USB 3.0 hard drive

wonderboy1953 · 11-04-2009, 08:20 PM

With USB 3.0, since it's 10 times faster than 2.0, would that mean an external hard drive would be quicker than an internal hard drive?

**The_Other_One** · 11-04-2009, 08:32 PM

Nope. External enclosures essentially use internal hard drives. These haven't even met the limitations of SATA. I don't know the specs of USB 3.0, but I suspect it'll simply emulate SATA like the past did. Even USB 2.0 was only able to acheive ATA33 speeds

mtb211 · 11-04-2009, 09:38 PM

didnt even know 3.0 existed

linkin93 · 11-04-2009, 10:07 PM

it is set to release late 2010 i think. head over to techspot and search for usb 3.0

Damorian · 11-04-2009, 10:13 PM

It's fairly new. Just for some speed comparisons:
USB 1.0 is 12 Mbit/s, USB 2.0 480 Mbit/s, USB 3.0 is 4.8Gbit/s.
SATA (1st gen) is 1.5Gbit/s, SATA (2nd gen) is 3Gbit/s, SATA (3rd gen) is 6Gbit/s

Note that they will probably never have that kind of throughput, but that's the max ratings they're given. I just ran HDTune and it gave me a max read speed of 250MB/s (average was just under 200MB/s). Don't confuse MB/s and Mb/s (Megabytes and megabits). There's 8 bits to a byte so that's comes out to a max read speed of 2Gbit/s, which is only 1/3 of what it could be. Also note that these are two 7200rpm 1TB 64mb cache drives in raid 0. So basically, you won't see USB 3.0 reads faster than SATA. I'd be willing to say it will actually read slower. However, Expect USB 3.0 drives to read significantly faster than USB 2.0 drives.

ScottALot · 11-05-2009, 06:17 AM

Man, it's gonna be a hassle getting 3.0 into the place that 2.0 is in right now...

Do they make firewire flash drives btw?

mtb211 · 11-05-2009, 06:53 PM

wow so having a sata 2nd gen hardrive really is a boost if your mobo is compatible?

Damorian · 11-06-2009, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtb211

wow so having a sata 2nd gen hardrive really is a boost if your mobo is compatible?

You may see a performance increase. Not sure how large of one.

linkin93 · 11-06-2009, 08:01 AM

We won't know until it is officially released and used in retail systems... I bet they will release it october next year right before the chirstmas season and make it "the latest and greatest" technology to get sales up.

jsmart7 · 11-06-2009, 12:31 PM

USB 3 is definitely faster than 2, but an external hard disk would not be. That is for sure.

11-04-2009, 08:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
wonderboy1953 New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 1	USB 3.0 hard drive With USB 3.0, since it's 10 times faster than 2.0, would that mean an external hard drive would be quicker than an internal hard drive?

11-04-2009, 08:32 PM	#2 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 25 Posts: 13,406	Nope. External enclosures essentially use internal hard drives. These haven't even met the limitations of SATA. I don't know the specs of USB 3.0, but I suspect it'll simply emulate SATA like the past did. Even USB 2.0 was only able to acheive ATA33 speeds __________________ Primary- i7 920 \| 6GB RAM \| 9800GT \| 160+160+500GB Secondary- Athlon X2 4200 \| 2GB RAM \| 7600GT \| 80+250GB Netbook - Atom N280 \| 2GB RAM \| GMA945\| 160GB

11-04-2009, 09:38 PM	#3 (permalink)
mtb211 Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: West Chester, PA Age: 26 Posts: 682	didnt even know 3.0 existed __________________ CPU-E6600 C2D@2.4ghz Mem-3 GB Corsair@533mhz GPU-Nvidia GTX 260 896 MB MB - Asus p5nSLI PSU- GamexTream SLI Ready 750 W PS3 - conmbo2 Steam-melanieseiler

11-04-2009, 10:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
linkin93 Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NSW, Australia Age: 16 Posts: 2,330	it is set to release late 2010 i think. head over to techspot and search for usb 3.0 __________________ System CM Storm Scout - Asus P5N-E SLI - Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 3.02Ghz - 2x1GB Corsair XMS2 @ 900mhz - Sapphire HD 3870 - WD 250GB Caviar SE16 - SHAW 860W - Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Perhiprials Logitech G5 Mouse - Logitech R-10 Speakers - Targus Keyboard - HP L1470 17" 1280x1024 Monitor

11-04-2009, 10:13 PM	#5 (permalink)
Damorian Silver Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: New York City Posts: 116	It's fairly new. Just for some speed comparisons: USB 1.0 is 12 Mbit/s, USB 2.0 480 Mbit/s, USB 3.0 is 4.8Gbit/s. SATA (1st gen) is 1.5Gbit/s, SATA (2nd gen) is 3Gbit/s, SATA (3rd gen) is 6Gbit/s Note that they will probably never have that kind of throughput, but that's the max ratings they're given. I just ran HDTune and it gave me a max read speed of 250MB/s (average was just under 200MB/s). Don't confuse MB/s and Mb/s (Megabytes and megabits). There's 8 bits to a byte so that's comes out to a max read speed of 2Gbit/s, which is only 1/3 of what it could be. Also note that these are two 7200rpm 1TB 64mb cache drives in raid 0. So basically, you won't see USB 3.0 reads faster than SATA. I'd be willing to say it will actually read slower. However, Expect USB 3.0 drives to read significantly faster than USB 2.0 drives. __________________ My general cleaning guide: www.thegreatdamorian.com/howtos/fixit.html A few tips on computer building: http://www.thegreatdamorian.com/howtos/diycomptips.html

11-05-2009, 06:17 AM	#6 (permalink)
ScottALot Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Janesville, Wisconsin Posts: 1,256	Man, it's gonna be a hassle getting 3.0 into the place that 2.0 is in right now... Do they make firewire flash drives btw? __________________ http://www.scottalot.webs.com/ For Quality Computers Built by Yours Truly Scott a Lot, a lot of Scott. GAMERTAG: XxScotTrickxX , ADD ME DREAM AS IF YOU'LL LIVE FOREVER, LIVE AS IF YOU'LL DIE TODAY -- James Dean MotherBOARD

11-05-2009, 06:53 PM	#7 (permalink)
mtb211 Platinum Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: West Chester, PA Age: 26 Posts: 682	wow so having a sata 2nd gen hardrive really is a boost if your mobo is compatible? __________________ CPU-E6600 C2D@2.4ghz Mem-3 GB Corsair@533mhz GPU-Nvidia GTX 260 896 MB MB - Asus p5nSLI PSU- GamexTream SLI Ready 750 W PS3 - conmbo2 Steam-melanieseiler

11-06-2009, 08:01 AM	#9 (permalink)
linkin93 Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: NSW, Australia Age: 16 Posts: 2,330	We won't know until it is officially released and used in retail systems... I bet they will release it october next year right before the chirstmas season and make it "the latest and greatest" technology to get sales up. __________________ System CM Storm Scout - Asus P5N-E SLI - Core 2 Duo E4500 @ 3.02Ghz - 2x1GB Corsair XMS2 @ 900mhz - Sapphire HD 3870 - WD 250GB Caviar SE16 - SHAW 860W - Windows 7 Ultimate x64 Perhiprials Logitech G5 Mouse - Logitech R-10 Speakers - Targus Keyboard - HP L1470 17" 1280x1024 Monitor

11-06-2009, 12:31 PM	#10 (permalink)
jsmart7 New Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 14	USB 3 is definitely faster than 2, but an external hard disk would not be. That is for sure. __________________ Computer technology

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