# Tools to read temperature of usb flash drive?



## spectatorx (Nov 29, 2020)

What tools can i use on windows and linux to read temperatures of a flash drive? HWinfo doesn't list flash drives at all.


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## INSTG8R (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> What tools can i use on windows and linux to read temperatures of a flash drive? HWinfo doesn't list flash drives at all.


They don’t have temp sensors AFAIK? Could try AIDA64


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## Rei (Nov 29, 2020)

INSTG8R said:


> They don’t have temp sensors AFAIK? Could try AIDA64


I recall along time ago that there was a model that had temp sensor but the details went over my head.

Rather pointless really for flash drives to have temp sensor as you tell how hot it is by touching it & they are usually able to handle heat well. If it does get too hot, then better pull it out to cool it off.


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## dorsetknob (Nov 29, 2020)

If you MUST know the temp of your flash drive   ..  use a ir thermometer


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## EarthDog (Nov 29, 2020)

I dont recall any specifically that have sensors... though a few do for sure.

Also, who cares...it's a usb stick, lol.



dorsetknob said:


> If you MUST know the temp of your flash drive   ..  use a ir thermometer


On what.... the rubber or metal case 99% of these come in? That's not helpful for figuring out drive temps!


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## birdie (Nov 29, 2020)

None.

The temperature sensor costs money, you also have to integrate it into the circuit board and OEMs are unlikely to waste money on this since most USB flash drives are used quite recklessly.


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## spectatorx (Nov 29, 2020)

EarthDog said:


> I dont recall any specifically that have sensors... though a few do for sure.
> 
> Also, who cares...it's a usb stick, lol.
> 
> On what.... the rubber or metal case 99% of these come in? That's not helpful for figuring out drive temps!


Actually my curiosity cares as i have for example sandisk one in metal casing and it gets really hot while moving files, i wonder how hot exactly as it hurts when i'm plugging it off xD


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## Rei (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Actually my curiosity cares as i have for example sandisk one in metal casing and it gets really hot while moving files, i wonder how hot exactly as it hurts when i'm plugging it off xD


That bad, huh... I would assume that metal casing on a flash drive is a good thing as it would offset heat from the circuit board. And moving files is only temporary, once your flash drive becomes idle, it would cool down. Has this happened since you bought it?


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## TheLostSwede (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Actually my curiosity cares as i have for example sandisk one in metal casing and it gets really hot while moving files, i wonder how hot exactly as it hurts when i'm plugging it off xD


Mine fried itself... So I took it apart. The reason it's hot, is because it uses a basic SSD controller and an Asmedia SATA to USB 3.0 bridge chip.






I got another one, as I had some airmiles I had to use up, but seeing this, it seems like either the firmware is wonky, or the replacement drive has some serious problems.


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## spectatorx (Nov 29, 2020)

Rei said:


> That bad, huh... I would assume that metal casing on a flash drive is a good thing as it would offset heat from the circuit board. And moving files is only temporary, once your flash drive becomes idle, it would cool down. Has this happened since you bought it?


Yes, drive itself is working kinda properly, i haven't noticed it to be thermally throttling. To be specific this is the drive:








						SanDisk Ultra Luxe™ USB 3.1 Gen 1 Flash Drive (16 GB - 512 GB) | Western Digital
					

Combine the necessity for a convenient way to store and move your data with your desire for a protective, elegant device. With fast transfer speeds up to 150MB/s1, the all-metal SanDisk Ultra Luxe™ USB 3.1 Gen 1 drive can transfer a full-length movie in less than 30 seconds2 so you can spend...




					shop.westerndigital.com
				




Bought it around year ago, never seen on it these usb3.1 speeds no matter if i plug it to 3.0 or 3.2 ports i have on my motherboard (x570 taichi). I even considered demanding a refund from amazon because of speeds but i bought it in bundle with other stuff via my gf's account, let's put it mildly i do not have access to that account anymore.

