Question How to know the speed between the mainboard and HDD/SSD?

[Manuel Jordan]

Hello

I am not sure if this section is the correct place but:

I want to know the speed of data transfer between a HDD or SSD and the mainboard.

Goal:

I want to do a comparison of speeds against

• Thunderbolt 3/4/5 if is connected through a docking station with a M.2 NvME PCIe

versus

• SSD (HDD) and the mainboard

Thus I want to know how viable would be install Linux in a secondary SSD through a docking station with Thunderbolt.

I know thunderbolt has the following values about speed

• Thunderbolt 1: 10 Gbit/s per channel, or 20 Gbit/s total
• Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s total
• Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 40 Gbit/s bidirectional
• Thunderbolt 5: 80 Gbit/s bidirectional

So, If the difference is really huge thus I must consider use dual boot but it takes space in the primary disk.

Thank You

 

[dwd999]

Many people use the CrystalDiskMark software to check drive speeds. But I think the primary factor would be the docking station and the ssd itself, not the Thunderbolt port. And if I'm doing the math correctly anything higher than Thunderbolt 1 is irrelevant. The highest speed ssd's would be around 7Gbit/s if my math is correct. So a port speed higher than that would not achieve anything. But maybe I'm getting the math wrong so let us know if you see a difference.

CrystalDiskMark

About CrystalDiskMark CrystalDiskMark is a simple disk benchmark software. Download Standard Edition Aoi Edition Shizuku Edition System Requirements OS Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10/11Windows Server 2003/2008/2012/2016/2019/2022 Architecture x86/x64/ARM64 Key Features Important Notice -> FAQ Unit M...

crystalmark.info

 

[kanewolf]

Hello

I am not sure if this section is the correct place but:

I want to know the speed of data transfer between a HDD or SSD and the mainboard.

Goal:

I want to do a comparison of speeds against

• Thunderbolt 3/4/5 if is connected through a docking station with a M.2 NvME PCIe

versus

• SSD (HDD) and the mainboard

Thus I want to know how viable would be install Linux in a secondary SSD through a docking station with Thunderbolt.

I know thunderbolt has the following values about speed

• Thunderbolt 1: 10 Gbit/s per channel, or 20 Gbit/s total
• Thunderbolt 2: 20 Gbit/s total
• Thunderbolt 3 and 4: 40 Gbit/s bidirectional
• Thunderbolt 5: 80 Gbit/s bidirectional

So, If the difference is really huge thus I must consider use dual boot but it takes space in the primary disk.

Thank You

Speeds of SSDs are well documented via review sites. Find a review of the specific SSD you are testing for native speeds.

 

[USAFRet]

And, overall performance is dictated by the slowest device in the chain.

 

[Manuel Jordan]

Thanks to all for the replies

And, overall performance is dictated by the slowest device in the chain.

In this case the SSD itself. Am I correct, right?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks to all for the replies



In this case the SSD itself. Am I correct, right?

Which SSD?

Or the cable.
Or enclosure.
Or port.
Or anything else in the chain.

 

[Manuel Jordan]

Which SSD?

Or the cable.
Or enclosure.
Or port.
Or anything else in the chain.

Assuming that

• Cable
• Enclosure (Docking Station)
• Port

have support for Thunderbolt 3/4/5

The slow part in the chain is the SSD - M.2 NvME PCIe itself due its own nature about Gen 3/4 etc... Am I correct?

 

[USAFRet]

Assuming that

• Cable
• Enclosure (Docking Station)
• Port

have support for Thunderbolt 3/4/5

The slow part in the chain is the SSD - M.2 NvME PCIe itself due its own nature about Gen 3/4 etc... Am I correct?

People look far too much into PCIe 3/4/5 regarding NVMe drives.

So if the drive in question here is the slow device, so what?
It is what it is.

And, the actual files/bits/bytes being transferred is also a major consideration.

My current system has 6x SSDs.
4x SATA III, 1x PCIe 3,0, 1x PCIe 4.o

If I were to sit you down at my current PC, and do 'normal person stuff', I defy you to identify which drive you were working with at any particular moment.

 

[Manuel Jordan]

People look far too much into PCIe 3/4/5 regarding NVMe drives.

So if the drive in question here is the slow device, so what?
It is what it is.

And, the actual files/bits/bytes being transferred is also a major consideration.

My current system has 6x SSDs.
4x SATA III, 1x PCIe 3,0, 1x PCIe 4.o

If I were to sit you down at my current PC, and do 'normal person stuff', I defy you to identify which drive you were working with at any particular moment.

Remember the main point indicated from the beginning

So, If the difference is really huge thus I must consider use dual boot but it takes space in the primary disk.

It about if exists a huge difference between

• Thunderbolt 3/4/5 if is connected through a docking station with a M.2 NvME PCIe

versus

• SSD (HDD) and the mainboard

I want to know if is slow or not install and use Linux in a NvME through a Docking station

If I were to sit you down at my current PC, and do 'normal person stuff', I defy you to identify which drive you were working with at any particular moment.

According with my understanding a M.2 NvME is much faster than a M.2 SATA in a direct installation with the Mobo
but for normal stuff would be no difference, but to run a OS and work with Java, Spring, Docker etc is other history

Thanks for your understanding

 

[USAFRet]

According with my understanding a M.2 NvME is much faster than a M.2 SATA in a direct installation with the Mobo
but for normal stuff would be no difference, but to run a OS and work with Java, Spring, Docker etc is other history

The advertised different between NVMe and SATA is the Sequential transfer speed.
OMG! 10x faster!!!

But, for most use, as in the OS, the small Random4k is what we see.
In that, NVMe is not that much faster than a SATA III SSD.

The main benefit of solid state drives is the near zero access time. This is across all SSD types.

Given price parity, there is little reason to not get an NVMe drive vs SATA III.
But don't freak out over the advertised numbers.
Running a Linux OS in an external device will NOT be 10x faster if run from an NVMe drive vs a SATA III drive.