fastest usb cable /transfer

[inquisitor1]

I have a few ssd that I use as usb drives to transfer things with a usb to sata connector

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/8ecca0d5-393c-4100-978b-02ded060faf6_1.57233e43c64ef07654f540c0aabd4d49.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff

the speeds arent great. what can I buy/do to maximize the speeds? its only transferring at around 40MB/s

any way to get it faster?

what would I need?

 

[Keullo-e]

I'd use an external case. I have an external 2.5" HDD with my PS4 and works like a charm with this.

https://www.axagon.eu/en/produkty/ee25-f6b

 

[arbiter]

to only get 40MB/s from an SSD sounds like that cable is only running USB 2.0 speed. Looked on walmarts site and if i got correct one, "Douself USB 2.0 to SATA Adapter Converter" which does say 2.0 so hence the slow speed. You should went with one listed as USB 3.0. I would go with one that has external power so you aren't relying on USB port for power.

Robot or human?

​

 

[bonehead123]

You should went with one listed as USB 3.0. I would go with one that has external power so you aren't relying on USB port for power.

^^THIS^^

However, you still won't get near the real SATA-spec speeds, since the speed is dependent on the specs & quality of the SATA-USB bridge chip, many of which are only low-medium in those regards, even in an external case. But the cases that have their own power brick are generally better/faster than those dongle thingies you linked to

 

[inquisitor1]

@arbiter
ok, my bad. the cable is usb 3.0. I only showed the cable as reference.

im guessing that I have some usb driver issue if its doing 40mb/s

 

[111frodon]

If like arbiter said you have a USB 2.0 product then 40 mb/s is the hard limit, not a driver/anything else problem. Everything is working as it should. For faster transfer speed, USB 3.0 (cable, controller and everything) must be used.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I have a few ssd that I use as usb drives to transfer things with a usb to sata connector

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/8ecca0d5-393c-4100-978b-02ded060faf6_1.57233e43c64ef07654f540c0aabd4d49.jpeg?odnWidth=612&odnHeight=612&odnBg=ffffff

the speeds arent great. what can I buy/do to maximize the speeds? its only transferring at around 40MB/s

any way to get it faster?

what would I need?

I have had a good experience with this ORICO enclosure. It's fast and actually supports TRIM so it fits your use case as well. I do the same thing with older SATA SSD's and being able to TRIM them is helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/ORICO-Enclosure-USB-External-Tool-Free/dp/B0BM9FYM4Z

A sample 4GB single file copy from my NVMe to 1TB QVO over USB3.0

 

[cvaldes]

Make sure you plug the drive into a high-speed port, best directly into the PC (the motherboard on a desktop PC). Read your manual to identify which ports are high-speed. I don't like the front panel USB ports, those can drop to lower transfer speeds if the wires are poor quality or suffer from EMF interference.

One thing not to do is to plug the drive into a low quality USB hub (which possibly might be the one built into your monitor). Crummy USB hubs will often drop speeds to the least capable device. So if you have one USB 2.0 device plugged into a bad hub, the whole hub will default to USB 2.0 speeds.

Like some others here I am using a 2.5" USB enclosure with much better transfer rates. There are no drivers to install and I get the same transfer speeds whether it be brand new PC running Windows 11, a four-year-old wimpy Wintel notebook running Windows 10, a six-year-old Mac with an Intel processor running macOS Big Sur or a Raspberry Pi 4 running Linux.

Best of luck.

 

[Waldorf]

Not sure why some recommend a unit with external power brick to be faster,
as usb speed has ZERO do to if power is from usb or not,
as i get identical speeds vs using internal sata port.

only when using larger drives (especially with hdds/ODDs) it might
prevent drive not turning on, or disconnecting, thats it.

@inquisitor1
since you listed walmart, i assume your in N/A..
check the usb plug, if its black/white, its usually not 3.x

adapter

 

[bobbybluz]

There are many variables when it comes to USB speeds. Interface, drivers, devices and file sizes are all factors. With USB C even the cable used can be a huge factor when going from USB C to USB C storage. Large files will at times transfer far faster than several much smaller files. I don't want to make this a TL,DR post so to simplify things here's my experiences: USB C to USB C can be the fastest (but not always depending upon the file types and sizes). USB 3.2 to USB 3.2 or even USB 3.0 CAN be very quick but the things I mentioned above all play into the speeds you'll get. Doing A/V production I work with this nearly every day and have extensive hands-on experience. YMMV widely due to what I've stated and discovered. Somewhere on www.station-drivers.com there's a section on USB storage that's fairly comprehensive.