On recent black friday deals i found in one of local online stores samsung 128GB 3.1 drive for (converting, around) 15,5eur. It also has metal casing and will check if it reaches at least usb3.0 speeds. To be honest i've not seen yet a usb flash drive with file write speeds over 10MB/s, would be nice to finally get it. From what i've read about that samsung drive it should have proper speeds. Actually i do not care much about speed but well... As for samsung this is the drive i ordered now:








						USB 3.1 Flash Drive BAR Plus 128GB Champagne Silver Memory & Storage - MUF-128BE3/AM | Samsung US
					

Discover the latest features and innovations available in the USB 3.1 Flash Drive BAR Plus 128GB Champagne Silver. Find the perfect Memory & Storage for you!




					www.samsung.com
				






TheLostSwede said:


> Mine fried itself... So I took it apart. The reason it's hot, is because it uses a basic SSD controller and an Asmedia SATA to USB 3.0 bridge chip.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...


Interesting find, amounts of unnecessary conversions some manufacturers use in hardware is mindboggling. Thanks for sharing that.


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## TheLostSwede (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Interesting find, amounts of unnecessary conversions some manufacturers use in hardware is mindboggling. Thanks for sharing that.


This is the Extreme Pro though, so might be something entirely different inside yours.


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## spectatorx (Nov 29, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> This is the Extreme Pro though, so might be something entirely different inside yours.


I'm totally aware of that. Anyway, thanks for sharing this pic.

On the other hand i have an old ocz rally2 8GB stick which also has metal casing but with plastic elements and LED (i love LED on a drive! blinking when drive is moving files, flashing continuously when plugged, this makes it an amazing diagnostic tool) and it never reached noticeably high temps, ever.


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## Rei (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> but i bought it in bundle with other stuff via my gf's account, let's put it mildly i do not have access to that account anymore.


Girlfriend banned you out from her account for excessive shopping on her account? 

Try benchmarking your flash drive & tell us how fast it's getting. If you don't have a specific benchmark software, try using CrystalDiskMark. Also how fast is the real world average speed when copying files *into* your flash drive (as in the write speed).


spectatorx said:


> To be honest i've not seen yet a usb flash drive with file write speeds over 10MB/s, would be nice to finally get it.


That depends. If you write dozens or even hundreds of kilobyte-sized files into a flash drive, then that is the low-average speed that you will get. But if the files sizes are dozens of megabyte on average then it's possible to get above 50 MB/s. For my take, flash drives advertised to be above 100 MB/s is a marketing gimmick that can only be achieved on the most ideal & optimal scenario... Or they are mostly theoretical value.


spectatorx said:


> amounts of unnecessary conversions some manufacturers use in hardware is mindboggling.


Prolly, done to cut cost or maybe simplify hardware for modern tech.


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## TheLostSwede (Nov 29, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> On recent black friday deals i found in one of local online stores samsung 128GB 3.1 drive for (converting, around) 15,5eur. It also has metal casing and will check if it reaches at least usb3.0 speeds. To be honest i've not seen yet a usb flash drive with file write speeds over 10MB/s, would be nice to finally get it. From what i've read about that samsung drive it should have proper speeds. Actually i do not care much about speed but well...





Rei said:


> That depends. If you write dozens or even hundreds of kilobyte-sized files into a flash drive, then that is the low-average speed that you will get. But if the files sizes are dozens of megabyte on average then it's possible to get above 50 MB/s. For my take, flash drives advertised to be above 100 MB/s is a marketing gimmick that can only be achieved on the most ideal & optimal scenario... Or they are mostly theoretical value.



*cough cough*


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## Rei (Nov 29, 2020)

Ok... Seems we've been proven wrong... So what's the flash drive make & model?


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## TheLostSwede (Nov 30, 2020)

Rei said:


> Ok... Seems we've been proven wrong... So what's the flash drive make & model?


