Write and Read Speeds for Consumer-level CF

[metapen]

I was just looking at the SanDisk web site, which very helpfully gives the data-transfer speeds for their high-end products. Just for a point of reference, I'd like to know the write-speed, in MB/Sec, of my meer-mortal grade 256MB Compact Flash card. Anyone got a ballpark number?

[Stevekin]

Let's assume your mere mortal CF card is a '1x' speed. Then wondering how many Mb's per second is a bit optimistic. Flash card speeds are rated the same as CD's and CD rom drives. Here are the numbers.

1x........150kb/s yes, one hundred and fiftykilobytes per second. So pretty slow.

4x.........600kb/s

12x........1.8mb/s

40x........6mb/s

And my Lexar 80x writes up to 12mb/s. Fill in the gaps yourself to find your card speed.

Hope this helps,

Stevekin.

[metapen]

Thanks, but do I assume that the regular SanDisk CF card is 1x? On the SanDisk site, it says that the Ultra II card is 60x and that its write speed is 9MB/sec. The page for the regular card says "High transfer rate for fast copy/download." I'm sure the regular card comes somewhere south of 9MB/sec, but since it doesn't cost that much less than the Ultra II I'd hope they could do a little better than 1x. Maybe I'm being optimistic, though.

I spoze I should send an email to Mr. Sandisk and ask him. I'll post any info I get.

[Stevekin]

Thanks, but do I assume that the regular SanDisk CF card is 1x?

My assumption that your 'mere mortal' card was a 1x speed CF card was simply a means to show you the way speeds are actually rated. Starting with the slowest at 1x, 150kb/s.

If you bought your card recently, then no, it is very unlikely to be 1x speed.

'regular' or 'standard' speed cards today are more likely to be around 12x to 16x (1.8mb/s to 2.4mb/s)

I found there were too many hoops to jump through on the Sandisk site, that I couldn't be bothered to dig any deeper. They seem happy to trumpet the faster cards, but you have to work at getting any other info. Shame on Sandisk. Unless I'm missing something.

Stevekin.

[metapen]

I bought the CF card just last month. Good to know it probably isn't a 1x. Thanks for the ballpark figure.

And you're right, shame on SanDisk. I did go through the process of registering and asking the question, and jumping through hoops is exactly how I described the process in my message to them.

I notice that the 32MB card that came with my PowerShot A85 says "high speed." Anybody wanna guess the transfer rate of Canon's included CF card?

[Stevekin]

Must get me a hoop to practice with. :roll:

Can't find anything at all to indicate the actual speed of Sandisk 'standard' cards, nor the 32 mb card that came with your camera. None of the reviews of the A85 or resellers of the camera or Sandisk standard cards have the info.

Although the card states 'high speed', I would err on the conservative side and suggest that it's probably along the lines of the 'standard' figures I gave above, around 12x to 16x.

It would be interesting if/when you get a response from Sandisk.

Regards,

Stevekin.

[metapen]

Maybe I should lend you my hoop, because I got and answer from SanDisk (hail the conquering hero). I'll paste in all of what they told me, folks with other card types might find this useful.

WRITE SPEED FOR SANDISK COMPACTFLASH CARDS:
1) Standard CF = 1.1Mb/sec (6.6X)
2) Ultra CF = 2.9Mb/sec (20X)
3) Ultra II or Extreme = 9.0Mb/sec (60X) [10MB/sec READ]
4) Extreme III CF = 18Mb/sec (120X) [20MB/sec READ]


WRITE SPEED FOR SANDISK SD CARDS:
1) Regular SD = 1.1 to 1.6Mb/sec (6.6 to 10X)
2) Ultra II SD = 9.0Mb/sec (60X) [10MB/sec READ]
4) Extreme III SD = 18Mb/sec (120X) [20MB/sec READ]

FOR MMC CARDS:
1) Standard MMC = 4Mb/sec (26.6X)

[Nil Einne]

Bear in mind however that some manufacturers quote readspeed when they talk about a card speed (e.g. they say it's a 60x card)

[Stevekin]

Maybe I should lend you my hoop,

I'll take you up on that offer sometime when I want to find the next secretive something.

Well done for getting the info, and well done to Sandisk for responding. Still can't understand why it isn't on their web site already though. :?

Nil Einne, you are right about the read speed being quoted as it's the faster and looks better in their sales pitch, thankfully metapen was able to post both speeds for most of the cards from Sandisk.