DanHonemann
Junior Member
I've just spent the last two days thoroughly testing my Dell Dimension 8250 (P4 3.06 GHz Intel 850 series chipset running Windows XP SP2) USB 2.0 ports and have found them quite lacking. I'm hoping someone can provide me with a clue as to how to get them up to speed.
I've just done a fresh re-install of Win XP on the 8250 using a slipstreamed Dell + Windows XP SP2 disc. I installed all of the latest drivers in the order Dell recommends.
On my 8250, with just one USB device connected (to any of the ports--doesn't matter which), that being a Maxtor 160 GB USB 2 hard drive, I am only able to get read times of 17 MB/sec. Under the same scenario on my Sony Vaio A240 Laptop (Win XP SP2 as well, but the Intel Pentium M Processor 725 chipset) I consistently get read times of 30 MB/sec.--nearly twice that of the (supposedly faster) Dell!
Furthermore, if I attach one more external drive to the 8250, the transfer rate goes down to just 15 MB/sec for each drive. On the Sony, both remain at 30 MB/sec. If I attach a third to the 8250, bandwidth now degrades to 12 MB/sec for each drive; on the Sony, all three drives are good for 26.5 MB/sec--over twice that of the 8250.
I can gain some bandwidth on the 8250 with more than one external drive by attaching them to ports on the two separate USB 2 controllers; but the very best I can do under any scenario on the 8250 is 17 MB/sec, and that is just too slow.
The Sony is using an Intel 8280 1DB/DBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (Intel driver v.5.1.0.1006 (8/28/2003)), while the 8250 is using two VIA USB Enhanced Host Controllers (MS driver v.5.1.2600.0 (6/1/2002)). I did try updating the 8250 drivers using the "VIA Integrated USB 2.0 Driver" from the original Dell Resource CD, but even though Windows re-found the controllers and their two corresponding USB Root Hubs, nothing changed. There is a "USB20 setup program" entry under Add/Remove programs, but that's it; the driver version and dates remain the same, as do the testing results. Are there more recent VIA USB 2 controller drivers suitable for my 8250 somewhere? The files associated with my USB drivers (.sys and .dll) are all dated 8/4/2004.
I have eight external hard drives (from 160-300 GB each); when I connect all eight using two USB 2.0 hubs, my bandwidth goes down to a paltry 4 MB/sec for each drive. Four are backup drives that I only need to power up and connect once a week, but the other four are live and even with just those four attached I can only manage 12 MB/sec from them under the best of scenarios (attached directly to the 8250 ports with no external hubs).
What, if anything, can I do to speed things up? I'd at least like to get them to be as fast as what my laptop's USB 2 ports provide! Is it possible?
Would it help if I installed an expansion card with its own USB 2.0 ports and controller?
I'm also considering Firewire as an option now, since the Maxtors will all accept that cable as well. Does anyone know if Firewire bandwidth degrades as badly as USB 2 when several devices are attached to the same controller?
How well do your external USB 2.0 drives perform on the read tests? Theoretically, USB 2.0 provides 480 Mbps bandwidth, which translates to a whopping 60 MB/sec. In reality, the best I've seen so far (but I've only tested my two PC's: the Sony laptop and the 8250) is half that, at 30 MB/sec (or 240 Mbps). And these are read speeds; write speeds transferring real-life data on my Sony devices tend to be around 18 MB/sec, meaning it takes nearly a minute (57 sec.) to copy a folder of files that comprise 1 GB of data.
Any suggestions on how to beef up USB 2 transfer rates would be greatly welcomed.
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. All drive tests performed using HD_Speed, a freeware utility provided by George Steele which can be found here:
http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=20
I've just done a fresh re-install of Win XP on the 8250 using a slipstreamed Dell + Windows XP SP2 disc. I installed all of the latest drivers in the order Dell recommends.
On my 8250, with just one USB device connected (to any of the ports--doesn't matter which), that being a Maxtor 160 GB USB 2 hard drive, I am only able to get read times of 17 MB/sec. Under the same scenario on my Sony Vaio A240 Laptop (Win XP SP2 as well, but the Intel Pentium M Processor 725 chipset) I consistently get read times of 30 MB/sec.--nearly twice that of the (supposedly faster) Dell!
Furthermore, if I attach one more external drive to the 8250, the transfer rate goes down to just 15 MB/sec for each drive. On the Sony, both remain at 30 MB/sec. If I attach a third to the 8250, bandwidth now degrades to 12 MB/sec for each drive; on the Sony, all three drives are good for 26.5 MB/sec--over twice that of the 8250.
I can gain some bandwidth on the 8250 with more than one external drive by attaching them to ports on the two separate USB 2 controllers; but the very best I can do under any scenario on the 8250 is 17 MB/sec, and that is just too slow.
The Sony is using an Intel 8280 1DB/DBM USB2 Enhanced Host Controller (Intel driver v.5.1.0.1006 (8/28/2003)), while the 8250 is using two VIA USB Enhanced Host Controllers (MS driver v.5.1.2600.0 (6/1/2002)). I did try updating the 8250 drivers using the "VIA Integrated USB 2.0 Driver" from the original Dell Resource CD, but even though Windows re-found the controllers and their two corresponding USB Root Hubs, nothing changed. There is a "USB20 setup program" entry under Add/Remove programs, but that's it; the driver version and dates remain the same, as do the testing results. Are there more recent VIA USB 2 controller drivers suitable for my 8250 somewhere? The files associated with my USB drivers (.sys and .dll) are all dated 8/4/2004.
I have eight external hard drives (from 160-300 GB each); when I connect all eight using two USB 2.0 hubs, my bandwidth goes down to a paltry 4 MB/sec for each drive. Four are backup drives that I only need to power up and connect once a week, but the other four are live and even with just those four attached I can only manage 12 MB/sec from them under the best of scenarios (attached directly to the 8250 ports with no external hubs).
What, if anything, can I do to speed things up? I'd at least like to get them to be as fast as what my laptop's USB 2 ports provide! Is it possible?
Would it help if I installed an expansion card with its own USB 2.0 ports and controller?
I'm also considering Firewire as an option now, since the Maxtors will all accept that cable as well. Does anyone know if Firewire bandwidth degrades as badly as USB 2 when several devices are attached to the same controller?
How well do your external USB 2.0 drives perform on the read tests? Theoretically, USB 2.0 provides 480 Mbps bandwidth, which translates to a whopping 60 MB/sec. In reality, the best I've seen so far (but I've only tested my two PC's: the Sony laptop and the 8250) is half that, at 30 MB/sec (or 240 Mbps). And these are read speeds; write speeds transferring real-life data on my Sony devices tend to be around 18 MB/sec, meaning it takes nearly a minute (57 sec.) to copy a folder of files that comprise 1 GB of data.
Any suggestions on how to beef up USB 2 transfer rates would be greatly welcomed.
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. All drive tests performed using HD_Speed, a freeware utility provided by George Steele which can be found here:
http://www.steelbytes.com/?mid=20
