CARDSPEED - Card Readers and Memory Cards

UDMA CompactFlash Cards

 Latest Series   ·   CARDSPEED Tests   ·   Explanations   ·   Market Overview 
Important Note: Do not use CompactFlash cards as system disk, unless you really know what you are doing! Do not contact me with questions or complaints!

Latest Series, rated 400x or higher, 8GB or more

Last update: 2010-06-30 Sizes
Brand Series Claimed Speed  8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 50GB
48GB		 64GB 100GB
96GB		 128GB
A-Data Turbo 633x CF 633x: 93MB/s R, 92MB/s W     #   #        
A-Data Speedy 533x CF 533x: 80MB/s R, 50MB/s W     #   #   #    
Apacer High Speed 600X CF 600x: 90MB/s R, 93MB/s W #   #            
Buffalo RCF-H x600 600x: 90MB/s #   #   #        
Delkin CombatFlash UDMA 6 625X 625x: 91MB/s     #   #        
Delkin CompactFlash PRO UDMA 420X 420x: 63MB/s #   #   #   #    
Hoodman Professional RAW 675x CF 675x #   #            
Lexar Professional UDMA 600x CF 600x: 90MB/s R/W #   #   #        
PhotoFast GMonster CF 533x Plus Professional 533x: 90MB/s R, 80MB/s W #   #   #        
PhotoFast GMonster CF 533x Professional 533x: 90MB/s R, 40MB/s W     #   #   #    
PQI 600x CF 600x: 93MB/s R, 91MB/s W #   #   #        
RiDATA 600X CompactFlash Supreme 600x: 94MB/s R, 92MB/s W #   #            
SanDisk Extreme Pro CF 90MB/s 600x: 90MB/s R/W     #   #   #    
SanDisk Extreme CF 60MB/s 400x: 60MB/s R/W #   #   #        
Silicon Power 600x CF 600x #   #   #        
Silicon Power 400x CF 400x #   #   #   #   #
Super Talent 600x CF 600x: 90MB/s #   #   #   #    
Super Talent 533x CF 533x #   #   #   #    
Super Talent 450x CF 450x #   #   #   #    
Team Group 600X Professional UDMA CF 600x: 90MB/s R, 93MB/s W     #   #        
Team Group 400X Professional UDMA CF 400x: 80MB/s R, 55MB/s W         #   #    
Team Group 400X Professional UDMA CF 400x: 60MB/s R, 55MB/s W #   #            
Transcend 600x CF 600x: 92MB/s R, 87MB/s W #   #            
Transcend 400x CF 400x: 90MB/s R, 60MB/s W     #   #   #    

See the  Market Overview  below for a more detailed list.

CARDSPEED Tests

Maximum average read/write rates, sorted by write rate. Most of the cards are from regular retail chains, but no guarantee that all cards from the same series show the same performance.

Alignment Notes: The information about alignment is derived from a specially desgined test procedure.

Offset and Interval give information, where the card shows best average read and write rates. Entries with preceding * indicate that the values could not be determined precisely.
Unaligned Read and Unaligned Write are percentage values calculated from the highest and lowest sustained read/write rate during the test run. These are not necessarily accurate values, but at least they tell how much the transfer rates differed depending on the read/write position. Entries maked with preceding * indicate that the measured values do not match the actual behaviour of the card.

For general information, see the  alignment  article.

