Harddrives only communicate with each other at 815 mbps? Why so slow?

I just transferred some more files and noticed there is an extreme variance in the amount of bandwidth they transfer at. I listed them below.

23.5 GB. in 400 seconds = 510 mbps (large video files)
618 MB. in 13 seconds = 377 mbps (music)
7.79 GB. in 305 seconds = only 200 mbps!! (games)
25 GB. in 450 seconds = 445 mbps (medium to large video files)
202 MB. in 7.5 seconds = 215 mbps (different various files)


So why the hell are these HD's running so slow? Especial the transfer of the games. I know some places that have faster internet connections... Also why do the speeds vary SO much?

and btw... nothing was running in the background. All resources were dedicated to the transfer of the files.
 
Last edited:
Well whats the point of haveing an eathernet controler that can run at 1000 mbps or a USB port that can run at 480 mbps if the HD cant run that fast?...
 
audiobahn1000 said:
The HD’s I have are listed in my signature. They are 3/0 gb/sec HD’s running off a mobo that supports 3gb/ sec HD’s. Yet when I try to transfer 9.2 GB from one HD to another it takes three minutes to transfer the data. Why so long? They are 3.0 gb/ sec HD’s…

That’s only about 815 mbps… By Eathernet card supports speeds faster then that… So wtf?
Click to expand...

You're getting GB and Gb confused.

SATA 3.0Gbps is roughly 375MBps transfer rate, but it doesnt get anywhere near that. The average transfer rate with drives is around 50-75MBps, with burst speeds being around 100-120MBps.

And no, your ethernet card doesnt transfer faster, if it's a 100Mbps card, then you can only transfer data at 12.5MBps, or if its a gigabit card, you can only transfer data at 125MBps.

1000 NIC ~ 125MBps
USB 2.0 ~ 60MBps
802.11g WLAN ~ 6.75MBps
 
Well thats the point of haveing a eathernet controler that supports 1000mbps or a USB 2.0 controler that supports 480 mbps if you cant use it all?
 
audiobahn1000 said:
Well thats the point of haveing a eathernet controler that supports 1000mbps or a USB 2.0 controler that supports 480 mbps if you cant use it all?
Click to expand...

1000Mbps and 480Mbps is in megabits, not megabytes. To find out the actual transfer rate, you divide it by 8.
 
No I am talking about mbps. Thats why I said mbps and not MBps.

before I said:

23.5 GB. in 400 seconds = 510 mbps (large video files)
618 MB. in 13 seconds = 377 mbps (music)
7.79 GB. in 305 seconds = only 200 mbps!! (games)
25 GB. in 450 seconds = 445 mbps (medium to large video files)
202 MB. in 7.5 seconds = 215 mbps (different various files)


I am talking about megabits. Unlike most, you can assume I am using the proper notation.
 
audiobahn1000 said:
No I am talking about mbps. Thats why I said mbps and not MBps.

before I said:

23.5 GB. in 400 seconds = 510 mbps (large video files)
618 MB. in 13 seconds = 377 mbps (music)
7.79 GB. in 305 seconds = only 200 mbps!! (games)
25 GB. in 450 seconds = 445 mbps (medium to large video files)
202 MB. in 7.5 seconds = 215 mbps (different various files)


I am talking about megabits. Unlike most, you can assume I am using the proper notation.
Click to expand...

I still dont get what your saying. A SATA3.0 hard drive can theoretically transfer at a max of 3,072Mbps, while a gigabit LAN is only around 1,000Mbps, and a USB2.0 port is only 480Mbps.
 
Yes a theoretical limit of 3,072 mbps yet I am only seeing 200 - 500 with a solid brand hard drive.... Thats my point. Why is it running so slow?
 
Ok lets start up the calculator:
23.5GB copied in ~ 400 seconds = roughly 60MB/s
Seems to me that you have an average 7200RPM drive.

The variations in speed you are seeing doing these copies is because of the different file sizes. You are hitting the spindle limitation. There is no point in having a possible 3Gbps interface for hdds when you are transfering large files, or many files. Only when you are moving a small file many times do you high transfer rates because then the cache takes the file.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top