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vcuares

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
67
0
I did some tests. I have this 4bay enclosure for my Mac Pro.

Same drive tested on Black Magic.
eSATA on my Mac Pro = 98MB/s read 93MB/s write
USB 3.0 on my Air = 39MB/s read 36MB/s write
USB 2.0 on my Mac Pro = 28MB/s read 26MB/s write

Is it my box? What results are you getting?
 

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
This is what I'm getting with an Sveon STG060 box and a SSD drive that I got from my broken 2010 MBP.
(thread)

86605264.png
 

vcuares

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
67
0
What kind of drive is it? Maybe the drive is causing a bottleneck...?

2TB Seagate. I tested the same drive via eSata and I get 98MB/s. The enclosure does both eSata and USB 3.0

Drive type doesn't matter if tested in this manner, don't you think so?

----------

This is what I'm getting with an Sveon STG060 box and a SSD drive that I got from my broken 2010 MBP.
(thread)

Given the right drive, I'm happy it goes 172MB/s and not just 39MB/s.

Unfortunately, we are similar, in a way that we are not maxing out our drives performance through USB 3.0. What gives, is it like this on PCs?

What is the real word world max speed (not theoritical max) of USB 3.0.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
none
I did some tests. I have this 4bay enclosure for my Mac Pro.

Same drive tested on Black Magic.
eSATA on my Mac Pro = 98MB/s read 93MB/s write
USB 3.0 on my Air = 39MB/s read 36MB/s write
USB 2.0 on my Mac Pro = 28MB/s read 26MB/s write

Is it my box? What results are you getting?

There is something not quite right there. USB 3 should be just as fast as eSATA with mechanical HDDs. Frankly, even the eSATA numbers look low. What drives are you using in this box? Do you have more information than 2TB Seagate? Like model number and rpm? If the drive is a 5400 RPM model, that would explain the poor eSATA scores.
 

oneMadRssn

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,961
13,939
2TB Seagate. I tested the same drive via eSata and I get 98MB/s. The enclosure does both eSata and USB 3.0
Drive type doesn't matter if tested in this manner, don't you think so?

I don't know USB3 well, but I do know the type of connection does matter. Anecdotally, I know that identical drives in identical enclosures will perform differently with USB2 and FW400, even though both have similar maximum speeds. Also, it depends on the USB controller in the enclosure.
 

vcuares

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
67
0
There is something not quite right there. USB 3 should be just as fast as eSATA with mechanical HDDs. Frankly, even the eSATA numbers look low. What drives are you using in this box? Do you have more information than 2TB Seagate? Like model number and rpm? If the drive is a 5400 RPM model, that would explain the poor eSATA scores.

Results are for one 1 drive (2TB seagate). It's 5400. Numbers for eSATA is just about right in my opinion. I'm OK with that speed. Like you, I'm expecting the same result for eSATA and USB 3.0 but got way lower USB 3.0 numbers.
 
Last edited:

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
Given the right drive, I'm happy it goes 172MB/s and not just 39MB/s.

Unfortunately, we are similar, in a way that we are not maxing out our drives performance through USB 3.0. What gives, is it like this on PCs?

What is the real word world max speed (not theoritical max) of USB 3.0.

I'm very happy with those results. If you look at the thread I linked this external HD performs almost at a 50% speed of the internal SATAIII SSD, so I can't really complain.

USB3.0 does a theoretical 5Gbps, which means 640MB/s. There gotta be some different bottlenecks. The drives themselves do limit speeds a lot. I don't think any SSD out there can do 640MB/s.

But your case is pretty strange. Any external USB3.0 drive (a built one I mean) would do more than even a FW800 one I think. There's gotta be something wrong with your box or the drive itself. Maybe the cable?
 

vcuares

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2008
67
0
I don't know USB3 well, but I do know the type of connection does matter. Anecdotally, I know that identical drives in identical enclosures will perform differently with USB2 and FW400, even though both have similar maximum speeds. Also, it depends on the USB controller in the enclosure.

USB 3.0 is rated way more than what my 2TB drives can manage. It should be able to max out my 2TB drive's 98MB/s easily but didn't.

I'm trying to single out my USB 3.0 enclosure controller. By asking others their results, I'm trying to deduce if it is also a Mac specific problem too.

----------

I'm very happy with those results. If you look at the thread I linked this external HD performs almost at a 50% speed of the internal SATAIII SSD, so I can't really complain.

Would you happen to know your external SSD drive manufacturer speed specs? And are you maxing it out or at least near those numbers?
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
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Results are for one 1 drive (2TB seagate). It's 5400. Numbers for eSATA is just about right in my opinion. I'm OK with that speed. Like you, I'm expecting the same result for eSATA and USB 3.0 but got way lower USB 3.0 numbers.

Ok, that makes sense for a 5400 RPM drive. The USB 3 numbers do not make sense though. Do you have another computer with USB 3 or another USB 3 enclosure perhaps? Looking at USB 3 external drive benchmarks, it's obvious that not all USB 3 controllers are created equal and there are variances, but those numbers are really low. Either the controller in your enclosure is rubbish or there is something not quite right with your computer. I am betting on the former, but I would try to test both to make sure.
 

dasx

macrumors 65816
Jun 18, 2012
1,107
18
Barcelona
USB 3.0 is rated way more than what my 2TB drives can manage. It should be able to max out my 2TB drive's 98MB/s easily but didn't.

I'm trying to single out my USB 3.0 enclosure controller. By asking others their results, I'm trying to deduce if it is also a Mac specific problem too.

I ran Blackmagic on a Mini with a 5400rpm drive and gives me a ****** result of 62MB/s in both write and read. Maybe your problem resides in an old/malfunctioning drive which can't run at full speed.


Would you happen to know your external SSD drive manufacturer speed specs? And are you maxing it out or at least near those numbers?

Went to their website and they don't even have it listed there. They got a previous 2.0 model but they don't specify anything either.
 

theSeb

macrumors 604
Aug 10, 2010
7,466
1,893
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I ran Blackmagic on a Mini with a 5400rpm drive and gives me a ****** result of 62MB/s in both write and read. Maybe your problem resides in an old/malfunctioning drive which can't run at full speed.
Since he gets what I would expect from a 3.5" 5400 RPM drive using eSATA, we can rule that possibility out.
 
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