USB 3.0 is the same speed as 2.0?

bhayward00 · Feb 7, 2014

I'm on a 2013 MacBook Pro 15" with USB 3.0 ports, running Windows 7 with Bootcamp. I had a 1TB external hard drive that was only USB 2.0, so I bought a new USB 3.0 enclosure that works at USB 3.0 speed on OSX, but it still only transfers data around 28 MBps on Windows 7. I downloaded the Intel USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller drivers like many people said to do, but it did not solve my problem. I'm not really sure what else to do in order to get my USB 3.0 speeds unless I upgrade to Windows 8 (which automatically supports USB 3.0 I think), but I REALLY don't want to do that. Any help would be appreciated!

InvalidError · Feb 7, 2014

Did you get an actual USB3 cable? While USB3 cables look almost identical to USB2 one, USB3 cables actually have five extra wires in it for the high-speed RX + TX pairs along with an extra ground.

If you use a regular USB1/2 cable between USB3 devices, devices default to USB2 speed because the high-speed USB3 wires are physically missing.

sfitzp4573 · Feb 7, 2014

I suspect that you've kind of suggested your own answer to the problem - the external drive is USB 2.0. Any hardware & software that you use, such as USB 3.0 drivers will work in conjunction with USB 2.0 devices in "backwards-compatibility" mode if they cannot work at USB3.0 spec. Everything is limited by the speed of the lowest common denominator. The only way to fix this is to ensure that the full path from your PC to your external drive is at USB 3.0 spec, i.e. replace the external USB 2.0 drive with a USB 3.0 one, ensuring that you have USB 3.0-capable cables & drivers.
Re the cables - USB 2.0 spec cables will work with USB 3.0 devices but will not necessarily work at true USB 3.0 speeds as they aren't built to the same spec. They will "work" ok though.

InvalidError · Feb 7, 2014

sfitzp4573 :

OP said he already replaced his USB2 enclosure with a USB3 one.

USB2 cables will never "work at true USB3 speeds" because they only implement the USB2 part of the connector and cable and therefore can only support USB2 between USB3 devices. To operate at USB3 speeds, the cable and connectors need to have the extra five USB3 signal pins: the dedicated USB3 RX pair, the dedicated USB3 TX pair and the extra USB3 ground. The USB2 data pins are not used for USB3 communications.

sfitzp4573 · Feb 7, 2014

@InvalidError

Sorry if I didn't make things clear - his external USB 2.0 drive has a USB 2.0 interface. No amount of changing anything else alone will give the required improvement. Putting a USB 2.0 drive in a USB 3.0 enclosure will not change this. The limiting factor is the interface on the drive itself. Only way to change this is to change the drive for one with a USB 3.0 interface.

InvalidError · Feb 7, 2014

sfitzp4573 :

Huh? You must have never owned an external HDD enclosure or opened one up.

Take ANY semi-recent external USB2 HDD, open it, what do you find inside? A standard SATA HDD that you can put into any other USB2, USB3, eSATA enclosure or plug directly inside your PC. There is no such thing as a native USB2 HDD that I know of; all external HDD boxes use standard SATA drives internally. (Well, there were PATA enclosures too - I own three external PATA drive enclosures, two of which FireWire - but PATA drives are nearly extinct now.)

sfitzp4573 · Feb 8, 2014

@InvalidError

calm down, sunshine. Let's not get into a dogfight. The best answer to this is if Bhayward00 could tell us the make & model of the external drive. Then we can carry on.

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