PNY Class 10 card inconsistent write speed

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 01:42 PM

I've just acquired a PNY Professional 16GB Class 10 SDHC card, and I've been getting inconsistent write speeds with this card. Sometimes, it would write as fast as it should, while it would occasionally take twice as long to write the same amount of data. I've zeroed the card and reformatted it numerous times. Formatting the card in the camera seemed to yield the slowest result, but formatting it on a computer with 4K clusters seemed to bring the best performance. Formatting it to 32K clusters was no better than formatting it in camera. I'm suspecting a 4K or other sector alignment issue. Is there anything I can do about this?

Edit: I've noticed that the camera formats the card to a 4MB partition alignment, 32K clusters, based on viewing with a hex editor and information from Windows.

--DragonLord

Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 02:21 PM.

agsy · 07-14-2011, 02:26 PM

Originally posted by DragonLord

I've just acquired a PNY Professional 16GB Class 10 SDHC card, and I've been getting inconsistent write speeds with this card. Sometimes, it would write as fast as it should, while it would occasionally take twice as long to write the same amount of data.

Is that the PNY P-SDHC16G10-A? I have two of those and when I do some testing, at first the speed is pretty fast but then it slows down to class 6 speed. I am not sure why, however it made a big difference with HD movie recordings on my K-x (vs class 4 that I had before).

Originally posted by DragonLord

Is there anything I can do about this?

Could yours be defective? If you can, you should try to exchange it.

Originally posted by DragonLord

Formatting the card in the camera seemed to yield the slowest result

I always thought that the best way to format the SD cards for camera use is with the camera. Hope it helps.

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 02:44 PM

I can't exchange this card at this time. I'll try to fully zero the card once more and determine its performance. I'm suspecting garbage collection on the card. A test on the card finds no bad sectors.

--DragonLord

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 03:15 PM

After fully zeroing the card, write speeds are still inconsistent. I'll use it for some more time and try to determine if the camera's handling of the card or the card itself is to blame.

Edit: The card was writing in bursts, pausing for about half a second at regular intervals, while I copied files from the computer to the PNY card. An 8GB Kingston Class 4 card did not display this behavior. The card's built-in controller could be to blame, and it may be attempting to make it appear that it is writing faster than it is actually capable of. Anyone else noticing this behavior?

--DragonLord

Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 03:20 PM.

agsy · 07-14-2011, 03:19 PM

Do you have any other cards? If so, you could compare the performance and rule out the camera as a problem. What are you using to test the speed?

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 03:28 PM

The PNY card was inserted into an SD card slot on my computer and was tested against a Kingston 8GB Class 4 SDHC card, which always wrote consistently fast and never displayed any problems. Both cards were tested in a PENTAX K-r shooting single and continuous RAW images, and the red card access light was lit for inconsistent amounts of time with the PNY card. The Kingston card always wrote at a constant speed.

Originally posted by agsy

at first the speed is pretty fast but then it slows down to class 6 speed.

Are the cards writing in bursts when you copy data from your computer onto the card? I'm trying to determine if your cards behave in the same way.

--DragonLord

agsy · 07-14-2011, 03:53 PM

I use HD tune to check my card's performance. My PNY starts up with 20 mb/s and after 15 seconds it drops to 16.5 mb/s. Actually I said it wrong, it drops to class4 performance. The weird thing is that my SanDisk Ultra II card is marked class4 claiming 15 MB/s transfer speed but HD tune shows 20mb/s consistent transfer speed, which is better than my PNY class10. According to this website, the minimum speed is what matters, which for a class 10 SD card is 10MB/s.

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 04:11 PM

ATTO Disk Benchmark yielded speeds of 18 MB/s, faster than my Kingston Class 4 card (10 MB/s), so I'm puzzled by this behavior. I need my equipment to work properly, since I'm going on vacation soon.

--DragonLord

agsy · 07-14-2011, 04:27 PM

I downloaded your software and I get the same results, 18mb/s consistent...I'm not sure why would you get inconsistent performance unless your card is defective. I would test it on your camera in continuous shooting with RAW and maybe even HD video recording. Hope it helps. Maybe someone else who experienced trouble with PNY can relate to your issue.

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 04:51 PM

In both RAW and JPEG, whether in single shot or continuous drive, write times are inconsistent; the card tends to write at either a slower speed or a faster speed. I have not observed an intermediate speed. In movie mode, speeds are still inconsistent, but lean towards the faster speed.

--DragonLord

Docrwm · 07-14-2011, 06:19 PM

I've had nothing but trouble with PNY flash memory whether its in a USB drive or an SD card and so I have stopped buying their products. Sorry you're having these problems - my Transcend, Kingston, and SanDisk cards seem to be consistent in their performance and the Transcend and SanDisk Class 10s seem to be all they claim to be in terms of write speed.

