PNY PRO Elite 256GB USB flash drive

Here you will find a detailed speed, performance and benchmark test review. Tested was the USB flash drive PRO Elite with 256GB (P-FD256PRO-GE) from the brand PNY.

Performance score 
602
Price/GB
0.11 $
Read
400 MB/s
Write
180 MB/s
Connector
USB Typ A
Interface
USB 3.2 1x1
Technical specifications (manufacturer information)
Product image Product image PRO Elite
Manufacturer PNY  
Model number P-FD256PRO-GE
Capacity 256 GB (233 GiB)
pSLC cache 64 GB approx.
Read speed 400 MB/s
Write speed 180 MB/s
Interface USB 3.2 Gen 1x1 (5 Gbit/s)
Connector USB Typ A
Controller n/a
  Current price
~ 29 $
(= 0.11 $ / GB)
Compare product Compared to the test winner*
Read speed
45 %
Write speed
34 %
*) Test result rated by AS SSD score within the same capacity.

We put the 256 GB PNY USB flash drive through a detailed test. You can find the test result / test report here:


AS SSD Benchmark

Standard performance test

The standard test was performed with a 1 GB file. A total score of 602 points was achieved.

AS SSD Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB
AS SSD Read: Write:
Seq
in megabytes per second
390.42 MB/s
275.19 MB/s
4K
in megabytes per second
30.43 MB/s
54.10 MB/s
4K-64Thrd
in megabytes per second
141.53 MB/s
194.67 MB/s
Access time
in milliseconds
0.101 ms
0.053 ms
Score
211
276
Total score 
602

Copy performance test

A common everyday scenario is simulated here. Three test folders are created:

  • ISO (folder with two large files)
  • Program (folder with many small files)
  • Game (folder with small and large files)

The three folders are copied using the Windows copy command (cache remains enabled). The real-world test from 05 November 2023 shows performance during simultaneous write and read operations. The lower the duration, the better.

AS SSD TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB
AS SSD Copy Benchmark Transfer rate: Duration:
ISO
two large files
274.79 MB/s
3.91 s
Program
typical program folder with many small files
75.70 MB/s
18.59 s
Game
a game folder with small and large files
173.95 MB/s
7.94 s

Compression performance test

Here, speed is measured depending on how compressible the data is.

AS SSD TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark

Similar to AS SSD, two sequential and two random performance tests are carried out here and the write and read speed (manufacturer: 400 MB/s and 180 MB/s) the PNY USB flash drive is determined.

CrystalDiskMark Benchmark Screenshot: TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB
CDM Read [MB/s] Write [MB/s]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
419.27
290.55
SEQ1M
Q1T1
329.69
290.12
RND4K
Q32T16
162.17
209.15
RND4K
Q1T1
32.02
67.46

IOPS (Input/Output operations per second)

CDM Read [IOPS] Write [IOPS]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
399.80
277.10
SEQ1M
Q1T1
314.40
276.70
RND4K
Q32T16
39,592.30
51,062.30
RND4K
Q1T1
7,817.60
16,469.20

Average latency

CDM Read [µs] Write [µs]
SEQ1M
Q8T1
19,956.30
28,721.40
SEQ1M
Q1T1
3,178.02
3,612.54
RND4K
Q32T16
12,905.90
10,010.80
RND4K
Q1T1
127.78
60.60

HD Tune Pro long-term test

A long-term test was performed to fully utilize the storage. You can see from when a possible cache is full and write performance drops. A test file of 100 GB was written to the medium. After approx. 64 GB, the cache was full and performance was throttled.
The test file could at least be read with an average read speed of 262 MB/s and written at 48 MB/s.

HD Tune endurance test TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB

HD Tune Pro Benchmark

HD Tune writes a 1 GB file to the 256 GB PNY USB flash drive. The transfer data of the read speed is displayed graphically. The minimum, maximum and average values are also determined. The measured access time and burst rate are also shown.

HD Tune TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB

ATTO Disk Benchmark

Here, a 256 MB file is written to the 256 GB PNY USB flash drive multiple times. The I/O block size varies (from 512 bytes to 64 megabytes). The larger the blocks, the faster writing and reading usually becomes.

ATTO Disk Benchmark TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB

SSD-Z Benchmark

Similar to HD Tune, a 500 MB file is written to the 256 GB PNY USB flash drive here. The transfer data is displayed. The more consistent the line, the better. Unfortunately, the tool no longer works correctly from around 4,000 MB/s and no line is displayed (and sometimes incorrect min/max data is shown).

SSD-Z TEST: PNY PRO Elite 256GB


You can find information about the test system at the bottom of the homepage.
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