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Patriot 64GB Xporter Magnum USB Flash Drive


Date
: 03/5/09 – 03:53:03 AM

Author
:

Category
: Storage

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Patriot Memory

Patriot is certainly a name most any PC enthusiast should at least be aware of. They have made a name for themselves with high performance RAM and have also been making a name for themselves with their flash memory products.

It wasn't very long ago that Patriot really impressed us with their 32GB Patriot Xporter Boost thumb drive. Today they return with their latest Xporter drive that doubles that capacity to 64GB with their Xporter Magnum. Read on to see if this latest Xporter continues the performance we have come to expect from Patriot.

Page 2 : Package, Features and Specifications

We'll start with the packaging. The Xporter Magnum comes packaged in the not so favorite hard plastic shell. The drive is clearly visible on the front and the back lists out some features and graph showing the speed of the drive.

Features for the Xporter Magnum 64GB were grabbed straight from Patriot's product page here.

Features:

* Hi Speed USB 2.0 Compatible (backwards compatible to USB 1.1)
* Easy plug and play functionality
* Portable and lightweight (19.5 grams)
* Driverless in Windows ME/2K/XP/Vista, Mac OS 9.x, OS X Linux with USB storage support
* Certified for Windows Vista’
* Lifetime Warranty

Some people might wonder exactly how much their flash drive can hold of either their favorite music or pictures. Patriot includes a handy graph that lays this information out for you. While numbers for the 64GB drive are not included, some simple math will net you the numbers you need.

Page 3 : Drive and Installation

Once the package is opened, there are three contents inside. You have the USB extension cable, lanyard and the Xporter Magnum itself.

The Magnum has a metal casing with the name and size of the drive clearly printed. The first thing that came to my mind was how this drive is wider than any thumb drive I have used before.

Once you have the cap off, you can get a better idea of the width of the Magnum. The cap can be attached to the backside for safekeeping while the drive is in use.

Here is a quick shot of the Xporter Magnum next to the Corsair Flash Voyager Mini[/ul]and Kingston Data Traveler-Secure[/ul]to give another perspective on its size.

When USB ports are parallel the Xporter Magnum will not hinder with other ports beside it. However when the ports are side by side, the Magnum's width will interfere with any ports beside it.

While I initially did not think there was an activity LED, but after plugging the Magnum in, I saw there is one somewhat hidden inside the end.

We've had a look at the specs and the drive itself, time to hook it up and run it through some tests.

Page 4 : Testing

The following system was used for testing:

CPU: Intel E8400
MB: Biostar I45
RAM: G.Skill PI Black PC6400
Video: Biostar GeForce 9600GT
PSU: Ultra X3 1000W
HD: WD 250GB SATA
DVD-Rom: Lite-On 18x DVD Burner – SATA
Cases: Cooler Master HAF932
OS: Microsoft Windows XP w SP2

Comparison USB drives:
Patriot Xporter Magnum 64GB
Patriot Xporter XT 32GB
Corsair Flash Voyagermini 8GB
Kingston DataTraveler Secure 2 GB
Kingston DataTraveler Secure Privacy Edition 2 GB
n-Trance n-Tegrity Pro 1 GB

For testing I used the following programs to gather data:
-Sisoft Sandra Lite XII.SP2c File System benchmark
-Simpli Software HD Tach 3.0.4.0
-NodeSoft Diskbench

All programs were run three times and the average of those scores was used as the final result.

To start off with, I ran them through Sandra's file system benchmark. While not outright winning in any category, the Xporter Magnum stays close to the top marks in all categories except in the buffered and random write scores. A good start for a large capcity thumb drive.

Next I ran them through Sandra's Removable Storage test. Fairly similar results I saw with the Xporter XT driver earlier so no real surprises here with the Magnum falling a little behind its little brother.

Now it is on to SimpliSoftware's HD Tach benchmark using the long bench option. While random access is slightly higher for the Magnum, all other scores are right near the top scores in each category.

Finally to get a little better look at real world performance, I ran the Xporter Magnum through NodeSoft's Diskbench using a 516,000 kb file in the Copy File test. Here the Xporter Magnum once again trails only slightly behind the Xporter XT drive.

Page 5 : Conclusion

With the Xporter Magnum, Patriot has once again shown their aim at performance. Even after doubling the storage capacity of their previous Xporter they have managed to keep close to the same performance numbers with the Magnum.

When the worst thing you can say about a 64GB thumb drive is that the case is a little too wide, you have a good thing going. With an included USB cable however even this point is neutralized.

Advantages

• 64GB in your pocket
  
  
• Metal casing

Disadvantages

• Wide

Overclockers Online would like to thank Patriot Memory for making this review possible.