need help analyzing external HDD atto benchmark please

[Rocketman122]

I recently bought an external HDD. transcend storejet 500gb usb 3.0 drive.

it writes TO it very quickly although it hangs at the very end of the progress bar for a long time. so it seems like its fast but the hang doesnt make it that fast. acceptable enough.

if I copy from the external HDD to the PC back it takes forever. 3gb takes 3 minutes. something is weird to me. isnt it supposed to be slow to transfer TO IT, but faster to transfer FROM IT? when it transfer to it, thats writing to it, no? and when I copy the files to another HDD on the PC thats reading, no?

from this site that reviewed the drive (1tb though) I dont know how to read the graph on the atto benchmark I did on the drive. any help appreciated.
amd fx8350
giga GA-990FXA-UD3 (rev. 4.0)
gtx 660
8gb ram
samsung evo 840 SSD
antec 900 v2

 

[Rocketman122]

image of benchmark is here
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=29fqpat&s=8

 

[CiPHER]

That is weird, normally it is the other way around. It could be that read-ahead caching is disabled - do you recall you changed any deep and/or advanced settings in Windows? I remember Windows has such settings if you dig deep in the menu's or anything. Particularly read-ahead caching is important.

The other thing you can do is provide me with the SMART information, like CrystalDiskInfo can do. And also try a proper benchmark like CrystalDiskMark - with default settings.

 

[LTC8K6]

Sounds like a description of write caching.

 

[CiPHER]

Disabling device write-back will impair write performance to the point of being little over 1MB/s. Likewise, disabling read-ahead will impair read performance but it should be much less severe as disabling the write buffer.

Besides the CrystalDiskMark benchmark i requested, could you also include a standard HDTune benchmark, Rocketman122? This will test outside of the filesystem and will determine raw drive performance as opposed to filesystem performance. This should tell whether filesystem settings are to blame, or not.

 

[Rocketman122]

Thanks guys for the help! very much appreciated

Disabling device write-back will impair write performance to the point of being little over 1MB/s. Likewise, disabling read-ahead will impair read performance but it should be much less severe as disabling the write buffer.

Besides the CrystalDiskMark benchmark i requested, could you also include a standard HDTune benchmark, Rocketman122? This will test outside of the filesystem and will determine raw drive performance as opposed to filesystem performance. This should tell whether filesystem settings are to blame, or not.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.4 Shizuku Edition x64 (C) 2007-2015 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 1.872 MB/s
Sequential Write : 101.636 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 1.869 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 38.379 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 0.298 MB/s [ 72.7 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 0.720 MB/s [ 175.9 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 0.387 MB/s [ 94.4 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 0.746 MB/s [ 182.2 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [H: 45.6% (212.4/465.8 GB)] (x3)
Date : 2015/09/25 9:29:57
OS : Windows 7 Professional SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

downloaded it as you said and ran it. I dont know how to asses these numbers. if you need a print screen let me know and ill upload it. im doing the the HD tune as well. I dont know what write back is. I didnt go to the bios in a long time if thats where it is.

Sounds like a description of write caching.

how would I check this please?

That is weird, normally it is the other way around. It could be that read-ahead caching is disabled - do you recall you changed any deep and/or advanced settings in Windows? I remember Windows has such settings if you dig deep in the menu's or anything. Particularly read-ahead caching is important.

The other thing you can do is provide me with the SMART information, like CrystalDiskInfo can do. And also try a proper benchmark like CrystalDiskMark - with default settings.

dont know anything about the read ahead chaching. dont know where to check even.

thanks again everyone

 

[Rocketman122]

this is the smart info from CDM. first time doing this so hope that what you needed to see.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(4) ST500LT012-1DG142
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enclosure : StoreJet Transcend USB Device (V=174C, P=5106, sa1) - st
Model : ST500LT012-1DG142
Firmware : 0001SDM1
Serial Number : S3PX9W4G
Disk Size : 500.1 GB (8.4/137.4/500.1/500.1)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 976773168
Rotation Rate : 5400 RPM
Interface : USB (Serial ATA)
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 4
Transfer Mode : SATA/600
Power On Hours : 133 hours
Power On Count : 12 count
Temparature : 33 C (91 F)
Health Status : Good
Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ
APM Level : 8080h [ON]
AAM Level : ----

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
01 119 100 __6 00000C179250 Read Error Rate
03 _99 _99 __0 000000000000 Spin-Up Time
04 100 100 _20 00000000002A Start/Stop Count
05 100 100 _36 000000000000 Reallocated Sectors Count
07 100 253 _30 000000027808 Seek Error Rate
09 100 100 __0 471800000085 Power-On Hours
0A 100 100 _97 000000000000 Spin Retry Count
0C 100 100 _20 00000000000C Power Cycle Count
B8 100 100 _99 000000000000 End-to-End Error
BB 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reported Uncorrectable Errors
BC __1 __1 __0 0000000036CA Command Timeout
BD 100 100 __0 000000000000 High Fly Writes
BE _67 _58 _45 00002A200021 Airflow Temperature
BF 100 100 __0 000000000000 G-Sense Error Rate
C0 100 100 __0 000000000000 Power-off Retract Count
C1 100 100 __0 000000000050 Load/Unload Cycle Count
C2 _33 _42 __0 001800000021 Temperature
C5 100 100 __0 000000000000 Current Pending Sector Count
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Sector Count
C7 200 200 __0 000000000000 UltraDMA CRC Error Count
F0 100 100 __0 114100000004 Head Flying Hours
F1 100 253 __0 00001F3AF21C Total Host Writes
F2 100 253 __0 000002D492DE Total Host Reads
FE 100 100 __0 000000000000 Free Fall Protection

