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OCZ Throttle 32Gb eSATA and USB Memory Stick Review

Storage/Other by jmke @ 2010-01-21

The fastest memory stick on the face of the earth? OCZ is definitely gunning for the title with their Throttle eSATA 32Gb unit, we measured read speeds up to 85.9Mb/s, almost three times as fast compared to your standard USB variation. More performance numbers and stress testing inside.

Introduction & Specs

Introduction

OCZ has never been afraid to innovate and bring forward new solutions to push the performance envelope. When it comes to “simple USB sticks” they also didn’t hesitate to experiment with different options available to them. They were one of the few companies who offered an USB with an integrated Firewire connection back in 2007. Zap forward a few years and we’ve seen eSATA rising in popularity for boosting external storage transfer speed. So it shouldn’t come to much as a surprise to see OCZ offer an eSATA based flash storage product.

Introducing the Throttle:

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OCZ is offering the Throttle in three sizes, 8 to 32Gb. Inside the box you’ll the stick and one cable: mini-USB to USB.

A sophisticated alternative to conventional USB drives, the OCZ Throttle’s primary eSATA interface offers an incredible 90MB/second read speeds and 30MB/sec write speeds, increasing productivity to new heights. The substantial 8GB ~ 32GB capacities offer plenty of storage for your diverse multimedia files including high-resolution photos, high-definition movies, or large quantities of music. Additionally, users can access their data via an auxiliary mini USB port for ultimate flexibility.

Worthy of note is that the Throttle offers no carrying cord, or a hole to pass one through.

Specifications

The specifications of the Throttle surpass those of USB 2.0 models:

Madshrimps (c)

eSATA interface (plug directly into any compatible motherboard or laptop with powered eSATA port)

Additional mini USB 2.0 port (type B)

Dimensions: (L)79.1mm x (W)29.9mm x (H)10.3mm

Read: Up to 90MB/sec*

Write: Up to 30MB/sec*

True Plug and Play

Available in 8GB, 16GB, 32GB capacities

Includes mini USB cable for non-powered eSATA ports or USB access

2-year Warranty

Read speed up to 90Mb/s, write speed up to 30Mb/s in a compact package (only 18 gram). The drive comes with 2 years warranty!

Let’s take a closer look ->

Comment from geoffrey @ 2010/11/05

Messing around with HTPC & XBMC lately, I stumbled upon the task of finding a proper data holder which:
1) boots super fast
2) is fast enough in main XBMC usage

USB keys are large enough to cary XBMC Live, cheap and bootable, but unfortunately "insanely slow" to boot from. But then there is the OCZ Throttle key!

NOTE: the Throttle key needs power from the eSATA/SATA port of your mainboard if using that interface. If your mainboard doesn't offer you that option you can perfectly connect the miniUSB port from the OCZ key to your pc USB port or USB hub, in that way you'll be powering the OCZ Throttle through USB whilest using eSATA for data transport.

XBMC install afterwards went smoothly and 5 minutes later the system went onlince for the first time. Check it out:

System used:
E8600 @ 2GHz
MSI P35 Platinum
NV 8800GT
2GB OCZ DDR2 PC1000
OCZ Throttle 32GB eSATA interface

Top notch performance, hot boot in 20s and smooth XBMC usage just as I required. Sale price for the 8gb unit is 30~40 euro, pretty much beats many mechanical hard drives and blows away all USB keys.

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