Average Sustained Aligned Alignment Unaligned ATA Information
 Card     Read   Write   Offs. Int.   Read Write   Max. Mode   ATA Type   PCMCIA Type
 PhotoFast 533x Plus CF 16GB  83.81MB/s 572x 84.26MB/s 575x 0 32kB 95% 88% UDMA-6 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 PhotoFast 533x Plus CF 32GB  87.14MB/s 594x 79.05MB/s 539x 0 32kB 95% 89% UDMA-6 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Transcend UDMA 300x CF 16GB  51.34MB/s 350x 49.70MB/s 339x 0 16kB 96% 63% UDMA-5 Fixed CF-Removable
 PhotoFast 533x CF 64GB  84.91MB/s 579x 48.67MB/s 332x 0 32kB 96% 91% UDMA-6 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 PhotoFast 533x CF 32GB  88.45MB/s 603x 47.71MB/s 325x 0 32kB 96% 85% UDMA-6 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 SONY 300x UDMA CF 16GB  48.12MB/s 328x 47.57MB/s 324x 0 16kB 98% 79% UDMA-5 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 SONY 300x UDMA CF 8GB  43.11MB/s 294x 46.30MB/s 316x 0 4kB 98% 94% UDMA-5 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Lexar Professional UDMA 300x CF 16GB  47.06MB/s 321x 45.66MB/s 311x 0 16kB 98% 78% UDMA-5 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Lexar Professional UDMA 300x CF 8GB  41.82MB/s 285x 44.99MB/s 307x 0 4kB 98% 95% UDMA-5 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Kingston Ultimate 266x CF 16GB  47.08MB/s 321x 43.75MB/s 298x 0 16kB 98% 81% UDMA-5 Fixed CF-Removable
 SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition CF 8GB  43.00MB/s 293x 43.65MB/s 298x 0 * 4kB * 95% * 94% UDMA-4 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 A-Data Turbo 350x CF 16GB  47.60MB/s 324x 42.83MB/s 292x 0 16kB 98% 79% UDMA-6 Fixed CF-Removable
 SanDisk Extreme IV CF 4GB  40.08MB/s 273x 38.97MB/s 266x 0 8kB 99% 95% UDMA-4 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Kingston Ultimate 266x CF 8GB  44.12MB/s 301x 38.74MB/s 264x 0 16kB 98% 95% UDMA-5 Fixed CF-Removable
 Transcend 266x High-Speed CF 8GB  45.26MB/s 309x 36.60MB/s 249x 0 16kB 98% 96% UDMA-4 Fixed CF-Removable
 Transcend ULTRA Industrial CF 8GB  42.90MB/s 292x 35.69MB/s 243x 0 16kB 98% 96% UDMA-4 Fixed Standard
 Verbatim Pro Series 300X (ATP) CF 8GB  42.88MB/s 292x 35.61MB/s 243x 0 16kB 98% 95% UDMA-4/5? Fixed CF-Removable
 A-Data Turbo 266x CF 8GB  47.66MB/s 325x 29.29MB/s 200x 0 8kB 97% 94% UDMA-4 Fixed CF-Removable
 SanDisk Extreme III 30MB/s CF 32GB  33.13MB/s 226x 27.18MB/s 185x 32kB 64kB 98% 84% UDMA-4 CF-Removable CF-Removable
 Transcend Ultra Speed 133x CF 32GB  45.53MB/s 310x 22.63MB/s 154x 0 16kB 97% 58% UDMA-4 Fixed CF-Removable
 TwinMOS Ultra-X CF 300X 4GB  28.01MB/s 191x 21.54MB/s 147x 0 8kB 98% 97% UDMA-4 Fixed CF-Non-Standard
 Transcend 133x Ultra Speed CF 16GB  34.26MB/s 233x 15.26MB/s 104x 0 16kB 92% 67% UDMA-4 Fixed CF-Removable

For regular test results, see the  UDMA CompactFlash Cross-Comparison  or  UDMA CompactFlash Test Results .

Alignment information for other CF cards

Alignment Unaligned
 Card     Offs. Int.   Read Write
 SanDisk Extreme III CF 16GB  0 32kB 99% 76%
 SanDisk Extreme III CF 1GB  1kB 2kB 99% 85%
 SanDisk Ultra II CF (2004) 2GB  5kB 32kB 98% 78%
 SanDisk Ultra II CF (2003) 2GB  0 64kB 94% 95%
 Transcend 120x CF 8GB  0 8kB 99% 92%
 Transcend 80x CF 4GB  12kB 16kB 99% 95%

Explanations

The CF interface is derived from the ATA Interface. The CF 2.0 specification allowed PIO-4 mode that has a theoretical limit of about 15.9MB/s.
CF 3.0 introduced two additional PIO modes that are not part of the original ATA specification: PIO-5 and PIO-6, where PIO-6 has a theoretical limit of about 23.8MB/s. Most CF cards with speed ratings from 80x to 166x use PIO-6 to achieve this speed. However, there is currently no FireWire reader with support for PIO-5 or PIO-6. This means that PIO-6 cards run in the slower PIO-4 mode, and therefore run slower than with current USB 2.0 readers. Support for MDMA modes is most likely not that popular, but you can't really tell the difference between PIO-4 and MDMA-2 when a card reader is used, because PIO only occupies the card reader controller, not the host CPU. CF 3.0 also introduced two additional MDMA modes, MDMA-3 and MDMA-4 using the same timing as PIO-5 and PIO-6.

