NZXT IU01 Internal USB Expansion Review

Testing:

When it comes to any USB hub, there are only a few performance concerns. The most common one will be transfer rates on external storage connected via USB. To test the hub's performance, I will be observing the read and write speeds of a generic 8GB flash drive in HDTune on the NZXT IU01 and the motherboard I/O. I will have other standard USB devices hooked up to the IU01 such as a keyboard, mouse, and several other devices to simulate a standard working environment. Let's see just how it performs.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE
• Motherboard: ASUS M3A78-T
• Memory: Mushkin EM2-6400 5-4-5-12
• Video Card: Palit Geforce GTX 260
• Power Supply: OCZ 700W Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Lite-on DVD-RW SATA
• Case: NZXT Lexa
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit

Comparison:

• Generic 8GB Flash Drive (Motherboard I/O)
• Generic 8GB Flash Drive (NZXT IU01)

Benchmarks:

• Average Transfer Rate (HD Tune)
• Random Access Time (HD Tune)

Heres the results of the tests:

As you can see the IU01 essentially has no effect on your flash read and write rates or random access time. A positive in this instance, showing it does not hinder performance.