 

[cvaldes]

That's all fine and dandy but OP is getting 40MB/s from an SSD. That's abysmal and as many have pointed out, those are jurassic USB 2.0 speeds.

I really don't think it's a driver issue. I've been plugging in external peripherals into computers for decades, I think the last time I actually installed a driver was for an Iomega Zip drive about thirty years ago. Certainly I have never installed a USB driver for disks. So tossing the station-drivers.com URL doesn't really help OP in his predicament. It's just a bunch of information that will confound him.

 

[Waldorf]

@bobbybluz
except the adapter is sata>usb (A), not usb to usb.

@cvaldes can be for certain enclosures, mainly with M.2.
deleting the driver in DM makes it unusable.
but this is an adapter, nor anything mentioned that driver was removed.

 

[cvaldes]

I don't know anything about drivers for m.2 enclosures either. I have a couple from a company called SSK -- didn't do any research at all, just bought them on Amazon.

Again, these work very well with my various computers (Windows, Macs, RPi4) without any of these devices having additional drivers. They Just Work(TM) regardless of the brand of m.2 SSD I put inside the SSK enclosure: Sabrent, Samsung, ADATA, Silicon Power, Lexar, no-name OEM stick.

The main thing here isn't the fact that OP's drive isn't connecting. It's just transferring data very slowly, at USB 2.0 speeds.

OP has continued to avoid putting his System Specs in his profile so there's less TPU forum participants can do to advise him when he has problems. That's more of a detriment to him.

Anyhow, best of luck to OP in solving this. Enjoy reading station-drivers.com!

 

[bobbybluz]

That's all fine and dandy but OP is getting 40MB/s from an SSD. That's abysmal and as many have pointed out, those are jurassic USB 2.0 speeds.

I really don't think it's a driver issue. I've been plugging in external peripherals into computers for decades, I think the last time I actually installed a driver was for an Iomega Zip drive about thirty years ago. Certainly I have never installed a USB driver for disks. So tossing the station-drivers.com URL doesn't really help OP in his predicament. It's just a bunch of information that will confound him.

Actually the drivers used by Intel, ASMedia and other controllers can widely affect performance.

@bobbybluz
except the adapter is sata>usb (A), not usb to usb.

@cvaldes can be for certain enclosures, mainly with M.2.
deleting the driver in DM makes it unusable.
but this is an adapter, nor anything mentioned that driver was removed.

The SATA and USB drivers both affect performance.

 

[cvaldes]

Actually the drivers used by Intel, ASMedia and other controllers can widely affect performance.

The SATA and USB drivers both affect performance.

To the point of turning a USB 3.0 drive into a USB 2.0 drive in speed?!?

Really?!? That's the first I've heard of this and I've been building Windows PCs since 1997.

Thank my lucky stars I've also owned a Mac for 30+ years. At least those guys in Cupertino know how to write a USB device driver and very thoughtfully check it into the macOS build tree so I don't have to hunt high and low for a separate driver that really should be part of the operating system.

And I must be ultra lucky that my Windows PC hardware functions more or less as expected. Time to buy a lottery ticket!

 

[Waldorf]

@bobbybluz
half of your post was about usb to usb cable, when the OP is using sata to usb,
so ZERO impact from usb cable/usb c, as its not being used..

 

[inquisitor1]

@Waldorf

yes, youre correct with what you said. it is a blue cable at the usb A end. so usb 3.0. ill check either the cable is faulty, or drver or wrong port. my eyes a blurry somwhat

@cvaldes

I just installed the pc. could be some driver issue. will look at it again.

thank you all for your help.

 

[Waldorf]

adapters dont need separate drivers to what OS offers.
just make sure to install chipset and all usb and sata (not the raid ones) drivers offered from board maker,
if it then still has issues, its likely the adapter.

you can go to device manager, change settings to show hidden devices,
with the adapter unplugged, delete any grayed out items,
but do not let win remove the driver, if it asks/offers it.