USB 3.0 same speed as my 2.0 port. Help please?

[Von Matthews]

I recently purchased an Insignia USB 3.0 PCIe Host card and installed it. I installed the drivers with the Drivers CD it came with it. I have an external SATA Seagate 4TB HDD. The HDD is in an enclosure (Isignia USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive Enclosure[SATA compatible]). All three things say 3.0 compatible with nearly 3+GB/s transfer rates. I am only getting around 90MB/s. Is this as fast as they can actually go? If not, could you help me make it transfer faster, please?

 

[caqde]

90MB/s is about right for a HDD if you had a SSD in there you could probably get higher speeds. 90MB/s is also faster than what USB 2.0 can achieve which is usually around 30-35MB/s. So the seagate drive you are using is the limiter in this case. Although you should see speeds between 80-130MB/s on sequential loads with that drive although the USB controller can cause overhead which will result in slower speeds.

 

[Von Matthews]

90MB/s is about right for a HDD if you had a SSD in there you could probably get higher speeds. 90MB/s is also faster than what USB 2.0 can achieve which is usually around 30-35MB/s. So the seagate drive you are using is the limiter in this case. Although you should see speeds between 80-130MB/s on sequential loads with that drive although the USB controller can cause overhead which will result in slower speeds.

So your saying that even though its says GB/s. I won't get that and 100ish MB/s is as fast as its going to get, unless I have a SSD?

Another question: Does the transfer rate vary on the way im transferring the data? HDD to PC or PC to HDD?


I just did another transfer and it went around 50MB/s now.... Is there a way to prevent overhead?

 

[caqde]

90MB/s is about right for a HDD if you had a SSD in there you could probably get higher speeds. 90MB/s is also faster than what USB 2.0 can achieve which is usually around 30-35MB/s. So the seagate drive you are using is the limiter in this case. Although you should see speeds between 80-130MB/s on sequential loads with that drive although the USB controller can cause overhead which will result in slower speeds.

So your saying that even though its says GB/s. I won't get that and 100ish MB/s is as fast as its going to get, unless I have a SSD?

Another question: Does the transfer rate vary on the way im transferring the data? HDD to PC or PC to HDD?


I just did another transfer and it went around 50MB/s now.... Is there a way to prevent overhead?

1. It actually says Gb/s (bits not bytes there are 8bits to one byte so divide by 8 to get the actually maximum rate). In this case the 5Gbit/s will amount to about 625MB/s but overhead will probably give you about 500MB/s which is a little under the SATA III limit of 600MB/s.

2. Yes due to the mechanical nature of Harddrives depending on what is transferred and how it is being read the speed will vary. If there is a large need for seeking to different areas of the drive speed will decrease. (think of changing tracks on a CD but at high speed).

3. No not really the overhead is used to tell the drive what to do with the data. All transactions internet, USB, SATA etc have some form of overhead which is due to the commands to tell the device what to do with the data received (this is a bit simplistic in nature there is more to the overhead technically but I doubt you want to read the USB spec to find out everything that causes the data overhead).

 

[Y0GI]

Does the USB HDD enclosure require any drivers? (check manufacturer's website)

While you are at the manuf. website, check to see if the enclosure supports 4 TB HDDs? Some of them max out at 2 TB.

Yogi

 

[Von Matthews]

Hmmm, I have to check about the enclosure and I tried a 2.0 port. It only went up to 40mb/s tops. So, the 3.0 is twice as fast sometimes. It usually goes 40-80mb/s on 3.0. I might just have to deal with it not being as fast as I had hoped.

 

[Von Matthews]

Does the USB HDD enclosure require any drivers? (check manufacturer's website)

While you are at the manuf. website, check to see if the enclosure supports 4 TB HDDs? Some of them max out at 2 TB.

Yogi

I pulled up the specs for the enclosure. Does the enclosures really make that big of a difference if its supports 4TB or not?

Device interface - SATA
Dimensions (WxLxH) - 5.4 x 3.1 x 0.6 inches
(137.2 x 78.7 x 15.2 mm)
Host interface - USB 3.0 Micro B type
Power supply - USB power
Hard drives supported - 1 TB 2.5" SATA interface hard drive (max height
0.374 in [9.5 mm])
Operating temperature - Operating: 32~104°F (0~40°C)
Operating humidity - 20% to 80% non-condensing
Certification - FCC Class B, ICES-003

 

[Y0GI]

Does the USB HDD enclosure require any drivers? (check manufacturer's website)

While you are at the manuf. website, check to see if the enclosure supports 4 TB HDDs? Some of them max out at 2 TB.

