Antec MX-1 eSATA & USB 2.0 HDD enclosure

Performance

We take a look at read and write performance for USB 2.0 and Firewire connectivity. CPU utilization is also a factor we use for comparison between the different external enclosures. HD Tach is used to test the enclosure performance across the entire hard disk (from inner rim to outer rim of the platters). The results from this benchmark also gives us the CPU utilization level in form of a percentage figure. ATTO is then used to confirm the read benchmarks and highlight the write performance across USB 2.0 and Firewire with different file sizes. In case of eSATA one expects to attain a similar performance as an internally connected SATA drive, thus only the HD Tach result is taken to make sure the performance is as expected.




HDTach gives us a very steady performance graph just under 30 MB/s - 28.3 to be exact. Turns out the MX-1 increases slightly in performance toward the outer rim of the disk platter. This is certainly not fast, when compared to the bulk of tested enclosures. The different between the fastest and slowest drive is about 7 MB and the MX-1 is only faster than the I-ROCKS enclosure. CPU utilization is actually quite high as well with 18%, topping even the very fast Cooler Master X-Craft, which uses 3% less. While 18% will not stop you from doing anything else during file transfer, you will certainly notice it, with a drop in overall performance.


ATTO actually gives us some very solid write speeds, just a bit below the read performance. It also confirms the HD Tach speed of just under 30 MB/s benchmark result.

eSATA

The eSATA performance is as expected with just under 51 MB/s. The Samsung drive delivers just that when connected directly to the mainboard, so there will be no noticable performance drop. CPU utilization is also down to 3%, which is a tad bit more than other enclosures, which utilize only 1%. The difference should not be noticable during every day use.