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE ---------------------------------------------------------
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
000: 0C5A 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000
010: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 5333 5058 3957 3447
020: 0000 0000 0004 3030 3031 5344 4D31 5354 3530 304C
030: 5430 3132 2D31 4447 3134 3220 2020 2020 2020 2020
040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8010 4000 2F00
050: 4000 0200 0200 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0110
060: FFFF 0FFF 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 0000
070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 001F 8F0E 0004 0048 0040
080: 01F0 0029 746B 7D69 6163 7469 BC49 6163 407F 0032
090: 0032 8080 FFFE 0000 D000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
100: 6030 3A38 0000 0000 0000 0000 6003 0000 5000 C500
110: 8BF4 3061 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 401E
120: 401E 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0021 6030
130: 3A38 6030 3A38 2020 0002 0140 0108 5000 3C06 3C0A
140: 0000 003C 0000 0008 0000 0000 7CFF 0280 0000 0000
150: 0008 0000 0000 0000 1028 0000 4000 0000 7500 8000
160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0003 0000
170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1035 0000 0000 4000
210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 1518 0000 0000
220: 0002 0000 103F 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000
250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 16A5

-- SMART_READ_DATA ---------------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 0A 00 01 0F 00 77 64 50 92 17 0C 00 00 00 03 03
010: 00 63 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 32 00 64 64 2A
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 33 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 0F 00 64 FD 08 78 02 00 00 00 00 09 32
040: 00 64 64 85 00 00 00 18 47 17 0A 13 00 64 64 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 32 00 64 64 0C 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 B8 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BB 32
070: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BC 32 00 01 01 CA
080: 36 00 00 00 00 00 BD 3A 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 BE 22 00 43 3A 21 00 20 2A 00 00 00 BF 32
0A0: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 32 00 64 64 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 32 00 64 64 50 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C2 22 00 21 2A 21 00 00 00 18 00 00 C5 12
0D0: 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 10 00 64 64 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 3E 00 C8 C8 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 F0 00 00 64 64 04 00 00 00 41 11 2D F1 00
100: 00 64 FD 1C F2 3A 1F 00 00 00 F2 00 00 64 FD DE
110: 92 D4 02 00 00 00 FE 32 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 73
170: 03 00 01 00 01 68 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 01 01 01 01 01 01 01
190: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 D7 71 35 D9 6F 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 01 00 04 00 1C F2 3A 1F 00 00 00 00
1C0: DE 92 D4 02 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 AF 09 B0 00 01 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 3A

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ----------------------------------------------------
+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F
000: 01 00 01 06 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00
010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 14 00 00 00 00
020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 24 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
030: 00 00 07 1E 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00
040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A 61 00 00 00 00
050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 14 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
060: 00 00 B8 63 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BB 00
070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BC 00 00 00 00 00
080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 BD 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
090: 00 00 BE 2D 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BF 00
0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C0 00 00 00 00 00
0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C1 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0C0: 00 00 C2 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C5 00
0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C6 00 00 00 00 00
0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
0F0: 00 00 F0 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F1 00
100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F2 00 00 00 00 00
110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 FE 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 9C

 

[Rocketman122]

HDTUNE

HD Tune: StoreJetTranscend Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum : 0.1 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 3.7 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 1.0 MB/sec
Access Time : 19.2 ms
Burst Rate : 1.2 MB/sec
CPU Usage : -1.0%
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=2q83gc9&s=8

 

[Rocketman122]

screenshot

http://s4.postimg.org/twra1v98d/Untitled1.jpg

 

[CiPHER]

Since HDtune gives you bad scores as well, your filesystem settings cannot be the culprit. So either your drive is defective, or there is an issue with the external chipset which sits in between the harddrive and your computer. I suspect the latter.

I advise you to return the drive. If possible, try to get a better brand. Transcend is infamous for bad quality chipsets and generally low performance NAND products. But this is abysmal. No harddrive should ever perform this bad. Your harddrive itself appears to be just fine though - the only thing I see in the SMART information is the high command timeout figure. Could also be an indication of a problem with the chipset in the external casing.

 

[Rocketman122]

shame I didnt save the box. I can only get another replacement. not a WD fan so prefer transcend vs them. ther was a toshiba being sold but they dont look as robust.

I sent transcend an email well see what they say.

I am having another problem with a toshiba ssd and external case I bought as well. its not allowing me to format it. im guessing crappy case I bought. I bought another from ebay thats on the way. well see. will do a short video to show its issues.

thanks for the effort and expertise. cheers!