Yogi

I pulled up the specs for the enclosure. Does the enclosures really make that big of a difference if its supports 4TB or not?

Device interface - SATA
Dimensions (WxLxH) - 5.4 x 3.1 x 0.6 inches
(137.2 x 78.7 x 15.2 mm)
Host interface - USB 3.0 Micro B type
Power supply - USB power
Hard drives supported - 1 TB 2.5" SATA interface hard drive (max height
0.374 in [9.5 mm])
Operating temperature - Operating: 32~104°F (0~40°C)
Operating humidity - 20% to 80% non-condensing
Certification - FCC Class B, ICES-003

If the specs say that it only supports 1 TB drives, then that maybe all you can get. I wouldn't plan on any higher capacities.

You may want to check with their Tech Support. That 1 TB limit may be out of date. It may be that a driver update or some Windows setting can improve the results.

Yogi

 

[caqde]

I think Von listed the specs for the wrong enclosure that is for a notebook drive. And the first post lists a desktop HDD which obviously wouldn't fit not to mention the larger 2.5" drivers a 12.5mm thick not 9.5mm thick that the enclosure listed limits you to.

 

[Von Matthews]

I think Von listed the specs for the wrong enclosure that is for a notebook drive. And the first post lists a desktop HDD which obviously wouldn't fit not to mention the larger 2.5" drivers a 12.5mm thick not 9.5mm thick that the enclosure listed limits you to.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insigniaproducts.com%2Fcms%2Fdocuments%2Fmanuals%2FNS-PCHD335_NS-PCHD335-C_Manual_EN.pdf&ei=3y4fVJOIG4KwyAT7y4KADw&usg=AFQjCNGxH5xzuAR4KlP2dhVclrFj9n6ITA&sig2=TLnW2DkJiNL3G0y_UtNG6w&bvm=bv.75775273,d.aWw

I pulled it right off of here.

The online manual could be wrong?

 

[caqde]

I think Von listed the specs for the wrong enclosure that is for a notebook drive. And the first post lists a desktop HDD which obviously wouldn't fit not to mention the larger 2.5" drivers a 12.5mm thick not 9.5mm thick that the enclosure listed limits you to.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insigniaproducts.com%2Fcms%2Fdocuments%2Fmanuals%2FNS-PCHD335_NS-PCHD335-C_Manual_EN.pdf&ei=3y4fVJOIG4KwyAT7y4KADw&usg=AFQjCNGxH5xzuAR4KlP2dhVclrFj9n6ITA&sig2=TLnW2DkJiNL3G0y_UtNG6w&bvm=bv.75775273,d.aWw

I pulled it right off of here.

The online manual could be wrong?

I'd say the manual is wrong. First time I'd ever seen the specifications not being correct inside a manual but OK... lol. If those specifications were correct the device would fit in your pocket and be powered via the USB port. That and if you look up from the specs you will see a question about 2TB hard drives lol. Well I can't say you can truthfully trust that document lol. But if your 4TB HDD is showing up with its full size in windows I'd say it is supported.

 

[Von Matthews]

I think Von listed the specs for the wrong enclosure that is for a notebook drive. And the first post lists a desktop HDD which obviously wouldn't fit not to mention the larger 2.5" drivers a 12.5mm thick not 9.5mm thick that the enclosure listed limits you to.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB4QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.insigniaproducts.com%2Fcms%2Fdocuments%2Fmanuals%2FNS-PCHD335_NS-PCHD335-C_Manual_EN.pdf&ei=3y4fVJOIG4KwyAT7y4KADw&usg=AFQjCNGxH5xzuAR4KlP2dhVclrFj9n6ITA&sig2=TLnW2DkJiNL3G0y_UtNG6w&bvm=bv.75775273,d.aWw

I pulled it right off of here.

The online manual could be wrong?

I'd say the manual is wrong. First time I'd ever seen the specifications not being correct inside a manual but OK... lol. If those specifications were correct the device would fit in your pocket and be powered via the USB port. That and if you look up from the specs you will see a question about 2TB hard drives lol. Well I can't say you can truthfully trust that document lol. But if your 4TB HDD is showing up with its full size in windows I'd say it is supported.

I guess the specs on that document are wrong o.o
I have 3.8 of 4TBs that are usable on the drive. It is faster than the normal 2.0
It varies from 40mb/s to 100mb/s depending on what it is im transferring.