now that SD/SDHC card speed plays such an important role in the quality of our GH13 footage, I've decided to systematize my own card speed testing and invite you to join me. I tried H2Benchw, CrystalDiskMark, HD_Speed, and settled on HD_Speed because it was easy to use, quick, produced repeatable results, and appeared to be accurate.

Here are the simple instructions.

1. Download HD_Speed zip file from http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=20
2. Extract the HD_Speed.exe executable from the zip file and start it. It may hang for a while (Not Responding) when it starts up because it is scanning your system for drives but eventually will become available.
3. Set the parameters to Bits/Sec, BlockSize=Auto, Mode=Write, Test burst rate, and Duration 01:00.
4. Insert your blank SD card in your computer. HD_Speed will destroy all data on your card.
5. Choose the appropriate drive letter in HD_Speed and run the test. When you're done, you'll want to format your card before using it.
6. Report your results in Mbps along with the following information:
Card Reader
Card Brand
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC)
Card Class
Card Size (in GB)
Date Purchased
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps)
 
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Transcend USB Card Reader P5

Transcend USB Card Reader P5

Here are my results with the Transcend USB Card Reader P5:

#Brand,Type,Class,Size,Date,BurstWrite
Kingston, SD, Class 0, 2GB, 07/2010, 24.5Mbps
Patriot, SDHC, Class 6, 8GB, 06/2007, 24.6Mbps
Transcend, SDHC, Class 6, 16GB, 06/2009, 43.2Mbps
PhotoFast Dual Channel, SDHC, Class 10, 32GB,11/2009, 36.9Mbps
Sandisk Extreme, SDHC, Class 10, 16GB, 07/2010, 113.1Mbps

In other words, the Sandisk Extreme is for real!

Also of interest... the Transcend Class 6 was from 06/2009, which is before the Class 10 label was created, so it could well be the equivalent of a Class 10 if sold today.
 
Card reader: unknown builtin to HP PC
Card Brand: Toshiba
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 4
Card Size (in GB): 16
Date Purchased: 11/2009
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): 47.3 Mbps
 
Card Reader: Built-in (HP laptop)
Card Brand: Transcend
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 10
Card Size (in GB): 16GB
Date Purchased: 07/2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps):
Average: 57.2Mb/s, Min:52Mb/s (at Auto settings for block size = 64kB)
Average: 52.4Mb/s, Min: 50Mb/s (at 32KB block size)
 
Card Reader: Samsung laptop
Card Brand: Qumo
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 6
Card Size (in GB): 16
Date Purchased: summer 2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): 48.9 Mbps - 64kb block size; 40.4 Mbps - 32kb block size
 
Card Reader:Built in HP
Card Brand: Patriot
Card Type :SDHC
Card Class:10
Card Size:32
Date Purchased:2/10
Card Burst Write Speed : Current 42.0 mb ,Average : 39.6mb

Pretty sad for a Class 10 if you ask me
 
noirist said:
Here are my results with the Transcend USB Card Reader P5:

Transcend, SDHC, Class 6, 16GB, 06/2009, 43.2Mbps
Click to expand...
I regularly record error-free videos to my four Transend Class 6 SDHC cards at over 60Mbps. Perhaps your USB card reader may have a limit on its maximum write speed?
 
rambooc1 said:
Aren't we better off looking at sustained write speed not burst??
Click to expand...

Hmmm... let's see one definition on the net:

http://www.helium.com/items/475316-what-is-burst-speed

---
Burst speed is what it is "burst speed" which is a burst of speed. In terms of computer use, it talks about how fast data can be transferred by your internal or external harddrive for a short amount of time. Keep in mind that burst is higher than a sustained transfer speed. In short, think of the hard drive as your own body and you're sprinting from one side of the track to another.
---

According to that the published numbers are even too optimistic?!? However, we should find the mode which is the most similar to GH1's. Anybody knows?
 
Card Reader: Pisen
Card Brand: Silicon Power
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 10
Card Size (in GB): 16
Date Purchased: August 2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): 86.6 Mbps - 64kb block size; 55.0 Mbps - 32kb block size
 
lpowell said:
I regularly record error-free videos to my four Transend Class 6 SDHC cards at over 60Mbps. Perhaps your USB card reader may have a limit on its maximum write speed?
Click to expand...

Thanks for letting us known about that. I'll see if my built-in reader will show higher numbers when I get Sandisk Extreme card.

Otherwise, here are also some results comparing recent Transcend, Lexar, Sandisk, etc. cards.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/compactflash-sdhc-class-10,review-31878-8.html

Note quite large difference between minimum and maximum speeds for some cards.
 
