iPAQ 2215 Storage Card Benchmarks

[Jason Dunn]

I don't know about you, but I'm a benchmarking nut - I'm always trying to test how fast things go, how long they last, and whether or not they measure up to the promises made by the people who sell the products. I've started a comprehensive test of every memory card I can get my hands on, using the iPAQ 2215 as a baseline because it's such a screamer. I'll follow up with more tests later, along with some analysis, but in the meantime here's a huge graphic for you to absorb!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/storagecard-bench-big.gif"><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/storagecard-bench.gif" /></a><br /><br />I don't know what sort of hyper-Flash-ROM they put into the little Rover Pocket PC, but it's somehow able to benchmark even faster than the fastest CF card I have on hand (the Crucial). On the surface that makes absolutely no sense that Flash ROM could be so fast, but that's what the numbers are telling us. If you've ever wondered why applications load slowly from your iPAQ/Dell Flash ROM, the above numbers show the reason why - Flash ROM is, with the exception of the speedy Rover unit, vastly slower than SD or CF-based storage.

[ctmagnus]

'k, what's the Rover P3? Never heard of it.

And are they just regular CF/CD cards, not high-speed for photography or anythinh?

[pro_worm]

Yeah - what is this Rover you speak of?

[darrylb]

Here I was thinking that the file store (which would otherwise be unused) would be a great place to put my PocketBible books. Looks like I'll have to move it somewhere else - maybe my SD Card.... :? ?

I had no idea that SD cards were faster - or that Flash ROM was so slow :!:

[darrylb]

Hey - Jason. When will we be able to get a copy of this benchmarking software? :D

[dh]

It's interesting, I recently moved Textmaker from the Axim Built-in Storage to my SD card because it was so slow to load. It's much quicker from the card.

The other applications I store there seem to run fine.

[darrylb]

Seems that the age of dual memory is upon us - one for programs and one for storage.... :evil:

The 2200 Series is looking better and better.... :lol:

[Trokair]

The Rover is a Russian-based Pocket PC; Chris De Herrera over at CEWindows.net (http://www.cewindows.net) has some information here (http://www.cewindows.net/reviews/roverpcp6/roverpcp6.htm) (spans a few pages).

-Kyle

[Len M.]

Could you provide a bit more detail about how you ran these benchmarks? What size files are you storing? How large a block are you transferring at a time? What benchmark software are you using. Are they read, write or both?

It would be great if you could run the VOScorp.com benchmarks:

http://www.voscorp.com/ASP/PPC/VOBenchmark/default.asp

[Jason Dunn]

Could you provide a bit more detail about how you ran these benchmarks? What size files are you storing? How large a block are you transferring at a time? What benchmark software are you using. Are they read, write or both?

I'll be posting detailed information on Spb Benchmark tomorrow, but suffice it to say that it tests EVERYTHING - nine tests just for memory cards, including read 1 MB, write 1 MB, copy 1 MB to/from storage card, writing 10 KB files x 100, reading 10 KB x 100 files, etc. Spb Benchmark is the new standard for benchmarking Pocket PCs at Pocket PC Thoughts. 8)

[Len M.]

I'll look forward to seeing the info about spb Benchmark.

I hope that it evaluates read and write rates in KB/sec or MB/sec. Otherwise it will be difficult to compare data across different benchmark programs.

Thanks!


Len M.

[Jason Dunn]

I hope that it evaluates read and write rates in KB/sec or MB/sec. Otherwise it will be difficult to compare data across different benchmark programs.

Ideally you only need one benchmarking program though, right? :wink: If memory serves, those numbers are KB/s.

[Len M.]

Well, they'd better not be KB/s as I'd expect write rates to be greater than 1 MB/sec to CF. (The graph says that it's an integrated index of PDA and storage.)

I'm looking forward to hearing more about Benchmark!


Len M.

[Jason Dunn]

Well, they'd better not be KB/s as I'd expect write rates to be greater than 1 MB/sec to CF. (The graph says that it's an integrated index of PDA and storage.) I'm looking forward to hearing more about Benchmark!

Sorry, I was totally wrong - the numbers are a comparative value based on the iPAQ internal RAM database read equalling 1000. The individual tests are based on real-world speeds, this is just the index.