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 06:37 PM

Originally posted by Docrwm

I've had nothing but trouble with PNY flash memory whether its in a USB drive or an SD card and so I have stopped buying their products. Sorry you're having these problems - my Transcend, Kingston, and SanDisk cards seem to be consistent in their performance and the Transcend and SanDisk Class 10s seem to be all they claim to be in terms of write speed.

I've never had issues with an 8GB PNY flash drive, which I've used for several years. I will test the card in another camera to isolate the problem.

--DragonLord

Docrwm · 07-14-2011, 06:39 PM

Originally posted by DragonLord

I've never had issues with an 8GB PNY flash drive, which I've used for several years. I will test the card in another camera to isolate the problem.

--DragonLord

Always slower than rated in my experience, odd patterns to their speed, nothing but trouble from PNY so I stay away. Glad your 8gb Flash drive works fine for you.

bwDraco · 07-14-2011, 06:44 PM

I did notice the inconsistency in another camera, a Fujifilm FinePix S1800, but to a lesser degree since this camera writes slower. I will seek a replacement after vacation.

Edit: A high-speed burst shooting test on the S1800 was mostly consistent, and the average speed was significantly faster than the Kingston card. I'm not sure what's happening, but I'll continue to use the PNY card for now. The PENTAX K-r could be at fault; if so, I hope a firmware update will fix it.

Edit 2: I've decided to stop using the PNY card and fall back to the Kingston 8GB card, which has never posed any problems. I'll return the PNY card and purchase a SanDisk Extreme 16GB Class 10 SDHC card when I get a chance.

--DragonLord

bwDraco · 07-18-2011, 01:36 PM

The PNY card has been returned and replaced with a SanDisk Extreme 30MB/s 16GB SDHC card. The SanDisk card proved to be far faster; the buffer cleared in half the time it took for the Kingston Class 4 card under a variety of conditions. Furthermore, copying speeds from the computer to the card were consistent, without any pausing or hesitation in the writing process. In the future, I will only choose from SanDisk, Lexar, and Kingston. I do not want unreliable or inconsistent performance.

--DragonLord

07-14-2011, 01:42 PM	#1
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071	PNY Class 10 card inconsistent write speed I've just acquired a PNY Professional 16GB Class 10 SDHC card, and I've been getting inconsistent write speeds with this card. Sometimes, it would write as fast as it should, while it would occasionally take twice as long to write the same amount of data. I've zeroed the card and reformatted it numerous times. Formatting the card in the camera seemed to yield the slowest result, but formatting it on a computer with 4K clusters seemed to bring the best performance. Formatting it to 32K clusters was no better than formatting it in camera. I'm suspecting a 4K or other sector alignment issue. Is there anything I can do about this? Edit: I've noticed that the camera formats the card to a 4MB partition alignment, 32K clusters, based on viewing with a hex editor and information from Windows. --DragonLord Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 02:21 PM.

07-14-2011, 03:28 PM	#6
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	The PNY card was inserted into an SD card slot on my computer and was tested against a Kingston 8GB Class 4 SDHC card, which always wrote consistently fast and never displayed any problems. Both cards were tested in a PENTAX K-r shooting single and continuous RAW images, and the red card access light was lit for inconsistent amounts of time with the PNY card. The Kingston card always wrote at a constant speed. Originally posted by agsy at first the speed is pretty fast but then it slows down to class 6 speed. Are the cards writing in bursts when you copy data from your computer onto the card? I'm trying to determine if your cards behave in the same way. --DragonLord Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 03:36 PM.

07-14-2011, 04:51 PM	#10
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	In both RAW and JPEG, whether in single shot or continuous drive, write times are inconsistent; the card tends to write at either a slower speed or a faster speed. I have not observed an intermediate speed. In movie mode, speeds are still inconsistent, but lean towards the faster speed. --DragonLord Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 05:05 PM.

07-14-2011, 06:44 PM	#14
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	I did notice the inconsistency in another camera, a Fujifilm FinePix S1800, but to a lesser degree since this camera writes slower. I will seek a replacement after vacation. Edit: A high-speed burst shooting test on the S1800 was mostly consistent, and the average speed was significantly faster than the Kingston card. I'm not sure what's happening, but I'll continue to use the PNY card for now. The PENTAX K-r could be at fault; if so, I hope a firmware update will fix it. Edit 2: I've decided to stop using the PNY card and fall back to the Kingston 8GB card, which has never posed any problems. I'll return the PNY card and purchase a SanDisk Extreme 16GB Class 10 SDHC card when I get a chance. --DragonLord Last edited by bwDraco; 07-15-2011 at 09:04 AM.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Crap! My new class 10 sd card run much slower than my old class 4 sd card...	liukaitc	Pentax Camera and Field Accessories	15	05-31-2011 01:39 PM
PNY C10 card issue with Kx	tenthumbs	Troubleshooting and Beginner Help	8	05-20-2011 08:23 PM
k-5 write speed	qh187	Pentax K-5 & K-5 II	9	03-29-2011 07:00 PM
Will Class 10 memory card help with preview speed (K-7)?	skyredoubt	Pentax DSLR Discussion	3	10-18-2010 07:14 PM
For Sale - Sold: FS: PNY 4GB class 4 SD card $20-shipped	Tdo0003	Sold Items	3	04-25-2008 09:53 AM

