The PCMark 10 Data Drive Benchmark has been designed to test drives that are used for storing files rather than applications. You can also use this test with NAS drives, USB sticks, memory cards, and other external storage devices. The Data Drive Benchmark uses 3 traces, running 3 passes with each trace.
Trace 1. Copying 339 JPEG files, 2.37 GB in total, on to the target drive (write test).
Trace 2. Making a copy of the JPEG files (read-write test).
Trace 3. Copying the JPEG files to another drive (read test).
We've only just started to use the PCMark 10 Data Drive test for external drives and will add to these charts over time. What's clear from these results is the advantage that the NVMe-equipped X8 has in bandwidth and access time over the two SATA based PNY SSDs, particularly the Pro Elite which also uses a 10Gb/s interface. The PNY Elite uses a USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface.