Camera Memory SpeedMemory Card Comparison & Performance Tests for Digital Cameras
PNY Elite Performance UHS-I U3 256GB SDXC Card Review
Introduction
The PNY Elite Performance UHS-I U3 256GB SDXC Card offers huge capacity and high transfer speed. PNY claims 95MB/s read speed and makes no claim about maximum write speed. The card is rated UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) which means it can sustain at least 30MB/s continuous write speed for HD and 4K video recording. The Elite Performance 95MB/s card is offered in 32, 64, 128, 256 and 512 GB capacities. The 32GB version is rated U1 while the other cards are rated U3. PNY memory cards carry a lifetime warranty in USA (5-year warranty in Europe). The card reviewed is made in Korea.
Performance
The PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s card reached up to 96.7 MB/s sequential read speed in card reader benchmarks. This surpasses its quoted transfer speed. The write speed of the 256GB card reached 56.3 MB/s. This is not quite as fast as the 69.2 MB/s sequential write speed benchmark of the 128GB version.
Card: PNY Elite Performance U3 256GB
Benchmark: CrystalDiskMark 3.0.3 x64
Program settings: 1000 MB, 5 passes, random test data
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H
Processor: Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.40GHz
RAM: 32GB DDR3 1600
| PNY Elite Performance U3 256GB Card Reader Benchmarks | Seq. Read 1000MB MB/s | Seq. Write 1000MB MB/s | Rand. Read 512KB MB/s | Rand. Write 512KB MB/s | Rand. Read 4KB MB/s QD1 | Rand. Read 4KB IOPS QD1 | Rand. Write 4KB MB/s QD1 | Rand. Write 4KB IOPS QD1 | Rand. Read 4KB MB/s QD32 | Rand. Read 4KB IOPS QD32 | Rand. Write 4KB MB/s QD32 | Rand. Write 4KB IOPS QD32 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II Reader/Writer | 97.824 | 54.639 | 83.234 | 19.018 | 3.690 | 900.8 | 0.580 | 141.7 | 4.343 | 1060.4 | 0.511 | 124.8 |
| Sony S1 High Speed UHS-II Reader/Writer | 97.778 | 53.510 | 83.179 | 14.470 | 3.601 | 879.1 | 0.537 | 131.1 | 4.233 | 1033.5 | 0.600 | 146.5 |
| Delkin Black Rugged Card Reader | 97.715 | 55.595 | 82.932 | 10.081 | 3.556 | 868.1 | 0.593 | 144.8 | 4.227 | 1031.9 | 0.602 | 146.9 |
| SanDisk Extreme Pro SD UHS-II USB-C Reader | 97.478 | 55.075 | 82.551 | 9.884 | 3.707 | 905.0 | 0.504 | 123.1 | 4.325 | 1056.0 | 0.596 | 145.6 |
| Lexar LRWM04U-7000 UHS-II Reader | 96.705 | 55.290 | 86.161 | 22.561 | 4.784 | 1168.1 | 0.579 | 141.3 | 5.656 | 1380.9 | 0.665 | 162.4 |
| Lexar Professional Workflow SR2 UHS-II | 96.705 | 54.836 | 86.048 | 23.261 | 4.748 | 1159.2 | 0.643 | 156.9 | 5.667 | 1383.6 | 0.663 | 161.9 |
| Hama USB 3.0 UHS-II SD Card Reader | 96.607 | 53.995 | 86.161 | 29.338 | 4.599 | 1122.9 | 0.616 | 150.4 | 5.586 | 1363.8 | 0.572 | 139.8 |
| Hama USB Type-C 3.1 UHS-II SD Card Reader | 96.376 | 54.395 | 85.165 | 29.454 | 4.884 | 1192.4 | 0.607 | 148.1 | 5.778 | 1410.6 | 0.576 | 140.5 |
| Transcend Multi-Card Reader RDF9 | 95.481 | 54.645 | 85.808 | 25.705 | 4.703 | 1148.1 | 0.639 | 156.1 | 5.629 | 1374.2 | 0.655 | 160.0 |
| ProMaster Professional Dual Card Reader SD UHS-II | 95.264 | 54.759 | 86.374 | 29.290 | 4.536 | 1107.4 | 0.624 | 152.3 | 5.563 | 1358.3 | 0.573 | 140.0 |
| SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II SD Reader/Writer | 95.256 | 55.389 | 86.932 | 23.067 | 4.889 | 1193.6 | 0.663 | 161.9 | 5.775 | 1410.0 | 0.668 | 163.0 |
| DriverGenius USB 3.1(G1) / 3.0 UHS-II SD Card Reader | 95.126 | 54.514 | 85.321 | 18.878 | 4.365 | 1065.8 | 0.620 | 151.5 | 5.310 | 1296.4 | 0.640 | 156.3 |
| Lexar Professional Dual Slot UHS-II Card Reader | 94.997 | 56.321 | 86.416 | 22.350 | 4.784 | 1167.9 | 0.634 | 154.7 | 5.728 | 1398.5 | 0.641 | 156.5 |
| SanDisk UHS-I Card Reader SDDR-C531 | 94.971 | 54.190 | 81.934 | 25.295 | 3.649 | 890.9 | 0.581 | 141.8 | 4.484 | 1094.8 | 0.529 | 129.0 |
| Delkin Multi-Card CFast SD UHS-II microSD Reader | 94.868 | 56.460 | 85.963 | 21.157 | 4.625 | 1129.2 | 0.663 | 161.8 | 5.752 | 1404.3 | 0.654 | 159.7 |
