USB 3.0 Performance

[Monte]

I have a Big Bang (Xpower MS-7668) mainboard, latest USB 3.0 controller drivers (NEC/Renesas 11/2010)

With USB 3.0 external HDDs from both Seagate and WD, I'm seeing transfer speeds of only 45-50 MB/second -- a little faster than USB 2.0, but way short of what I expected from 3.0. Yes, I'm using the USB 3.0 mainboard ports, and yes, the external drive cables are 3.0.

Thanks for any suggestions --   

 

[Jack the Newbie]

I have a Big Bang (Xpower MS-7668) mainboard

The model number of the Big Bang Xpower mainboard is MS-7666.  The model number you mentioned points to a different mainboard model.  Can you please recheck?

Also, please check your current BIOS Version.

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The limiting factor is usually the hard drive. There is no way any conventional hard drive is able to reach the utopical 640 MByte/s the USB 3.0 interface standard promises.

I'm seeing transfer speeds of only 45-50 MB/second

Run a hard drive benchmark tool to get an idea of the minimum/maximum/average read/write rates and the burst rate.

The question is also, what kind of integrated electronics the drives use internally.  They will include a controller that transforms an SATA or PATA interface to USB 3.0.  Part of the bandwidth the drive itself may be capable of, will get lost because of this transformation.  How much that is, depends on the drive that is actually in the enclosure and of course on the SATA/PATA<->USB transformer.

If you can, check the exact hard drive model that is inside those enclosures.  If you do not want to open them, have a look at the drive model number displayed by software tools (e.g. a benchmark program).  A lot of external hard drives only include 5400 rpm drives and regarding those, your transfer speeds are what can be expected in such cases.

 

[dsp4live]

I will be doing a follow up on USB 3.0 RAID Sticks and the like at CES very soon.
I can assure you these can exceed 250MBps of transfer as I was at the demo last year. The prices are just too much and the technology is still new, but having a HUB w/ 4 or 5 of these sticks is what I am looking to start using so I can shrink down from the 4U to another 1U.
I find that staying 1 1/2 - 2 years behind the latest developments is a good way to go.
By this summer the prices should come down.

 

[claykin]

Are you running Renesas/NEC driver 2.0.30.0 and firmware 3027?