USB 3.0 already offers a noticeable speed gain over USB 2.0, but Super Talent is set on increasing that performance even further with their latest range of flash drives. Known as USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache, the drives in question utilize a caching system with 32MB of DRAM acting as buffer to boost small block random performance by up to 300% compared to other alternatives. This is the first and only USB 3.0 drive to implement a caching system according to Super Talent.
The company claims that sequential read and write speeds only show how a drive will perform when copying large files. However, in real world applications, where we are often reading and writing hundreds of small files, a caching system can dramatically improve performance. In its tests, for example, Super Talent saw that copying 40 MP3 files to a flash drive can be cut from 17 seconds to less than five. This time savings becomes even more apparent as the file count goes up.
The USB 3.0 Express RAM Cache Drive is available in 32GB and 64GB models at a price of $129 and $209, respectively. Super Talent also offers the cache-less USB 3.0 Express Drive in a 16GB variant for $59 and in 32GB for $99.