| SanDisk ImageMate Pro Multi-Card Reader/Writer | 94.859 | 55.093 | 82.002 | 9.757 | 3.621 | 884.1 | 0.513 | 125.3 | 4.334 | 1058.1 | 0.597 | 145.8 |
| Delkin Dual Slot SD UHS-II and CF Card Reader | 94.842 | 55.651 | 86.147 | 22.898 | 4.684 | 1143.6 | 0.579 | 141.3 | 5.664 | 1382.8 | 0.660 | 161.2 |
| Kingston MobileLite G4 UHS-II | 94.765 | 56.305 | 86.488 | 22.365 | 4.831 | 1179.4 | 0.663 | 161.8 | 5.726 | 1398.0 | 0.670 | 163.6 |
| Kingston FCR-HS4 Card Reader | 94.705 | 55.185 | 86.132 | 22.000 | 4.784 | 1167.9 | 0.567 | 138.4 | 5.652 | 1379.8 | 0.651 | 158.9 |
| Verbatim USB-C Pocket Card Reader | 94.680 | 55.781 | 83.970 | 28.281 | 4.459 | 1088.6 | 0.572 | 139.6 | 5.585 | 1363.5 | 0.542 | 132.4 |
| Delkin Travel Reader | 94.534 | 56.284 | 84.285 | 23.376 | 4.875 | 1190.1 | 0.606 | 148.1 | 5.756 | 1405.4 | 0.623 | 152.0 |
| Delkin Universal Memory Card Reader | 94.381 | 55.698 | 86.573 | 28.471 | 4.494 | 1097.1 | 0.576 | 140.5 | 5.391 | 1316.0 | 0.595 | 145.2 |
| Transcend SD Card Reader RDF5 Black | 94.076 | 55.313 | 85.605 | 25.320 | 3.931 | 959.7 | 0.607 | 148.3 | 4.400 | 1074.3 | 0.626 | 152.8 |
| Sony MRW-E90 XQD 2.0 / SD UHS-II Card Reader | 92.255 | 54.739 | 82.850 | 20.898 | 4.584 | 1119.1 | 0.536 | 130.9 | 5.479 | 1337.7 | 0.646 | 157.6 |
| SanDisk ImageMate All-In-One USB 3.0 | 91.755 | 44.603 | 46.557 | 10.365 | 2.508 | 612.2 | 0.529 | 129.1 | 2.693 | 657.6 | 0.510 | 124.5 |
| SanDisk Extreme Pro UHS-II USB-C Reader SDDR-409 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.000 | 0.0 | 0.000 | 0.0 |
The PNY Elite Performance 256GB SDXC card has been tested in the Nikon D500. It measured 49.3 MB/s write speed during continuous shooting. Additional camera test results will be added to the table below.
| PNY Elite Performance U3 256GB Tested in Camera | Write Speed (MB/s) |
|---|---|
| Canon Rebel T7i | 49.5 |
| Nikon D500 | 49.3 |
| Sony A9 | 49.3 |
| Canon 77D | 49.2 |
| Nikon D7500 | 48.5 |
| Canon 5D Mark IV | 48.2 |
| Canon EOS M5 | 47.9 |
| Canon 80D | 47.3 |
| Nikon D5600 | 42.0 |
| Olympus E-M1 II | 38.7 |
| Panasonic GH5 | 35.8 |
| Sony A6300 | 31.3 |
Cameras tested with this card: Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 77D, Canon 80D, Canon EOS M5, Canon Rebel T7i, Nikon D500, Nikon D7500, Nikon D5600, Olympus E-M1 II, Panasonic GH5, Sony A9, Sony A6300
The following table contains information encoded in the SD card.
| PNY Elite Performance U3 256GB SD — Internal Card Information | |
|---|---|
| Serial number (PSN) | 3136820796 |
| Product Name (PNM) | SD256 |
| Product Revision | 1.0 |
| Manufacturer ID (MID) | 0x000028 |
| OEM ID (OID) | BE |
| Manufacture Date (MDT) | 12/2015 |
| Total capacity | 259,710,255,104 bytes |
The internal card identification register of the PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s 256GB card shows the Manufacturer ID (MID) 0x00028 and OEM ID (OID) "BE," indicating the card was produced by Lexar. PNY does not manufacture controllers or NAND flash memory and relies on other suppliers to produce their SD memory cards.
Available sizes and prices
Compare prices on the PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s card. The lowest prices are highlighted in the table below. Prices are updated daily.
| Card | Size GB | Lowest $ / GB | Prices | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon | B&H Photo | Adorama | |||
| PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s U1 SD | 32 | $0.41 | $12.99 | Check price | Check price |
| PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s U3 SD | 64 | $0.32 | $20.26 | Check price | Check price |
| PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s U3 SD | 128 | $0.31 | $39.99 | Check price | Check price |
| PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s U3 SD | 256 | $0.39 | $99.89 | Check price | Check price |
| PNY Elite Performance 95MB/s U3 SD | 512 | $0.31 | $159.99 | Check price | Check price |