Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive

Model: Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime USB 3.2 Gen 2 Flash Drive
Manufacturer: Patriot Memory
Provided By: Patriot Memory

Among computer enthusiasts the name Patriot is synonymous with quality and value. Founded in 1985, this California-based company has established itself as a leader in the industry by delivering high quality memory solutions powered by the latest technology. Along with a full range of memory modules for desktops, laptops and servers, Patriot offers an assortment of flash-based data storage products including memory cards, solid state drives (SSDs) and USB flash drives.

This summer, Patriot launched the flagship of its Supersonic series of USB flash drives, the Supersonic Rage Prime. Available in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities, the drive is powered by Phison's PS2251-17 controller and is equipped with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface allowing it to read at speeds up to 600 MB/s. The Supersonic Rage Prime also features a durable, retractable design that protects the USB connector as well as a built-in thermal sensor to monitor the device's temperature for excellent durability and stability. Last, but not least, the drive is compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and is backed by a five-year warranty.

Needless to say, this is only a taste of what the Supersonic Rage Prime has to offer. To give you an idea of what to expect, we'll take a closer look at Patriot's new USB 3.2 Gen 2 flash drive and then see how well it performs. Does the Supersonic Rage Prime have what it takes? Keep reading as we find out.

Packaging:

Like most USB flash drives, the Supersonic Rage Prime comes packaged in a cardboard blister pack. The front of the card advertises many of the drive's key features including its capacity, rated speed, capless design and USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface. The back of the card provides a bit more information regarding the Supersonic Rage Prime's features, capabilities and supported operating systems.

Physical Features:

The Supersonic Rage Prime shares the same basic design as Patriot's previous capless USB flash drive, the Supersonic Rage Elite. The drive measures 5.3cm (L) x 2.1cm (W) x 1.0cm (H) and weighs in at about 8.2g.

The body of the Supersonic Rage Prime is constructed out of white and black plastic. The body also has a large, red Patriot logo as well as one showing the Supersonic Rage Pro model name and its capacity. On the end of the Supersonic Rage Prime there is a loop where you can attach the drive to your key ring. While you can't see it in these pictures, there is an LED behind the loop that lights up red whenever the drive is transmitting or receiving data or is in the identification process.

To reveal the Supersonic Rage Prime's USB connector, simply press down on the opposite end of the drive using your thumb. Unfortunately, the slider does not lock into place so it has a tendency to retract back into the drive when you try to plug it into your computer.

I wasn't able to crack the Supersonic Rage Prime open. However, using tools like CrystalDiskInfo and GetInfo, I could see that the drive uses Phison's PS2251-17 controller. Designed for use in high-capacity USB flash drives, this DRAM-less USB 3.2 Gen 2 controller is compatible with both TLC and QLC NAND and supports 2 NAND channels with 16 CE (Chip Enables) per channel. The PS2251-17 also features a built-in thermal sensor as well as Phison’s 4th Generation LDPC ECC engine for improved data reliability.

Perf and Final Thoughts

Performance:

The test system used in this review is equipped with an Intel Core i7-6700K CPU, GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD3 motherboard, 32GB (16GB x 2) of Crucial Ballistix Sport LT DDR4 memory, Samsung 960 PRO 512GB SSD, GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1060 and a WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics card. For the operating system, I used the latest version of Windows 10 Pro.

To test the performance of the Patriot's Supersonic Rage Prime USB 3.2 Gen 2 flash drive, I ran a series of benchmarks using CrystalDiskMark, HD Tach RW and ATTO Disk Benchmark. To get a feel for the "real world" performance, I also copied and pasted 1GB of random files and directories as well as a single 4GB ISO file in Windows Explorer.

As I mentioned earlier, the Supersonic Rage Prime is based on Phison's PS2251-17 controller chip. Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that there is a considerable performance difference when reading and writing incompressible (0%) and compressible (100%) data.

