INTRODUCTION

   Storage capacity needs increase on a daily basis and with them so does demand and thus in the end those two result in more competition between companies and lower prices (at least most of the time). Think about it, just two years ago i was running around carrying an 16GB USB flash drive with my keychain while now i have attached a permanent 32GB one which i sometimes replace with an 128GB one if i need to carry way too much data with me. The good news is that unlike a year ago today there are plenty of USB 3.0 compatible 128GB flash drives for one to choose from in the market and so we took it upon ourselves to get our hands on as many as we can to check and see what you can expect in terms of read & write performance. Today on our test bench we actually have a familiar drive and more specifically the highest capacity model from the SuperSonic Rage XT line by Patriot Memory.

   Established in 1985, Patriot Memory builds a full range of memory module and flash memory products, offering a perfect blend of quality and value. Patriot products include Extreme Performance (EP), Signature Lines (SL) and Flash Memory solutions (FM). Commitment, focus on innovation in technology, product quality, and customer satisfaction are the key enablers of our future success. Patriot's development and manufacturing facility are located in Fremont, California USA and Taipei, Taiwan. Our manufacturing segment is composed of a highly skilled production staff and multiple production lines optimized for modules, giving Patriot the ability and resources necessary to provide a full line of memory module solutions. We understand the value of designing and responding quickly and intelligently to the rapid changes inherent in the memory module industry. This commitment to R&D enables us to deliver the best quality memory modules powered by the latest innovative technology.

   As many of you know the SuperSonic Rage XT line is not the highest performance one in the Patriot Memory arsenal (that's the role of the SuperSonic Magnum line) but still it boasts very respectable speeds of 180MB/s read and 50MB/s write (as advertised by Patriot Memory). Of course 50MB/s write may not seem high enough compared with many other models in the market currently but the SuperSonic Rage XT is very compact and features a nice rubber coated enclosure which adds extra protection. What I’m mostly interested however is to see whether or not the SuperSonic Rage XT 128GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive can reach (and why not even surpass) its advertised performance levels so the time has come for us to check exactly that.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

THE SUPERSONIC RAGE XT 128GB

As always we received the drive inside a clamshell package with the connectivity, main features and OS compatibility printed at the front.

The product features are printed at the rear in 7 different languages right next to the specifications list and above the 5 years warranty statement.

Unfortunately just like with the 32GB model the 128GB one doesn't come with a lanyard in the package.

The enclosure measures 53mm in length, 21.8mm in width, and 11mm in thickness and weighs just 11g.

Patriot Memory prints the capacity of the drive at the top and the XT at the bottom.

The retractable design is quite useful since you need not worry about losing a cap when using the drive but on the other hand it does leave the front of the connector exposed at all times.

A 6 digit code at the top of the USB plug is placed there to help you verify whether or not the drive is genuine.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Since flash drives are basically plain storage media devices just like solid state drives and hard disk drives we are using almost the same testing methodology to successfully record the achieved performance numbers. The benchmark suites used are HD Tach RW (Read Speeds / Long Bench 32mb Zone Testing), HD Tune Pro (Read speeds), Sisoftware Sandra Pro (Read / Write speeds), AIDA 64 Engineer Edition (Average Linear Read / Random Read speeds), Crystal Disk Mark x64 (100MB-1000MB Read / Write speeds) and finally ATTO (Max Read / Max Write speeds). Every test is repeated a total of 6 times after which the average performance numbers are recorded into our charts.

   All tests are performed with our main rig running Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Service Pack 1 complete with every update until June 17th 2014. As always for comparison purposes in the charts you will also find many other flash drivers which have been tested using the same exact test bench as the one in this review (we really can't keep every flash drive we get forever and also even if we could testing them all again and again would simply not be possible).

TEST RESULTS - AIDA64 / ATTO

TEST RESULTS - HD TACH RW / HD TUNE PRO

TEST RESULTS - SISOFTWARE SANDRA PRO / CRYSTAL DISK MARK X64

CONCLUSION

   Some of you may recall that in the conclusion of our last USB 3.0 flash drive review i mentioned that drives usually surpass their advertised speeds and although that didn't happen in that particular review (it was an obvious exception to that rule) it did happen in this one and so the SuperSonic Rage XT 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive managed to reach speeds of 210.5MB/s in read and 59.57MB/s in write (163MB/s in sequential write). Of course the SuperSonic Rage XT 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive is by no means the fastest one in our charts but it's very small and features a nice rubber coated enclosure although in the end the most probable decisive factor will be the price tag Patriot Memory has placed on it.

   Well Patriot Memory has done a great job in keeping the price of the SuperSonic Rage XT 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive at very affordable levels since it currently retails for just USD83.45 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 82Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which is roughly half of what for example SanDisk asks for their Extreme Pro 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive (although it's quite faster). Bottom line if you're out in the market for an affordable 128GB USB 3.0 flash drive and you don't care about getting the highest possible write speeds then the SuperSonic Rage XT 128GB with its excellent read speeds, compact size and rubber coated enclosure is right up your alley and that's why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Partially Rugged Rubber Casing
- Excellent Read Performance
- Retractable Design
- Size
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- Write Speeds