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USB 3.0 test

Tags:
  • Dell Inspiron
  • Peripherals
  • Video
  • USB3
Last response: in Computer Peripherals
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August 19, 2014 10:38:47 PM

I recently purchased a new Dell Inspiron with 2 USB 3.0 ports. I was curious and tested transferring videos between two Toshiba Canvio 1.5's just to see how fast the rate would be. The Canvios are both plugged into the 3.0 ports and I moved ~250GB between the two (movies). I was happy to see 46-96 MB/s but was a little disappointed that it didn't come close to at least 1GB/s. Is this typical or is there a tweak to get the transfer speed up a tad?

More about : usb test

August 19, 2014 10:48:54 PM

1GB/s is unrealistic, even for fast ssds in raid 0 transferring to another internal raid 0 ssd array.

You're figures are pretty good considering they are external drives. My 1tb spinpoint F3 maxes out at 110MB/s when its an internal drive.
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August 19, 2014 10:56:01 PM

usb3.0 is 5 Gbps max = 600MBs

7200 rpm 3.5in sata drives only transfer at about 100MBs.

External 5400 rpm, 2.5 drives run about half that - as you found out. Maybe try an external drive USB3.0 SSD
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August 20, 2014 4:21:56 AM

mouse24 said:
1GB/s is unrealistic, even for fast ssds in raid 0 transferring to another internal raid 0 ssd array.

You're figures are pretty good considering they are external drives. My 1tb spinpoint F3 maxes out at 110MB/s when its an internal drive.


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August 20, 2014 4:28:59 AM

So the advertised 5 GB/s is extremely unrealistic. I must be reading the specs wrong or I'm just misunderstanding the science. Using the external 3.0 ports is the only way I know to test this.
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August 20, 2014 5:12:16 AM

Its not 5 GBps. its 5 Gbps. Which is rougly 600MBps
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August 20, 2014 10:58:04 AM

clarification.... what is mentioned is likely "gigabits" not gigabytes"

5 gigabits per second is equal to 625 megabytes per section.

the difference is because one uses the base value of "bytes" and the other "bits". 8 bits equals 1 byte.

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measurements in bits are common for internet speeds as well. a 50/25 connection rated in megabits per section only gives you a 6.25/3.125 megabyte download and upload.

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the numbers only look like false advertising if you wrongly assume "gigabytes per second" which many people do. while i'm sure it may be some good in having this clarified as "gigabites" it often suits the needs of companies to have people wrongly assume "gigabytes" since it looks better on paper and since all of the competition is using "gigabites" already in their measurements. people like to compare numbers so would go for a 50/25 megabits connection over a 10/5 megabytes connection most often even though the latter is quite a bit faster.

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in short... for external drives your numbers look spot on. there is nothing to worry about since it seems your drives are moving as fast as they can go.
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August 22, 2014 12:47:29 AM

ssddx said:
clarification.... what is mentioned is likely "gigabits" not gigabytes"

5 gigabits per second is equal to 625 megabytes per section.

the difference is because one uses the base value of "bytes" and the other "bits". 8 bits equals 1 byte.

--

measurements in bits are common for internet speeds as well. a 50/25 connection rated in megabits per section only gives you a 6.25/3.125 megabyte download and upload.

--

the numbers only look like false advertising if you wrongly assume "gigabytes per second" which many people do. while i'm sure it may be some good in having this clarified as "gigabites" it often suits the needs of companies to have people wrongly assume "gigabytes" since it looks better on paper and since all of the competition is using "gigabites" already in their measurements. people like to compare numbers so would go for a 50/25 megabits connection over a 10/5 megabytes connection most often even though the latter is quite a bit faster.

--

in short... for external drives your numbers look spot on. there is nothing to worry about since it seems your drives are moving as fast as they can go.


1st of all I'd like to thank all of you for clearing up my misunderstanding of the speed adverts. I really appreciate your taking the time to educate me a little as I WAS reading GB's and not Gb's.. I have to admit though...it's really piqued my curiosity even further since the highest transfer rate in this thread has been 110 MB/s. I take it USB 3.0 is still waiting for the technology to max out its capabilities.
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August 22, 2014 12:51:03 AM

mouse24 said:
1GB/s is unrealistic, even for fast ssds in raid 0 transferring to another internal raid 0 ssd array.

You're figures are pretty good considering they are external drives. My 1tb spinpoint F3 maxes out at 110MB/s when its an internal drive.


Thanks for that clarification. What kind of transfer speeds would the 2 SSDs attain?
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August 22, 2014 11:09:20 PM

Byte M3 VII said:
mouse24 said:
1GB/s is unrealistic, even for fast ssds in raid 0 transferring to another internal raid 0 ssd array.

You're figures are pretty good considering they are external drives. My 1tb spinpoint F3 maxes out at 110MB/s when its an internal drive.


Thanks for that clarification. What kind of transfer speeds would the 2 SSDs attain?


When transferring files its nearly double the speed, in real world applications (starting windows, opening applications) you shave off maybe 5% of the total time.

This sums it up pretty well: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-raid-benchmark,...
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August 23, 2014 6:01:18 AM

i think he meant ssd to ssd transfer speed and not raid?

to answer that question... it depends. on usb3 you can see upwards of 200mbps depending on the drive and files being transferred. on esata its possible to see up to around 300. of course with some types of transfer such as small files your speeds will be less (hdds have variable transfer rates too).

in general.... i would say 50%-100% faster on average using usb3.0 if copying from a sata 3 internal ssd drive to a usb 3 external ssd.

if you were copying from an internal HDD to an external SSD then the hdd would be the bottleneck and you would only get as much performance as the read speed on the hdd for your ssd writing.
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