USB Question

[calisonic]

Hi all,
I have an Asus M4A78T-E mobo running Win 7 x64 Pro.

It has a couple USB headers on the board and I have these connected to a front panel Multi reader device.

It was my understanding that these headers will provide the fastest transfer speeds, however when I use the regular USB ports on the back, it seems to be faster there, any ideas?
Thanks!

 

[jaquith]

They're ALL USB 2, so load a huge file on the SAME USB device and time them. The reason I say SAME is that different devices can have different Read/Write speeds and the USB connection has nothing to do with the disparity.

You can also D/L ATTO and test - http://www.attotech.com/products/product.php?sku=Disk_Benchmark

Good Luck!

 

[tecmo34]

USB speed is equal as long as they are both USB 2.0 or USB 3.0. The difference you are most likely seeing is the difference in the multi reader device limits. I would see if you see any difference by running through just the front panels vs the multi reader.

 

[jaquith]

^ Maybe, my memory flash reader humms along. If I run a D/L via Photoshop vs Windows drag+drop then obviously the non-App way is faster.

edit: I never benched the ports... "feeling" only.

 

[calisonic]

I found a program called HD speed, According to it, the front panel and rear panels are all running at about 29 MBytes / sec. And doing an actually file transfer, the seem about the same, but it did seem different before.
Anyway 29 MB still seems pretty slow on USB 2.0. the device it self is a USB 3.0 flash drive.

Just in case
Phenom II x4 965 @ 3.7GHz
4 GB DDR3

 

[jaquith]

If it's an A-DATA then the speed is about equal to USB 2.0; it has everything to do with the speed of the IC and not the interface itself...

 

[calisonic]

Why does it being an A-DATA make a difference? They make poor (I'm going to assume IC = interface controller) IC's?
Because my 2.0 SanDisk Cruzer Micro's go at the exact same speeds, and I've heard thos are pretty good as far as flash drives go.

 

[jaquith]

IC - Integrated Controller chips. The same analogy of a SATA3 vs SATA2 ports; if the Flash Drive(s) in this case cannot reach the limits of USB 2 Read/Write speeds as it is then simply using a yet FASTER USB 3 interface makes no difference in performance.

Analogy:
Flash Drive = 100 MPH
USB 2 = 120 MPH
USB 3 = 240 MPH
How much faster will the Flash Drive go on USB 3??
ANS - 100 MPH on either interface; doesn't matter it cannot go faster than the IC R/W will allow.

 

[calisonic]

I'm still not sure I quite understand sorry...
Are you referring to an IC being on the flash drive (That is, one of the Usb2.0 cruzer micros or the ADATA USB 3.0) or an IC being on the motherboard?
I do realize that even the USB 3.0 will only run at USB 2.0 speeds if that is all the board will support, Im just saying that 30MB a second seems slow for a USB 2.0 drive on a USB 2.0 port.
I am ordering a USB 3.0 expansion card though.
Thanks again.

 

[jaquith]

What I am 'trying' to say is that 'most' current USB 3.0 Flash Drives have Read & Write speeds SLOWER than even a USB 2.0 Interface speeds {120 MB/s}; Flash Drive 60 MB/s limit.

The Speed depends upon the Flash Drive's Read/Write speeds, and those speeds MIGHT BE equal or slower USB 2.0 limits; so a faster Interface {USB 3.0} may NOT increase the copy/writing speeds to your Flash Drive. I do not know the R/W limits of your "cruzer micros or the ADATA USB 3.0" but is NO way near the Interface speed.

Another Anaology:
SATA 2 = 300 MB/s per device LIMIT
SATA 3 = 600 MB/s per device LIMIT
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s

The Western Digital hard drive has an approximate 120~140 MB/s R/W which is 1/2 SATA2 speeds. The SATA 6.0Gb/s {SATA3} is the Interface, so whether it runs on the older SATA2 or newer SATA3 -- it won't run but 1/2 SATA2 speeds or 1/4 SATA3 speeds.

Interface vs Physical Limits of Device.

 

[calisonic]

okay gotcha.

Thanks.