My 3 Sandisk cards

Card reader: Sandisk MicroMate

Card Brand: Sandisk
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 10
Card Size (in GB): 16
Date Purchased: 2009
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): Card1: 94,3 Mbps. Card2: 95,1 Mbps

Card Brand: Sandisk
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 10
Card Size (in GB): 32
Date Purchased: 08/2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): 114,8 Mbps
 
crunchy said:
I'll see if my built-in reader will show higher numbers when I get Sandisk Extreme card.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't.

Card reader: Internal HP EliteBook 8530W laptop reader

Card Brand: Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: 10
Card Size (in GB): 32
Date Purchased: 8/2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): average 60.8 Mbps / average 52.4Mb/s (32kB block size)

I suppose that internal reader can't go faster, but it's only my speculation. Namely, I've found the following data in one review of a similar laptop (8540W): "6-in-1 cardreader (SD 1.7 MB/s, SD-HC 1.5 MB/s, XD 1.7 MB/s)". However, I don't know how the reviewer got so low numbers?!? It's also unusual that speed of SD-HC is slower than of SD.

Let me know if anybody measured higher speeds on internal laptop readers.

By the way, when I copy larger files on the card, the speed is about 70Mb/s (less than 9MB/s).
 
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Card Reader Advent netbook built-in
Card Brand Samsung
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC) SDHC
Card Class class 6
Card Size (in GB) 8
Date Purchased april 2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) 61.9Mb/s
 
Card Reader Advent netbook built-in
Card Brand Panasonic
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC) SDHC
Card Class class 10
Card Size (in GB) 8
Date Purchased feb 2010
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) 70.4Mb/s


think I'll buy another Samsung - half the price! (works at 24Mb/s overall bitrate in 1080p too)
 
Card Reader: Built in Asus i7 desktop, properties just say generic sd reader.
Card Brand: Sandisk ultra II, 15MB/s
Card Type: SDHC
Card Class: 4
Card Size: 8GB
Date Purchased: came with ebay gh1 in June 2010
Card Burst Write Speed: 92.5 Mb/s

Card Reader: Built in Asus i7 desktop, properties just say generic sd reader.
Card Brand: Transcend
Card Type: SDHC
Card Class: 6
Card Size: 8GB
Date Purchased: January 2009
Card Burst Write Speed: 49.8 Mb/s
 
Here are results from my 3 type of cards.
(interesting kingston class 4 is better than panasonic class 10 olympics)


kingston.jpg

Card Reader - Hoodman raw
Card Brand - Kingston
Card Type - SDHC
Card Class - 4
Card Size (in GB) - 16GB
Date Purchased - few days ago
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) - 49,3M


65204950.jpg

Card Reader - Hoodman raw
Card Brand - Panasonic (Vancouver 2010 Olympic games edition)
Card Type - SDHC
Card Class - 10
Card Size (in GB) - 16GB
Date Purchased - few days ago
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) - 44,6M


rawsdhc32g300x215.jpg

Card Reader - Hoodman raw
Card Brand - Hoodman Raw
Card Type - SDHC
Card Class - 10
Card Size (in GB) - 32GB
Date Purchased - few days ago
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) - 106.7M
 
There are two reasons why this thread is pointless:

1. Theres no way to benchmark card readers independently of the card so you cant get real numbers from doing so.

2.Write burst speed it probably as important as read speed when it comes to determining write bandwidth requirements. If you want to know whether your card can support your hack settings, then you would be looking for minimum write bandwidth, that is, how low it goes, if even for a second, which would cause problems.

Take your overall bandwidth settings in Mb/s (just disregard the first six 0's) that you would like to shoot at (even experimentally), then divide by 8 to get your minimum write bandwidth in MB/s, then compare that to this SDHC benchmark chart, making sure to add a 10% error margin to the minimum you will need, and if any other issue arise from the hack, then you've hit the internal limits of the camera itself and not the card.
 
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Tonpole - This thread is for people to post their SD card write speeds according to the protocol explained in the first post. If you don't have a write speed result to post, please put your comments in a different thread. Thank you.
 
Card Reader: Microboard Notebook Built-in
Card Brand: Sandisk Extreme 30MB/s
Card Type (SD or SDHC or SDXC): SDHC
Card Class: Class 10
Card Size (in GB): 8GB
Date Purchased: August 2010 from China eBay seller
Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps): 76.3Mb/s

If I use my Akasa USB Multi-card reader on my desktop computer, I get:

Card Burst Write Speed (in Mbps) 34.5Mb/s
 
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