[X230] Ricoh SD Card Spec!

[StuB]

Just got myself some Sandisk Ultra 120MB/s U1 C10 cards. No reason to doubt their authenticity but they're no faster than my Extreme 90MB/s U3 C10 when writing or reading. Actually, the Extreme is quicker.

I guess I'm slightly annoyed at the packaging implying 120 is better than 90 when really I should have been looking at the C and U numbers. C10 and U3, Class 10 (min10MB/s) and U3 (min30MB/s) with U1 being the same as C10! But that may be hardware if I understand things right.

C or Class is both SD Card and hardware, like USB 2.0 and 3.0. C goes 2,4,6,8 and 10. U came after with U1 then U3. Again I assume that this applies to the SD card as well as the reader/device.

I would think the X230 Richo Card Reader is C10. Just wondering about U3. I do get the minimum speeds just about on writing to the SDs. But both the Extreme and the Ultra barely scrap that threshold.

The question is then, is the Richo Card Reader U1?

More of a coffee moment question than a PLEASE HELP ME THIS IS DOING MY NUT IN AT 4AM IN THE MORNING. As it's really isn't

PS. Sorry for the caps, for dramatic effect only

[edit] updated spelling in title Richo to Ricoh

[dr_st]

It's Ricoh, not Richo, but OK.

The C/U specs are kinda meaningless as you found out. They talk about minimum speed which is quite low.

The actual rated speed on the card usually is more accurate, but keep in mind that manufacturers typically mention only the maximum sequential read speed, which tends to be the highest. Write speed or random access speed can be much lower.

I've tested some card readers, including the built-in one on the X220 (which I think is the same as the one on X230), and also the ExpressCard adapter for T420s/T430s and the built-in reader on a Thinkpad P50.

All of them are capable of speeds way over 30MB/s, and I believe that in all my tests, they were limited by the cards.

More on the topic:
viewtopic.php?t=123727

[StuB]

Thanks for the link and reply dr_st. I've even got Richo in the title! Should be easy to find!!
Here's my spec which marries up to the T430s in your tests
Windows 8.1 Pro 64bit on X220.
Connection:
Intel(R) 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 - 1E10
Ricoh PCIe SD/MMC Host Controller
Driver:
risdxc64.sys 6.21.11.46 20th August 2013

You've actually prompted me to search for an update. I thought I'd already done all that but no. g1s902ww.exe has been found on Lenovo's support page. No change to the driver version but I think it may have given me an SD card icon.

Code: Select all

<2.25.18.01>
- [Important] Added support for Microsoft Windows 10

<2.25.18.01>
- [Important] Added support for Microsoft Windows 8.1

<2.25.18.01>
- (Fix) Specified the machine types of ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Machine types: 34xx).

<2.25.18.01>
- (New) Initial release for ThinkPad T430,T430i,T430s,T430si,T530,T530i,W530,
        X1 Carbon,X230,X230i,X230 Tablet,X230i Tablet.

Thanks again for the read and info