External HDD via eSATA as fast as internal HD??

[Fiercehairdo]

I have a new Mac pro with a Sonnet Tempo SATA E4P card. Is the external eSATA connection as fast as an internal one?

More specifically, if I sue an external hard drive, connected via eSATA for a photoshop scratch disk will it be as efficient as an internal disk?

Many thanks.

 

[grue]

Why would you sue a hard disk?

But in all seriousness, yes, it's "in theory" the same as hooking one up internally. In practice I've never actually checked any benchmarks, so YMMV.

 

[Consultant]

It's the same.

Probably thousands of articles / benchmarks on the subject matter.

 

[Thiol]

It's the same.

Probably thousands of articles / benchmarks on the subject matter.

Generally yes. JUst be careful because there are some 2.5" enclosures with combo USB/eSATA ports that do not go up to full SATAII speeds. They cap at ~150 MB/s. This really only applies to SSDs.