G-Technology 4TB USB-C or Thunderbolt 3?

[Lionel Messi]

Is G-Technology 4TB G-DRIVE Thunderbolt 3 worth the $220 premium over G-Technology 4TB G-DRIVE USB-C for Thunderbolt 3? USB-C version has 5400 RPM drive with transfer rate up to 195MB/s while Thunderbolt 3 version has 7200 RPM drive, up to 250MB/s. I am using a 2014 rMBP and not sure when and if I'll upgrade my Mac.

 

[chabig]

The lesser drive supports USB Gen 3.1 with a USB-C connector. USB 3.1 is a 5 Gbps protocol. Thunderbolt 3 is a 40 Gbps protocol. So the interface speeds are vastly different. Get the Thunderbolt drive only if you’re daisy-chaining Thunderbolt 3 peripherals. Otherwise, you’ll get great performance and save money with the USB drive.

 

[Lionel Messi]

The lesser drive supports USB Gen 3.1 with a USB-C connector. USB 3.1 is a 5 Gbps protocol. Thunderbolt 3 is a 40 Gbps protocol. So the interface speeds are vastly different. Get the Thunderbolt drive only if you’re daisy-chaining Thunderbolt 3 peripherals. Otherwise, you’ll get great performance and save money with the USB drive.

I definitely won't daisy-chain because 4TB is much over what I currently need, but I want to buy something long-term and reliable. Could you kindly explain the speeds? I am unsure what the USB 3.1 / Thunderbolt 3 protocols have to do with the rate transfer. According to the G-Technology website, USB-C version has 195MB/s transfer rate while Thunderbolt 3 has 250MB/s. Where do 5Gbps and 40Gbps come into play here? In the daisy-chain? For some reason I always thought Thunderbolt 3 would give me actual 40GB/s transfer rate but was struck when I checked the website. I will use it for transferring files (mainly photos) and Time Machine.

 

[chabig]

5 Gbps and 40 Gbps are the maximum speeds at which each protocol can transfer data. But the hard drives in those cases can’t deliver data fast enough to saturate either protocol. So save your money and get the USB only drive.

Pretend you had ten drives connected to the Thunderbolt bus. If all ten were transferring data at the same time, you’d want 40 Gbps of capacity. That’s where Thunderbolt shines. But for a single hard drive it’s overkill.

 

[Lionel Messi]

5 Gbps and 40 Gbps are the maximum speeds at which each protocol can transfer data. But the hard drives in those cases can’t deliver data fast enough to saturate either protocol. So save your money and get the USB only drive.

Pretend you had ten drives connected to the Thunderbolt bus. If all ten were transferring data at the same time, you’d want 40 Gbps of capacity. That’s where Thunderbolt shines. But for a single hard drive it’s overkill.

I finally understood it! Thanks so much. Then to make use of the speed with my usage, I’ll have to buy an SSD which will still not reach the 40GB/s speed and be closer to the USB 3.1 speeds.

It’s definitely an overkill. You just saved me $220. Thank you!