You know, I agree that it slows down when transferring small files, but even old USB 2.0 drives transfer small files much, MUCH faster than this expensive USB key. I have the 256GB version and I am experiencing the exact same issues as Michael Moser; drive will not handle small files and will in fact be completely unusable for that task. I have USB 2.0 drives, which I can run Windows from – and quite fast too – but this 256GB Kingston drive takes about 20 minutes to start Windows from! You think sub-10KB/sec. transfer speeds is okay for a USB drive? (Hint: No. No it’s not. Not in any way.)

Hi. What you are describing is most likely due to the fact that the USB port you are using does not support UASP. UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) must be supported by the drivers for the USB 3.0 chipset for the hub/port. USB 3.0 chipsets that do not support UASP will use the same BOT (Bulk-Only Transport) that USB 2.0/1.1/1.0 uses. BOT does not allow for command queuing, out-of-order completion or any of the other SCSI commands that make SCSI/SATA/SAS devices so fast. UASP also adds support for TRIM, which is especially important if you’re using an SSD over a USB 3.0 connection.

Basically, without UASP, if you transfer a set of files with a mixed file size (say, 2KB – 2GB) the transfer speeds will slow to a crawl — like USB 2.0 speeds or worse — after a period of time. I had this same problem on one of my old computers that used a motherboard released before USB 3.0 had been integrated into mobo chipsets. The motherboard used an NEC chipset for which they did not provide UASP enabled drivers. One of my other motherboards uses an ASMedia chipset, which is still not as good as what’s built into an Intel motherboard chipset, *BUT* it does at least support UASP. Transfer speeds are easily 100MB/sec-300MB/sec on the ASMedia, even for file copies involving thousands of files of mixed sizes.

To benefit from UASP you would need to be using Windows 8 or newer, and the USB 3.0 chipset on your motherboard must have drivers which support UASP. If you are using Windows 8 or newer, but there are no UASP drivers for the USB 3.0 chipset on your mobo, then you could easily correct the problem with an add-on card. For example, either of these Inateck USB 3.0 controller cards:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6ZCNGM
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FPIMJEW

I have personally used the 5-port model to add USB 3.0 to an older AMD chipset-based Windows 8 computer that pre-dated USB 3.0. It worked great with mSATA drives inside USB 3.0 enclosures and my Corsair GTX (their SSD Flash Drive).

Anyway, hope that helps. Good luck to you, sir.

Perhaps you received a defective product. What I meant about my statement was to clarify that no storage medium will transfer small files at the stated transfer speeds. Disk transfer speeds slow down significantly when the file size becomes smaller and the total file number to transfer increases significantly. The example of this is system files or program files. I didnt say ‘programs that slow them down’.

What you mean by “programs that slow them down”? I am using them to copy and backup files (a wide variety of files that is!). That’s what USB sticks are for IMHO!
BTW: I benchmarked my stick with the ATTO Disk benchmark and while reads indeed reach the advertised 350MB/sec., the writes just manage to reach a meager 80MB/sec. (while the specs. boast 250MB/sec)! And even that only for block lengths >1MB. Below that speed breaks away down to 90kB/sec. for block lengths of 512B!

Such drives are not intended for use with program files that slow them as you describe. They are marketed for media first and foremost and I was surprised with your post. This has been my ‘go to’ drive since I posted this report. I find it to be an excellent drive and, in fact, is in my pocket up here at Computex.