HighPoint RocketStor 5212 Dual Bay ThunderBolt Storage Dock Review

ATTO DISK BENCHMARK VER 2.46

ATTO Disk Benchmark has been around as long or longer than most any other storage performance benchmark.  ATTO uses RAW (or compressible) data, and for today’s benchmarking test we will use a set length of 256MB.  We will be testing both the read and write performance of various transfer sizes ranging from 0.5KB to 8192KB.  This is the testing method preferred by most manufacturers, as it tests with RAW (compressible) data, rather than random (including incompressible) data.  Although random and incompressible data may be a more realistic usage scenario, testing with it will give lower performance results.

We were a bit surprised at the results we were seeing while testing with our ASUS P8Z77V Premium motherboard.  They are definitely a bit low, even as SATA 3 results.

CRYSTAL DISK BENCHMARK VER. 3.0 X64

Crystal Disk Benchmark is used to measure read and write performance through sampling of raw (0/1 Fill/compressible) or random data which is, for the most part, incompressible. In the SanDisk Extreme II SSD, performance results are very similar whether we test with compressible or incompressible data and, for this reason, results are displayed utilizing incompressible data.

We have to admit we got a bit spoiled with the results from the HighPoint Dual eSATA RocketStor 5322 Dock, all of which left us wanting a bit more from the 5212. While testing in a PC, we are seeing results typically 100MB/s lower than we might normally see.

AS SSD BENCHMARK VER 1.6

Up until recently, AS SSD was the only benchmark created specifically for SSD testing and it uses incompressible data. AS SSD, for the most part, gives us the ‘worst case scenario’ in SSD transfer speeds because of its use of incompressible data and many enthusiasts like to AS SSD for their needs. Once again, we will display the standard system on the left with optimized on the right.

Our AS SSD results were very reflective of that of the BlackMagic benchmark earlier, displaying rather low write performance all around.  Looking at the IOPS, we can clearly establish that there is a bottleneck in performance, whether it be in the PC components or drivers in use.  With that in mind, we were surprised that the Copy Benchmark results turned out so well:

REPORT ANALYSIS AND FINAL THOUGHTS

While I was checking out pricing of the HighPoint RocketStor 5121 Dual Bay Thunderbolt dock, I came acrossed a review where the writer related that he could not edit multi-clips with Final Cut Pro X on his iMac before purchase of this device.  That report speaks volumes to both Thunderbolt’s high data transfer and the hich capacities that can be achieved with the dual bays.  Considering the masses of media professionals that rely on Mac products each and every day, the HighPoint RocketStor 5212 has entered the marketplace with a key focus on the needs of these professionals.

As much as it would have been a definite advantage to have dual Thunderbolt ports in the 5212, or maybe even including the cable with the unit,  pricing below is below the $200 mark and performance is as expected in OSX, where we were able to push very healthy SATA 3 data speeds of around 500MB/s.  One thing that did catch our attention was that external drives are recognized immediately on inserting them in the dock bay, whereas while testing similar systems previously, it might take several seconds for the drive to be recognized.

Perhaps what impressed most with the HighPoint RocketStor 5212 though, was the ease of installation and use that we recognized immediately on opening the package.  Simply, plug in the power adapter, slide a HDD/SSD into a storage bay and plug in the Thunderbolt cable and you are on your way.  There is no on/off switch on the unit as the Thunderbolt cable takes care of that when you power on and off the PC/Mac and the 5212 is hot swappable which means you can insert or remove external drives as you please.

All in all, we find it rather easy to recommend the RocketStor 5212 as it is a very easily used device which has a great build, is affordable and brings great transfer speed performance for an external dock.

Check Out The HighPoint ThunderBolt Dock at Amazon!