With CF 3.0, the UDMA modes UDMA-0 to UDMA-4 were introduced with a theoretical limit of about 63MB/s for UDMA-4.
With CF 4.0, the remaining UDMA modes UDMA-5 and UDMA-6 were added, allowing up to about 127MB/s.
With CF 5.0, 48-bit commands were added. This command set allows a transfer block size of up to 32MB compared to 128kB with the previous command set. This will allow actual transfer rates to come closer to the theoretical limit.

In case you have plans on using CF cards as regular ATA device: For all timings of 100ns or faster (UDMA-5 and UDMA-6), the CompactFlash specification only allows one device per bus with a maximum distance of 0.15m (6in) from the card connector to the host controller, at 3.3V supply voltage! In addition to that, 80-wire cables must be used for all UDMA modes.

Current UDMA CF Cards and UDMA CF readers support UDMA-5 or UDMA-6, with real-world transfer rates of more than 80MB/s. This is already beyond the theoretical transfer rate of UDMA-4. Current USB 2.0 UDMA CF readers are maxed out at about 32MB/s, less than 40% of the actual card performance.

Market Overview UDMA CompactFlash

This is a list of currently available or announced UDMA CF cards. This list does not claim to be complete or correct. All speed ratings and read/write rates are based on advertized figures. For actual data rates, see the  test results  above.

