USB3 speed theory vs.practice

[bluenite38]

Data transfer speeds via USB port are very different. It certainly related on system settings (win7_64bit) as well as file type, USB2/3, etc.
My question is related to USB3 transfer, which should be the fastest, but sometimes it's frustratingly slow. I tried several new USB3 external hdds (WDpassport edge 500GB, Adata HV620_500), various flash memory. At the beginning of the big file transfer (1GB), it sets off in cca90MB/sec, then it slows down to 4KB/s. It's somehow improve? Update drivers, or something? I use both Windows Explorer or Total Commander, it's the same.
Thanks for your advice or tip for acceleration.
Peter

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Data transfer speeds via USB port are very different. It certainly related on system settings (win7_64bit) as well as file type, USB2/3, etc.
My question is related to USB3 transfer, which should be the fastest, but sometimes it's frustratingly slow. I tried several new USB3 external hdds (WDpassport edge 500GB, Adata HV620_500), various flash memory. At the beginning of the big file transfer (1GB), it sets off in cca90MB/sec, then it slows down to 4KB/s. It's somehow improve? Update drivers, or something? I use both Windows Explorer or Total Commander, it's the same.
Thanks for your advice or tip for acceleration.
Peter

You're not going to saturate the full potential of USB3 with individual electro-mechanical HDD external drives. If you're looking for speed from thumb/flash drives, that's going to vary by make and model. Some USB3 thumb-drives only bench to as little as 80 MB/s in sequential write tests; others have more stunning performance and cost more.

 

[jkauff]

I've found that a single external drive plugged directly into a rear USB 3.0 port will do fast transfers. However, I have 9 of them hanging off a USB hub and the performance is much worse. Even so, average rates are around 45MB/sec, and I routinely copy 25GB+ movie files.

Have you downloaded USB 3.0 drivers for your motherboard? Win 8.1, which I'm using, has excellent drivers built in, but you probably need custom ones for Win 7. When I was on Win 7, I used the Asus USB Boost drivers for my Asus board.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

Data transfer speeds via USB port are very different. It certainly related on system settings (win7_64bit) as well as file type, USB2/3, etc.
My question is related to USB3 transfer, which should be the fastest, but sometimes it's frustratingly slow. I tried several new USB3 external hdds *1 (WDpassport edge 500GB, Adata HV620_500), various flash memory *2. At the beginning of the big file transfer (1GB), it sets off in cca90MB/sec, then it slows down to 4KB/s. It's somehow improve? Update drivers, or something? I use both Windows Explorer or Total Commander, it's the same.
Thanks for your advice or tip for acceleration.
Peter

First off, make sure all drivers are up-to-date. If you're running 7 this can occasionally mean a trip to 3rd party sites like station-drivers.com, since some manufactures aren't good at keeping up-to-date drivers available. If you're running 8(.1) do use the included drivers, since they, among other things, have UASP support.

*1
Depending on the type of HDD you should see somewhere around 50-120MB/s if you're doing a large sequential transfer. Transferring a large amount of smaller files can kill both read and write speeds, when the HDDs buffer is filled. That is why you see the initial drop-off. Try downloading an ISO of something and transfer that to the drive, you just need a 1-4GB sequential file of something to test with.

*2
Most USB pen-drives suffer from a lack of write speed. To really test, you need a external SSD, or a real "high-performance" pen-drive (Corsair Flash Voyager (GT) f.x.). A "real" SSD can deliver 400MB/s+ on UASP enabled hardware.

Lastly, and this may sound a bit strange, try different cables. Some of the cheaper USB3 cables simply cannot handle high-speed transfers...

 

[larryccf]

i've seen transfer rates, with a single external HDD (2.5" seagate 2 tb slim backup plus) hit 286 MB/s transfering large video files (2 - 22 GB), and toward the end of the transfer drop to approx 36 MB/s

one thing i noticed, the USB 3.0 cable seagate provided with the HDD seemed awful thin and flexible - i swapped a shorter heavier guage USB 3.0 cable and saw my transfer rates jump 30-40% over the original seagate cable.

fwiw

 

[evilspoons]

You need to make sure your USB 3 controllers are up to date as well. I have an Asus P8Z68-V Pro with early USB 3 chips on it, Asmedia ones I believe. Asus offers no updates for the Asmedia chips but I was able to sleuth around and find Asmedia's firmware updates for the USB 3 chips for a significant performance and reliability improvement.

The major issue was it was all sketchy and not warranty-approved (if it were a new board and something had gone wrong, I would have probably been denied repairs.)

I also was able to update the firmware of the controller in my USB 3 7-port hub (again, not from the original manufacturer) to keep it from randomly rebooting and enable USB 3 charge mode even with the PC off/unplugged, so that was super cool.