Both are SanDisk, the first is a very old 64GB Extreme USB 3.0 and the other is the Extreme Pro, the smallest 128GB version. 
This is also a file being copied from my NAS over 10Gbps Ethernet, not from an SSD.


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## EarthDog (Nov 30, 2020)

I've got s SanDisk extreme that easily goes over 100mb wirtes..


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## Rei (Nov 30, 2020)

TheLostSwede said:


> Both are SanDisk, the first is a very old 64GB Extreme USB 3.0 and the other is the Extreme Pro, the smallest 128GB version.
> This is also a file being copied from my NAS over 10Gbps Ethernet, not from an SSD.





EarthDog said:


> I've got s SanDisk extreme that easily goes over 100mb wirtes..


I also have a SanDisk flash drive but the model is Ultra Fit. It's one of those thumb nail sized ones. It's connected to one of my laptop (the only system I have with USB 3.0) & only has a read/write speed of 150 MB/s / 70 MB/s at best on benchmarks. Actual performance with copying & pasting is half those numbers. Of course I have some ideas why I'm not getting good optimal numbers but it would be a long list & I'm just too lazy to write it all on post.


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## spectatorx (Dec 1, 2020)

Ok, samsung usb stick arrived and i compared both. Testing conditions: windows 10 enterprise 2004, amd ryzen high performance power plan, latest chipset driver, to avoid any theoretically possible usb generation bottleneck i plugged these drives to the only 3.2 port available on my board (x570 taichi). I tested both in crystal disk mark default test and by copying onto them batman arkham knight game files as it contains many sizes of files. Results you can see in attached files.


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## EarthDog (Dec 1, 2020)

The new one is faster, yep!


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## Rei (Dec 1, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Ok, samsung usb stick arrived and i compared both. Testing conditions: windows 10 enterprise 2004, amd ryzen high performance power plan, latest chipset driver, to avoid any theoretically possible usb generation bottleneck i plugged these drives to the only 3.2 port available on my board (x570 taichi). I tested both in crystal disk mark default test and by copying onto them batman arkham knight game files as it contains many sizes of files. Results you can see in attached files.


Nice... And congratulation on the new flash drive.

Your SanDisk flash drive is just about the same speed as my 64 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit except that the sequential write speed on mine is nearly 30 MB/s faster.

This may be just my perception but exFAT and/or NTFS with a cluster allocation size of 64 KB seems to yield the faster speed on flash drives, though not by much compared to FAT32 with the default cluster allocation size of 4 KB. I still use FAT32 on flash drives though with a cluster allocation size of 64 KB as that has the most capacity. Speed isn't an issue for me & none of the usual files I store into is larger than 4 GB.


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## spectatorx (Dec 1, 2020)

EarthDog said:


> The new one is faster, yep!


Bear in mind both by specification are labeled as usb 3.1 drives.



Rei said:


> Nice... And congratulation on the new flash drive.
> 
> Your SanDisk flash drive is just about the same speed as my 64 GB SanDisk Ultra Fit except that the sequential write speed on mine is nearly 30 MB/s faster.
> 
> This may be just my perception but exFAT and/or NTFS with a cluster allocation size of 64 KB seems to yield the faster speed on flash drives, though not by much compared to FAT32 with the default cluster allocation size of 4 KB. I still use FAT32 on flash drives though with a cluster allocation size of 64 KB as that has the most capacity. Speed isn't an issue for me & none of the usual files I store into is larger than 4 GB.


Thank you!
I forgot to add both drives were formatted to exfat.


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## Rei (Dec 1, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Bear in mind both by specification are labeled as usb 3.1 drives.
> 
> 
> Thank you!
> I forgot to add both drives were formatted to exfat.


Doubtful that current flash drive can saturate the full bandwidth of USB 3.1 and/or 3.2.


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## EarthDog (Dec 1, 2020)

spectatorx said:


> Bear in mind both by specification are labeled as usb 3.1 drives.


Ok. And there are varying speeds between the same labeled drive. Different controllers and flash... etc. You got a much faster drive it seems.


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