Last update: 2010-08-17 Sizes
Brand Series Claimed Speed  1GB   2GB   4GB   8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 50GB
48GB		 64GB 100GB
96GB		 128GB
A-Data Turbo 633x CF 633x: 93MB/s R, 92MB/s W           #   #        
A-Data Speedy 533x CF 533x: 80MB/s R, 50MB/s W           #   #   #    
A-Data Turbo 350x CompactFlash 52MB/s R, 47MB/s W       #   #            
A-Data Turbo 266x CompactFlash 266x   # # #   #            
Apacer High Speed 600X CF 600x: 90MB/s R, 93MB/s W       #   #            
Apacer High Speed 350X CF 350x: 58MB/s R, 40MB/s W     # #   #            
Apacer Photo Steno IV CF 300X 300x: 47MB/s R, 36MB/s W     # #   [#]            
ATP Pro Max II UDMA Ready 300X CF 300x   # # #                
Biwin 250x CF 250x # # # #   #   #        
Biwin 150x/300x CF 45MB/s R, 22.5MB/s W # # # #   #   #        
Buffalo RCF-H x600 600x: 90MB/s       #   #   #        
Buffalo RCF-U x300 45MB/s R, 35MB/s W     # #                
Calumet ProSpec Series UDMA 305x 305x: 45MB/s # # # #   #            
Dane-Elec UDMA 300Xs CF 300x: 45MB/s   # # #                
Delkin CombatFlash UDMA 6 625X 625x: 91MB/s           #   #        
Delkin CompactFlash PRO UDMA 420X 420x: 63MB/s       #   #   #   #    
Delkin CompactFlash PRO UDMA 305x 305x: 45MB/s # # # #   #            
FujiFilm 310x CompactFlash 310x: 46.5MB/s W     # #   #            
Hoodman Professional RAW 675x CF 675x     # #   #            
Hoodman Professional RAW 300x CF 300x: 45MB/s   # # #   #            
Hoodman Professional RAW 280x CF 280x: 42MB/s   # # #   ?            
Brand Series Claimed Speed  1GB   2GB   4GB   8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 50GB
48GB		 64GB 100GB
96GB		 128GB
Integral Ultima PRO 300x CF 300x: 45MB/s R, 45MB/s W     # #   #            
Kingmax 200x/266x/300x CF 200x/266x/300x ? ? ? ?   ?   ?        
Kingston CompactFlash Ultimate 266x 266x: 45MB/s R, 40MB/s W   # # #   #            
Lexar Professional UDMA 600x CF 600x: 90MB/s R/W       #   #   #        
Lexar Professional UDMA 300x CF 300x   # # #   #            
Lexar Professional 233x CF 233x   [#] [#] [#]                
Microdia XTRA Elite 300x UDMA CF 300x: 45MB/s R/W     # #   [#]   [#]   [#]    
PhotoFast GMonster CF 533x Plus Professional 533x: 90MB/s R, 80MB/s W       #   #   #        
PhotoFast GMonster CF 533x Professional 533x: 90MB/s R, 40MB/s W           #   #   #    
PhotoFast CF 300X Speed (SLC) 300x: 44MB/s R, 31MB/s W     # #   #            
PhotoFast 366X Professional 366x: 55MB/s R, 25MB/s W     # #   #   #        
PhotoFast Extreme Pro CF 333x: 43MB/s R, 10.5MB/s W     # #   #   #        
Patriot 266x CF 266x     # #   #   #   #    
PNY Optima Pro CF Ultra High Speed 266x 266x   # # #                
PNY Optima Pro CF Ultra High Speed 300x 300x: 45MB/s           #            
PQI 600x CF 600x: 93MB/s R, 91MB/s W       #   #   #        
PQI Hi-Speed 233x CompactFlash 233x: 35MB/s R   # # #   [#]   [#]        
PQI Hi-Speed 300x CompactFlash 300x: 45MB/s R, 22.5MB/s W # # # #   [#]            
Pretec 666x CF 666x: 100MB/s     ? ?   ?   ?   ?    
Pretec 567x CF 567x: 85MB/s                   #    
Pretec 433x CF 433x: 65MB/s R, 50MB/s W               #        
Pretec 333x CF 333x: 50MB/s R, 40MB/s W   ? ? ?   # # # [#]      
Pretec 233x CF 233x: 35MB/s R, 25MB/s W ? ? ? ?   ? ? ? # # [#]  
Brand Series Claimed Speed  1GB   2GB   4GB   8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 50GB
48GB		 64GB 100GB
96GB		 128GB
RAM Components High Speed 320x CF 320x max.     # #   #            
RiDATA 600X CompactFlash Supreme 600x: 94MB/s R, 92MB/s W     # #   #            
RiDATA 266X CompactFlash Supreme 266x: 40MB/s R, 35MB/s W # # # #                
RiDATA Lightning Series 233X CompactFlash 233x: 35MB/s R # # # #   #            
Samsung 233x CF Plus 233x: 45MB/s R, 35MB/s W     # #                
SanDisk Extreme Pro CF 90MB/s 600x: 90MB/s R/W           #   #   #    
SanDisk Extreme CF 60MB/s 400x: 60MB/s R/W       #   #   #        
SanDisk Extreme IV CF 45MB/s 45MB/s R/W     # #   #            
SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition CF 45MB/s     # #                
SanDisk Extreme IV CF 40MB/s 266x: 40MB/s   # # #                
SanDisk Extreme III CF 30MB/s 30MB/s   # # #   #   #        
Silicon Power 600x CF 600x       #   #   #        
Silicon Power 400x CF 400x       #   #   #   #   #
Silicon Power 300x CF 300x   # # #   #   #        
Silicon Power 200x CF 200x # # # #   #   #        
SONY CompactFlash UDMA 300x 300x: 45MB/s W   # # #   #            
STEC MACH4 CF 90MB/s R, 55MB/s W     # #   #            
STEC MACH2 CF 30MB/s R, 20MB/s W # # # #   #            
Super Talent 600x CF 600x: 90MB/s       #   #   #   #    
Super Talent 533x CF 533x       #   #   #   #    
Super Talent 450x CF 540x       #   #   #   #    
Brand Series Claimed Speed  1GB   2GB   4GB   8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 50GB
48GB		 64GB 100GB
96GB		 128GB
Team Group 600X Professional UDMA CF 600x: 90MB/s R, 93MB/s W           #   #        
Team Group 400X Professional UDMA CF 400x: 80MB/s R, 55MB/s W               #   #    
Team Group 400X Professional UDMA CF 400x: 60MB/s R, 55MB/s W       #   #            
Team Group 233x CF 233x: 35MB/s max.     # #   #   #        
Transcend 600x CF 600x: 92MB/s R, 87MB/s W       #   #            
Transcend 400x CF 400x: 90MB/s R, 60MB/s W           #   #   #    
Transcend Extreme Speed UDMA 300x CF 300x     # #   #            
Transcend 266x High-Speed CF 266x: 40MB/s max.   # # #                
Transcend 133x Ultra Speed CF 133x: 45MB/s R, 21.5MB/s W # # # #   #   #        
Transcend CF200I Industrial Grade 200x: 40MB/s R, 35MB/s W # # # #   #            
Transcend ULTRA Industrial CF 100x: 25-40MB/s max. # # # #                
TwinMOS 300x Ultra-X CF 300x # # # #                
TwinMOS 233x Ultra-X CF 233x ? ? ? ?   ?   #        
Verbatim PRO SERIES CF 300X 300x: 45MB/s R/W   # # #                
 1GB   2GB   4GB   8GB  12GB 16GB 24GB 32GB 48GB
50GB		 64GB 96GB
100GB		 128GB

Hans-Jürgen Reggel   ·   http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/   ·   2007-05-21 ~ 2010-08-17