CrystalDiskMark 8.0.1:

First, I ran a few quick tests using CrystalDiskMark. This benchmark tool measures the performance of a storage device by testing its sequential read and write speeds as well as its random read and write speeds using blocks 512K and 4K in size.

Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime 1TB

Patriot Supersonic Rage Pro 512GB

According to Patriot, the Supersonic Rage Prime is capable of reading at speeds up to 600 MB/s. Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the drive had no problem reaching its rated read speed. The Supersonic Rage Prime also did quite well in CrystalDiskMark's random write tests, reaching 85,839 IOPS.

Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime 1TB

Patriot Supersonic Rage Pro 512GB

As you'd expect, the Supersonic Rage Prime wasn't as fast when tested with the "real world" profile which uses a single thread and a much lower queue depth.  Nevertheless, it was still able to read at 413.78 MB/s and write at 548.63 MB/s.

HD Tach RW 3.0.4.0:

Next, I used HD Tach to test the Supersonic Rage Prime's read, write and burst speeds as well as its seek times and CPU usage.

The performance here was very similar to what we saw with CrystalDiskMark. When connected to the computer's USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, the Supersonic Rage Prime had average read and write speeds of 625.4 MB/s and 550.1 MB/s, respectively, as well as a burst speed of 459.6 MB/s.

ATTO Disk Benchmark 4.01:

I also used ATTO Disk Benchmark to test the Supersonic Rage Prime's sequential read and write speeds. The tests are run using blocks ranging in size from 512B to 64 MB and the total length set to 256MB.

Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime 1TB

Patriot Supersonic Rage Pro 512GB

When tested with ATTO, the Supersonic Rage Prime's read speeds topped out at about 887 MB/s and its write speeds at 861 MB/s.

PCMark 10 - Data Drive Benchmark:

PCMark 10's Data Drive Benchmark is designed to test drives that are used for storing files rather than applications. You can also use this test with NAS drives, USB sticks, memory cards, and other external storage devices. This benchmark produces an overall score as a measure of drive performance. Comparing devices is as simple as comparing scores. The tests also measure and report the bandwidth and average access time for the drive.

Thanks to its high bandwidth, the Supersonic Rage Prime did quite well in PCMark 10's Full System Drive Benchmark. Surprisingly, this wasn't enough to top Patriot's Supersonic Rage Pro flash drive.

"Real World" Benchmark:

To test the "real world" performance of the Supersonic Rage Prime, I copied and pasted 1GB worth of randomly generated files and directories. All of the files are between 1KB and 95MB in size and no more than five directories deep. To see how well the drive handled large files, I also copied and pasted a 4GB ISO file.

The Supersonic Rage Prime performed very well here, taking 3 seconds to write 1GB worth of test data and 4 seconds to read it back.

Final Thoughts:

The Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime is one of the better, if not the best, USB flash drives to come through the 'Labs to date. The drive is well constructed and features a durable, retractable design that protects the USB connector when its not in use. On the inside, the Supersonic Rage Prime is powered by Phison's PS2251-17 controller, which features a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface as well as a built-in thermal sensor that monitors the device's temperature for excellent durability and stability. When it came time to perform, the drive did not disappoint. The 1TB version of the Supersonic Rage Prime flew through our sequential transfer rate tests, reading at speeds as high as 617 MB/s and writing at more than 550 MB/s. It also did exceptionally well in our random read and write tests, making it an ideal choice for complex data transfers, a boot drive or even to run apps from the drive itself.

That being said, there is one issue with the Supersonic Rage Prime and that is the amount of heat it generates. At idle the drive is warm to the touch, and when pushed hard the temperature quickly climbs. The Supersonic Rage Prime's thermal sensor does a great job of keeping things in check. However, it does so by throttling the drive's read and write speeds. You have to transfer a lot of data to reach this point, but it's something you should keep in mind when considering the Supersonic Rage Prime.

The Patriot Supersonic Rage Prime is available now in 250GB, 500GB and 1TB capacities. Prices on Amazon.com currently range from $50 up to $165 for the 1TB version reviewed here.