USB3 Fast -- Fact or fiction

Hi there.

I read a load of posts here but I can't get ANYTHING like the USB3 speeds I've been reading about on these Forums.

USB3 WD passport USB 3 2TB drive plugged into USB3 port on laptop -- lucky if I can get 35 mb/s transfer. Not using a Hub either.

Old fashioned USB2 drive (2.5 old laptop drive but 7200 RPM device -- Hitachi Model) connected via USB 2 Port to SAME laptop 63 mb /sec -- same data files to Internal SSD directory. Model is 7k320-320GB drive 7200 rpm. Nearly 2X FASTER data transfer than the USB 3 drive !!!!

Running W8.1 X-64. - Real physical machine -- not a VM.

What gives here ?? ( I notice the Hitachi drive seems also to have a much larger cache too) but finding laptop drives that run at 7200 rpm is a bit like looking for Hens Teeth. The USB3 passport drive seems a HUGE disappointment as regard to speed - although it's good for portability and capacity.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Old fashioned USB2 drive (2.5 old laptop drive but 7200 RPM device -- Hitachi Model) connected via USB 2 Port to SAME laptop 63 mb /sec -- same data files to Internal SSD directory. Model is 7k320-320GB drive 7200 rpm. Nearly 2X FASTER data transfer than the USB 3 drive !!!!

Click to expand...

This doesn't make any sense to me. USB 2.0 max speed is 480Megabits/sec. Due to bus access constraints, the max speed one typically can get from USB 2.0 is about 35MB/sec. I've never once seen a USB 2.0 device over 40MB/sec.

I tested at work with

• Acer Aspire 5600U All-in-One Desktop, running Windows 8.1. Acer Aspire 5600U Review | Maximum PC
• Anker USB 3.0/eSata dock. Anker USB 3.0 and eSATA To SATA External Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5 / 3.5in HDD and SSD
• Intel 320 Series 80GB SSD. ARK | Intel® SSD 320 Series (80GB, 2.5in SATA 3Gb/s, 25nm, MLC)
• Seagate Momentus 500GB 7200 RPM 2.5 SATA drive. Seagate ST9500423AS Momentus 2.5 500GB Hard Drive - 7200RPM, SATA 3Gb/s HD at TigerDirect.com
• Thermaltake BlacX USB 2.0/eSATA dock. Thermaltake BlacX N0028USU External Hard Drive SATA Enclosure Docking Station 2.5" & 3.5" USB 2.0 - Newegg.com
• HDTune 2.55 (Free)

In the USB 3.0 Anker dock, My results were

• Intel 320 Series SSD. Average 166MB/sec, Min of 158MB/sec, Max of 170.9MB/sec with 0.2ms access time
• Seagate Momentus 500GB. Average 89.0MB/sec, Min of 57.0MB/sec, Max of 110MB/sec with 15.5ms access time.

In the USB 2.0 Thermaltake dock, My results were

• Intel 320 Series SSD. Average 38.3MB/sec, Min of 37.1MB/sec, Max of 38.7MB/sec with 0.3ms access time.
• Seagate Momentus 500GB. Average 38.3MB/sec, Min of 36.6MB/sec, Max of 38.6MBs/ec, with 15.7ms access time.

Use this little program to see what USB speed your device is using. It looks like it may be at High-Speed (USB 2) instead of Super-Speed (USB 3). Look at Connection Information and it shows what speed is selected.

USB Device Tree Viewer

Jim

An anecdote, using usb 2 external drives, copying a large file:

Hitachi 2,5 1G 7200
usb 2 port on pc = approx 25 MB/sec
usb 3 port on pc = approx 40 MB/sec

WD 3,5 1,5G 5200
usb 2 port on pc = approx 25 MB/sec
usb 3 port on pc = approx 35 MB/sec