07-14-2011, 02:26 PM	#2
agsy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 551	Originally posted by DragonLord I've just acquired a PNY Professional 16GB Class 10 SDHC card, and I've been getting inconsistent write speeds with this card. Sometimes, it would write as fast as it should, while it would occasionally take twice as long to write the same amount of data. Is that the PNY P-SDHC16G10-A? I have two of those and when I do some testing, at first the speed is pretty fast but then it slows down to class 6 speed. I am not sure why, however it made a big difference with HD movie recordings on my K-x (vs class 4 that I had before). Originally posted by DragonLord Is there anything I can do about this? Could yours be defective? If you can, you should try to exchange it. Originally posted by DragonLord Formatting the card in the camera seemed to yield the slowest result I always thought that the best way to format the SD cards for camera use is with the camera. Hope it helps.

07-14-2011, 02:44 PM	#3
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	I can't exchange this card at this time. I'll try to fully zero the card once more and determine its performance. I'm suspecting garbage collection on the card. A test on the card finds no bad sectors. --DragonLord

07-14-2011, 03:15 PM	#4
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	After fully zeroing the card, write speeds are still inconsistent. I'll use it for some more time and try to determine if the camera's handling of the card or the card itself is to blame. Edit: The card was writing in bursts, pausing for about half a second at regular intervals, while I copied files from the computer to the PNY card. An 8GB Kingston Class 4 card did not display this behavior. The card's built-in controller could be to blame, and it may be attempting to make it appear that it is writing faster than it is actually capable of. Anyone else noticing this behavior? --DragonLord Last edited by bwDraco; 07-14-2011 at 03:20 PM.

07-14-2011, 03:19 PM	#5
agsy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 551	Do you have any other cards? If so, you could compare the performance and rule out the camera as a problem. What are you using to test the speed?

07-14-2011, 03:53 PM	#7
agsy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 551	I use HD tune to check my card's performance. My PNY starts up with 20 mb/s and after 15 seconds it drops to 16.5 mb/s. Actually I said it wrong, it drops to class4 performance. The weird thing is that my SanDisk Ultra II card is marked class4 claiming 15 MB/s transfer speed but HD tune shows 20mb/s consistent transfer speed, which is better than my PNY class10. According to this website, the minimum speed is what matters, which for a class 10 SD card is 10MB/s.

07-14-2011, 04:11 PM	#8
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	ATTO Disk Benchmark yielded speeds of 18 MB/s, faster than my Kingston Class 4 card (10 MB/s), so I'm puzzled by this behavior. I need my equipment to work properly, since I'm going on vacation soon. --DragonLord

07-14-2011, 04:27 PM	#9
agsy Veteran Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Florida Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 551	I downloaded your software and I get the same results, 18mb/s consistent...I'm not sure why would you get inconsistent performance unless your card is defective. I would test it on your camera in continuous shooting with RAW and maybe even HD video recording. Hope it helps. Maybe someone else who experienced trouble with PNY can relate to your issue.

07-14-2011, 06:19 PM	#11
Docrwm Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,285	I've had nothing but trouble with PNY flash memory whether its in a USB drive or an SD card and so I have stopped buying their products. Sorry you're having these problems - my Transcend, Kingston, and SanDisk cards seem to be consistent in their performance and the Transcend and SanDisk Class 10s seem to be all they claim to be in terms of write speed.

07-14-2011, 06:37 PM	#12
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	Originally posted by Docrwm I've had nothing but trouble with PNY flash memory whether its in a USB drive or an SD card and so I have stopped buying their products. Sorry you're having these problems - my Transcend, Kingston, and SanDisk cards seem to be consistent in their performance and the Transcend and SanDisk Class 10s seem to be all they claim to be in terms of write speed. I've never had issues with an 8GB PNY flash drive, which I've used for several years. I will test the card in another camera to isolate the problem. --DragonLord

07-14-2011, 06:39 PM	#13
Docrwm Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Somewhere in the Southern US Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,285	Originally posted by DragonLord I've never had issues with an 8GB PNY flash drive, which I've used for several years. I will test the card in another camera to isolate the problem. --DragonLord Always slower than rated in my experience, odd patterns to their speed, nothing but trouble from PNY so I stay away. Glad your 8gb Flash drive works fine for you.

07-18-2011, 01:36 PM	#15
bwDraco Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,071 Original Poster	The PNY card has been returned and replaced with a SanDisk Extreme 30MB/s 16GB SDHC card. The SanDisk card proved to be far faster; the buffer cleared in half the time it took for the Kingston Class 4 card under a variety of conditions. Furthermore, copying speeds from the computer to the card were consistent, without any pausing or hesitation in the writing process. In the future, I will only choose from SanDisk, Lexar, and Kingston. I do not want unreliable or inconsistent performance. --DragonLord