USB 3.1 Performance Preview: ASUS Z97-A/USB 3.1 motherboard

Results - PCMark 8

PCMark 8 Results

The PCMark 8 Storage benchmark is used to test drive performance with popular games and various editing and productivity software. Unlike synthetic storage tests, it is used as a gauge of real-world performance.

There is little difference between USB 3.0 and 3.1 here. We figure the insignificant difference is because of the mSATA drives and their controllers being the bottleneck, even though they are operating in RAID mode.

Then again, you’re more likely to be running these programs off an OS or onboard drive as opposed to a USB-attached device, although we do see USB 3.1 (Turbo mode) marginally inching out the other two in the overall scores and individual tests.