ULTRA Stackables Review

Testing:

HD Tune 2.53 will be used to measure transfer rates across the Ultra connections available (USB 2.0/E-SATA/FireWire) where applicable. Baseline results will be acquired with the hardware installed in the system below.

Testing Setup:

• AMD Athlon64 Processor 6000+
• ECS A770M-A (BIOS dated 11/26/07, Chipset drivers provided on CD)
• Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB PC2-9200 DDR2-1150MHz
• OCZ Vendetta CPU Cooler
• PowerColor HD2600 PRO (Catalyst 7.11)
• PowerColor Theatre 550 PCIe 1x
• Antec NeoPower 650W
• 1x250GB Maxtor SATA
• 2x400GB Seagate SATA
• Apevia X-Jupiter Jr case
• Plextor PX-716SA 16X DVD RW SATA
• HL 4164B 16X DVD RW IDE
• Windows XP Professional SP2

Hardware used in Stackables:

• Seagate 400GB SATA
• Seagate 120GB IDE
• FujiFilm 256MB xD Picture Card
• Impact 1GB SD Picture Card

Stackable 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure - USB 2.0 & E-SATA

E-SATA is the way to go if you are planning on using external storage. Benchmarks are as if it is an internal drive with the benefits of hot-swap ability. USB2.0 transfer rates are on par with what they should be.

Stackable 3.5" Hard Drive Enclosure - USB 2.0 & Firewire

USB 2.0 takes a small lead over FireWire. If you have the need for an IDE external drive, look for USB 2.0 connectivity. CPU usage is high as well with the data having to travel over the USB bus.

Stackable All-In-1 Card Reader & USB 2.0 Hub

The All-In-One Card Reader & USB 2.0 Hub is personally the most used of all the Stackables in my setup. The sheer number of digital photos I am working with on a daily basis, with reviews as well as four kids, two dogs, and three cats, this has been a time saver, and I do not know why I hadn't grabbed one before. The access time is high on the xD card since USB card readers do not provide direct access to the flash memory on xD memory cards.